Atlas is 20 years old.  That sentence brings a rush of memories, thoughts, and emotions.

I remember our first exploratory meeting in a hotel in Grand Rapids, leading to the forming of Atlas Ergonomics and empowering three guys to conquer the world with nothing more than a PowerPoint presentation and a patent pending ergonomics solution (some revenue would have been nice).

I remember the owners draining their savings to fund software development and proof of concept pilot programs, while having no income for 2 years.  I remember my wife asking when things will turn around, and the countless times I said, “three more months”.

I remember when our “angel” investors chose to believe in us and provided us the money we needed to move from proof of concept to a revenue generating business (and their best investment ever).

I remember when a safety leader from Schneider National saw Drew present on our ergonomics marking system, walked by as we were tearing down our tradeshow booth, and had the vision to simply ask “Can you do that in a truck?”  The rest is history.

The following years are a blur of new clients, software and service development, network expansion, and a growing team of talented and committed employees.  Anyone who owns or has owned a business knows that blur comes with many emotional ups and downs – if anyone thinks owning and running a business is easy, they never have.

As I think back, and the memories play out like set list of songs, three main thoughts come to mind:

I am grateful to the clients who have allowed us to serve them, especially the ones who took a chance when we were just starting. 

I am thankful for our employees, because without them Atlas would not be the successful team and organization it is. 

I am proud of what we have built in Atlas, and more importantly, how we built it.  When Drew, Sherm, and I started this company 20 years ago, we shared a similar vision on how people should be treated, and I can rest easy at night thinking about how that has played out.

If you know us well, it is likely you have shared a drink or two with a member of our team.  Therefore, it is fitting to offer the following toast to our clients, employees, service partners, friends, and especially our families:

"To those who have seen us at our best and seen us at our worst and can't tell the difference."

Thank you so much for being a part of our history and who we are.  You mean the world to us.

Jim Landsman
President