WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-March 20, 2021 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:05.440 This is Bloomberg Business Week inside from the reporters and 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:09.200 editors who bring you America's most trusted business magazine, plus 0:00:09.240 --> 0:00:13.160 global business, finance and tech news As it happened. Bloomberg 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:16.759 Business Week with Carol Messier and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:21.320 Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Hi everyone, Welcome to the weekend 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.200 edition of Bloomberg Business Week. Tim. It's week fifty three 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.080 for many still working from home. Although our office definitely 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.080 felt like a lot more of our team were coming back, 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.320 it did. It's a nice feeling. It is a nice feeling, 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.840 right Yeah, But the debate about coming back to work continues. Ford, 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.040 for example, is letting thirty thousand employees remain at home 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.040 post pandemic, and in the meantime. One of our most 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:42.840 read stories this week was on how at long Last 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:46.320 Wall Street is seeing a path to returning to work. Yes, indeed, 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:48.600 that wasn't of our most read So with that is 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:51.760 our backdrop, we'll get an update on COVID cases and surges. 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:53.800 Will do that with the CEO of Atlantic Health System. 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:55.880 We're also gonna have back with us the founder and 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.080 CEO of the Global pr from Edelman and signing documents 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:02.319 digitally during the pandemic. We've all been there, right. As 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:04.800 a result, Doccu sign has seen its business taking off. 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.160 We're going to check in with the company's CFO and 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.320 talk about whether this is here to stay. I kind 0:01:09.360 --> 0:01:11.000 of like doing it this way, Yes, so do. I 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:13.080 much easier by the way. I think Congress should do 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:16.360 it this way instead of delivering, you know, hundreds of 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:20.920 pages of documents. It's time to come into the Congress. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:22.640 All right, all of that to come, We begive with 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:26.400 this week's cover story, which is about an essential business 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:28.840 to him during the pandemic that also happens to be 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:31.559 the one company in the US that makes the nasal 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:33.959 swabs for all of our COVID tests, and a little 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.080 bit of drama the two feuding cousins behind that business. 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.320 The tale told by Bloomberg News technology reporter Olivia Carville, 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:43.240 who joined us along with Bloomberg Business Week editor Joel Weber. 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:46.400 This is I think one of my favorite stories that 0:01:46.440 --> 0:01:48.960 we've published over the last year. UM. I think it's 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:53.680 a great untold story of the pandemic um which is basically, 0:01:53.720 --> 0:01:57.840 imagine having a business that, um, you know, a year ago, 0:01:57.920 --> 0:02:00.880 you basically the world discovers we're gonna need a lot 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.960 more nasal swabs than you. Happen to be basically one 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:06.720 of two companies in the world that makes them, and 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.360 that's a company called called Puritan. It's a closely held 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.920 family company in Maine. UM, at the very outside of 0:02:13.919 --> 0:02:16.640 the pandemic, we happen to have done a photo shoot UM, 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:21.760 basically showing their their operation, and m Olivia came to 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.160 us a couple of months later and said, by the way, 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:26.920 do you guys know about this epic lossuit between the 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.200 two cousins who own the business, And we're like, no, 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:33.240 tell us more, so, Olivia, tell us more. Who are 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:35.880 the owners and what are they funing over? Yeah, well 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:39.440 thanks for having me. Um. The owners of Puriton is 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:44.079 Timothy Tinplett and John Cartwright, the both based up in Maine. 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.160 This is a family business. It's been around for you know, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.480 more than a hundred years now, and they haven't liked 0:02:51.480 --> 0:02:53.920 each other for a really long time. One of the 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.240 most fascinating things about reporting the story is the timing 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.880 of it all. Like in the lead up to the pandemic, 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.680 probably two years before COVID really hit or became a 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.840 household name. They stopped speaking to each other. One of 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.120 them just walked out of a meeting and refused to 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:12.079 have anything to do with the other. And um, they 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.200 refused to be in the same room, didn't want to 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:16.640 talk to each other. And that led to some really 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:22.079 big problems inside the company. There was their manufacturing equipment 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.480 wasn't being modernized, they weren't updating their technology. Their back 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.760 office technology system was twenty years old. They had and 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:35.120 updated their wages or given staff salary increases, and then, um, 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.960 three weeks literally three weeks before the White House called 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:41.360 this company to say we need you to ramp up 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.640 swab production, one of them filed a lawsuit against the 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:47.680 other to dissolve the entire business, all right, and then 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.840 walks in the government exactly. Yeah, that brought the ball together, 0:03:51.880 --> 0:03:55.800 and they're not happy and happily living, you know, ever after. Well, 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.000 that's a really interesting part of the story is that 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.280 the government was like, we need you to sit side 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.840 your differences for the good of the country, and they 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.400 said that they would, but we access the legal file 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.200 and inside private courtroom sessions, they continued to fight and 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:15.120 are still fighting to this day, which, um, you know, 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:17.920 let's let's go ahead and talk about the money here. Um, 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.240 how much money is the US government put into making 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.560 Sure appeared and keeps coming? Over the past year, they've 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.880 invested two hundred and fifty million dollars into the company 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.960 and plans are underway for another facility in Tennessee. So 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.159 that's only going to go up. I mean, why don't 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:34.760 they get along? And I know in your story you 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:36.800 talk about that it might have started as they were kids. 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.440 I mean, but it's noticeable. Employees know it. And it 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.720 wasn't until right the President visited that they were actually 0:04:42.760 --> 0:04:47.760 seen together. Yeah. I think that they're just both really stubborn. Um, 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:49.920 they both have their own vision for how they see 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.880 the future of the company going. Puritan has actually got 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:56.839 a sister business called Hardwood, which started out making minted 0:04:57.040 --> 0:05:00.400 toothpicks like a hundred years ago. And John art right, 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:02.760 one of the cousins, is really heavily involved in the 0:05:02.800 --> 0:05:05.640 hardwood side of the business, and Timothy Template is involved 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.440 in the Puritan the medical side. And as these two 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.599 companies had kind of gone in different directions, they really 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:15.560 felt struggled to kind of work together to see a 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.480 future for both of them, So, you know, just two 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.120 stubborn people who had their own vision and just didn't 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:25.039 want to back down. Okay, so you got to spend 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.520 some time in Maine the summer, which made the reporting 0:05:28.600 --> 0:05:32.440 like so much greater. Carol. Just to have Olivia basically 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:34.320 being like pitching the story and then being like, by 0:05:34.320 --> 0:05:35.840 the way, I'm going to be in vain for a 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:37.400 little while, I was like, oh my god, you can't 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.359 make this up. Amazing. So you got to know basically 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.039 everyone in Guildford. So put us on the wasn't that 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.400 hard job. There are only fifteen hundred people who live 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.400 in Guilford. Tell us about the company and how it 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:56.919 fits into two main and the meaning of it all. Yeah, Well, 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:00.599 Guildford is a tiny town. There is one Staunt there, 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.719 which also serves as the local bar. There's no Starbucks, 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:07.120 there's no McDonald's, like very very small town America and 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.039 Hardwood Purison or the business is the biggest part of 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:13.160 the whole town. They do a lot for the for 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:17.520 the town. They often put on fireworks shows, they donate 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:21.600 playground equipment, They help maintain the local parks. Everyone who 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:25.240 lives in Guildford knows the company had has either worked there, 0:06:25.320 --> 0:06:28.760 had a family member who worked there, or knows the 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.720 owners specifically. This week's cover story, as told by Bloomberg 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.800 News Technology reporter Olivia Carville, along with Bloomberg Business Week 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.359 editor Joel Weber. Check out more stories in the current 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:41.560 issue of Bloomberg Business Week, now on news stands, online, 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.200 and on the Bloomberg So much good stuff coming up, though, 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.400 more on COVID and the vaccine rollout. We'll do that 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:49.520 with the CEO of Atlantic Health, who reminds us to 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.359 him that we are not out of the woods, at 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.440 least not yet. Yeah, the number is plateauing. It's concerning 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.200 in a lot of places. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:11.320 This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol 0:07:11.400 --> 0:07:15.600 Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovik from Bloomberg Radio. 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.480 We're thrilled with the response that we're seeing from our 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.320 guests in terms of future reservations. That was Bob j 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:25.280 Pex of the Walt Disney Company this week on Bloomberg 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:28.440 talking about the reopening of Disney's to California theme parks 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.400 on April this tim after they were dark for more 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:32.960 than a year. It's kind of hard to get your 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.240 head around it. It is. But you know, if people 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:37.680 are vaccinated, if they're two weeks out from that second shot, 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.080 in some cases, perhaps they're starting to feel comfortable with 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.200 these things. And look, as Emily Chang pointed out to 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.760 us on Quick Take this week, perhaps it could be 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.960 a good time to go if you're feeling comfortable because 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:49.200 there are those capacity restrictions in place and you're not 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:51.160 necessarily going to be waiting in line. Wouldn't that be 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:53.360 sweet to do that at a Disney park. Well, we 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:55.640 had a lot of coronavirus headlines this week, the Biden 0:07:55.640 --> 0:07:59.440 administration reaching its goal of rolling out one million vaccine 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.440 doses a head of schedule, the President also eying mid 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:05.360 May to begin relaxing travel restrictions, and the World Health 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.960 Organization supporting astra Zenecast COVID nineteen vaccine after pushback by 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.240 several European countries. All right, so every day we have 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.600 a conversation on the virus. Many or voices that we've 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:16.240 turned to over the past, and that includes this one. 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:18.800 Brian grand new Lotty. He's the CEO of the Atlantic 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.280 Health System. It's a massive system in the state of 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.200 New Jersey covers more than half of the state. He 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:26.880 reminded us, though kind of sobering, that we're still living 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:31.200 with a pandemic. We are co existing with covid um 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:35.000 and we've been at that plateau for a while and UM, 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.640 you know, we're able to care for those patients safely, 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.680 and UM it's business as usual with everything else that 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.080 we do. You mentioned and use the word plateau, and 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.440 we've been hearing that from some of the different medical professionals, 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:52.000 professionals that we've spoken to. Brian. UM, does that sitting 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:53.720 at a plateau kind of bother you a little bit? 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.640 You know? It does, because we'd love to see this 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:01.440 UM start a straight line down. UM. But also we 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:04.079 have to be realistic about the fact that this virus 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:09.720 is in our communities and because people are not yet immunized, UM, 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.280 we're going to be having this kind of level of activity. 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.280 And what I point to for how long? You know, 0:09:16.600 --> 0:09:19.840 I think we're going to be in this situation, probably 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:24.400 until May or June, UM, when we are able to 0:09:24.480 --> 0:09:28.520 get this vaccine into UM. You know, about sixty percent 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.960 of the people in the community. UM, And UM, you 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:35.600 know that's hopefully the plan here, but we're waiting on 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:38.920 that supply. So I want to have realistic expectations about 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:40.640 this and make sure I understand we are going to 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:43.320 you think, see a plateau of tens of thousands of 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.520 new cases each and every day in the United States 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.960 until we get to that point where we can have 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.559 the majority of the population vaccinated. Yeah, it's endemic in 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:55.960 the communities that we serve. And so that's why masking 0:09:56.080 --> 0:10:00.640 is still really important. UM, that's why testing is still important, 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.840 because we've got to stay on top of the variants 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:07.520 that we're seeing coming out. UM. But that combination of 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.440 of masking, social distancing, the things that Dr Faucci talks about, 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.640 and then getting as much vaccine out as quickly as possible, 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.360 those are the tickets that that we need to get 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:21.320 back to UH state and get this economy completely open. Right. 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:23.000 I heard you, you know, we heard you say, you 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:24.640 know kind of we stay at this sort of the 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.560 plateaus until we get more vaccines at what are you 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.040 hearing about? The supply chain, uh and getting access to 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:36.199 more vaccines. So right right now, uh, you know, here 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:40.640 in New Jersey, we've been at this vaccine since the 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.760 beginning of the year, and UM, you know, we've got 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:48.640 about almost of folks that had either a first or 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:52.760 second vaccine in New Jersey. Here at the Atlantic Health 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.760 System of we've distributed over to We vaccinated over two 0:10:56.800 --> 0:11:01.600 hundred thousand people. UM. Already we have eight hundred thousand 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.480 people on our waiting list and UH right now we're 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:09.720 doing about six to seven thousand vaccinations a day at 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.480 our eleven centers, but we're prepared to go to ten 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.120 thousand a day as soon as we get the supply. 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:20.760 And so the supply UM is on its way. UM. 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.160 I think the combination of the steps that the Biden 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:28.920 administration has taken to use the their power to get 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.640 the vaccine manufactured. UH. The fact that we now have 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:37.880 three vaccines that work UM equally well on the most 0:11:37.920 --> 0:11:41.520 important thing, which is getting really sick or dying UH 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.040 is an important piece. And because we have a vaccine 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.280 like J and J, which is a different format and 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:50.800 it's a one shot vaccine, it gives us a lot 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.160 of opportunities to get more portable with that vaccine and 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.920 to get into places that that we haven't been able 0:11:56.960 --> 0:12:01.120 to serve yet. UM. And we're excited about that. You 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.959 heard me mentioned that Ohio is expanding vaccines to anyone 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.199 over the age of sixteen. Alaska has already done that 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.160 for people living, living and working in the state. Is 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.520 that something you see as the essential next step to 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:18.080 get over the next hurdle? Yeah, you know. UM here 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.720 in New Jersey, UM, we've gone through different iterations of 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:25.840 expanding the pool. But what that's done is it's created 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.000 the waiting list quite frankly, because we don't have the 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.480 supply yet to be able to serve the demand that 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.600 gets created. So you know, we have over four point 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:39.960 seven million people eligible for a vaccination right now. So 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.240 you know, I understand why states are are, you know, 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:47.120 kind of just completely opening up, but you know, you've 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.800 got to be smart about this and some priorities or 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.320 else you're just increasing a queue. And uh so I 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.320 think the way that New Jersey is doing this is 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:59.880 making sense. We've added teachers, which are really important. I know, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.000 at one of our mega centers that we do in 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.319 conjunction with the state and the Morris County, New Jersey, 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:09.160 you know, we just went over our hundred thousand patients. 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.480 Uh and that happened to be a teacher from Morris County, 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:14.360 New Jerseys. Hey, so, Brian, one thing we wanted to 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.520 ask you, Um, Tim and I. You know, we were 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.000 noting that we are seeing restaurants in New York, in 0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:22.480 New Jersey, they are able to increase their capacity in 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.599 a big way. So we are increasingly seeing our society 0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:28.320 in our economy opening up. Good on one hand, but 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:31.319 I do wonder if somebody who oversees a massive health 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.760 care system and can see how quickly it can get overwhelmed, 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:36.760 does it worry you a little bit? And what are 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:40.840 you worried about? You know, Carol? It it does. It 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.560 does worry us a bit. Um. But one of the 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:47.120 things that I have confidence in is that here in 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:50.719 New Jersey, we've been following the science and we've been 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.520 pretty careful, you know, And I think I think there's 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:58.360 been some criticisms about that. So I'm confident that beginning 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:03.360 to gradually reopen things like restaurants and other venues, it's 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:07.720 an important part of getting back to a normal uh 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:10.760 and I support it. But we also have to stay 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:13.800 pretty vigilant, and we have to do testing, and we 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.680 have to do contact tracing when we do see outbreaks, 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:19.320 and then take the appropriate actions but again, if people 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:23.360 use common sense, wear a mask, UM, wash their hands, 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:28.960 stay socially distant. Uh, you can. You can go into restaurants. 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:33.479 Right now, about six of our workforce has gotten vaccinated. 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:36.760 UM and UM. You know, we've had a full core 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.400 press on that since the beginning of the year, the 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.240 vaccine playing a big role in people's decisions to return 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.280 to workplaces. That was the CEO of the Atlantic Health System, 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.760 Brian Granny Lotty. Still ahead. The most important thing to 0:14:48.800 --> 0:14:51.120 say out of this is America's in shock and as 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.920 a result, most individuals don't trust many institutions. The latest 0:14:54.920 --> 0:15:04.600 trust barometer. When we come back, this is Bloomberg broadcasting 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.479 from the financial capital of the world, Bloomberg eleven Frio 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.480 in New York to Washington, d C. Bloomberg to Boston, 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:16.040 Bloomberg one O six one to San Francisco, Bloomberg nine 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.160 sixty to the country Sirius XM CHADO one nine team, 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.440 and around the globe the Bloomberg Business app and Bloomberg 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:27.680 Radio dot Com. This is Bloomberg Business Week. We all know. 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:29.960 It's a little more than one year since the World 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.640 Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak at global pandemic. So 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.480 much has happened since, and many have said going back 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.800 to normal quote unquote is not what happens next. Since 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.560 so much has changed as a result of the health crisis. 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.840 One way to see how that has impacted trust in 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:47.480 our society is through the Edelman Trust Barometer. This is 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:52.120 an index that really shows how individuals feel about business, government, institutions, 0:15:52.200 --> 0:15:55.600 media and more. The index has been updated throughout the year, 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.040 including this past week. I find this is a gut 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.720 check for me. So we got the latest data batch 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.280 from the founder and CEO of the Global communications from Edelman. 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.320 We're talking about Richard Edelman. He began with how they 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:08.480 actually came up with all this data. We talked to 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:14.280 Americans across the economic spectrum, as across the geographies, and um, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:20.400 we do it online and we lasted it in uh December, 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:23.840 and you'll recall that business was the most trusted institution 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:26.160 in the world for the first time. The deep divide 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.560 between Trump voter and a Biden voter m for example, 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.520 especially about media, where there was a forty point difference 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.320 in terms of trust. Um, the only thing they could 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:38.720 agree on was that business is trusted and especially and 0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:42.280 especially my employer. That my employer, the trust is local 0:16:42.360 --> 0:16:46.080 that you know, I trust my CEO, my colleagues at work, 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:49.720 and so you know, things near me because I can 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:54.680 control that relationship. Well, okay, and so that was last 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.280 time around. What's interesting in this time around is there's 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:02.120 not a lot of trust of anything. Yeah, well, Carol, 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.800 I think the most important thing to say out of 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:07.639 this is America's in shock. I wrote my essays about 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:12.040 American trauma, and um, I think half the people we 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.560 surveyed said they knew someone who had been hospitalized or 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:18.640 was dead, and um, you know I had gotten sick 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:21.840 from COVID and and uh, the two thirds said, I'm 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.040 still living in a pandemic survival mode. And I know 0:17:24.119 --> 0:17:27.119 the markets are going up and and everybody's optimistic about 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:30.320 the future, but the markets are not seen today. Um. 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:37.640 And you know, it's a real, um, kind of stunning 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:40.639 thing that more people have died than than in World 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:45.280 War two, World War One, Vietnam and Korea. And it's 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:51.359 we are literally the death of the world or something 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.360 like this. It's scary, it's shocking. Well, I can hear 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.120 it in your voice to Richard, and you're right when 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.159 I think about this when we actually it's not just 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.720 numbers and stats that we roll off here, it's it's individuals. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.080 And as you said, you know most people either know 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:11.480 someone or know someone who lost someone because of COVID specifically. 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.840 You know, listen, you have been talking to ceo s 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.880 for so many years. You know, how is this kind 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.119 of changing how they will run their companies going forward, 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.720 especially if if they're seeing these surveys and they're saying 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:31.360 people are employees, don't trust us. So I think they 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:35.360 feel a special responsibility after this year to do differently, 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.399 And I actually feel very inspired by that. You know, 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:42.520 we have clients new Lever for change the song on 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:45.040 the ice cream trucks because they found out that it 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:48.280 was a racist minstrel song from the eighties, And within 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.440 a month they said, okay, we're gonna missoning a new 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:53.600 song with the Rizard from New Wittan Clan. And as 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:56.199 songs for a World Day are going to be different, 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.520 kids are gonna have a different jingle. That's the kind 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:03.000 of speed, need and an agility that that American business 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.399 is doing. Or Dan Showman of PayPal saying I found 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.439 out that half my people were living kind of on 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:12.040 a hand to mouth way and I had to raise 0:19:12.080 --> 0:19:18.119 their wages. That's amazing, Uh, flexibility like I've never seen before, Carol, Yeah, 0:19:18.200 --> 0:19:21.240 which is really remarkable. You know it's interesting too, Richard, 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:24.080 like some of the uncomfortable conversations we've been having. And 0:19:24.080 --> 0:19:27.520 one individual said to me and and she's like, you're 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:28.919 not gonna believe this is going to come out of 0:19:28.920 --> 0:19:31.400 my mouth. And this is from a black American, said, 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.399 you know, we need to kind of thank Donald Trump 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.080 in some ways because there are conversations that came out 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.480 over the last year to some extent because of some 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:44.440 of what he said and the conversations that came out 0:19:44.480 --> 0:19:47.000 of that, and that we're having on a corporate level 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:51.520 that that we didn't have before. To be fair, well, 0:19:52.880 --> 0:19:57.480 I think one big thing that that really is important though, 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:01.400 that I want the listeners to processes. We cannot as 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:08.080 business force our employees to get vaccinated. Our respondents said, listen, 0:20:09.119 --> 0:20:12.359 I'm prepared to consider it, but don't compel me. And 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:15.320 the same thing about only six are prepared to go 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:19.280 back to work, to the workplace, to the city because 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:22.520 there's still afraid. Only said that they're ready to take 0:20:22.560 --> 0:20:26.760 the subway said they're ready to fly, saying they're ready 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.000 to go see Grandma. That's the founder and CEO of 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:32.520 the Global Communications from Edelman, Richard Edelman. You're listening to 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:35.359 Bloomberg Business Week coming up next. How many of you 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.600 out there signed at the bottom line digitally during the pandemic. 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.440 I know, I did, I did, I did, I did, 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:43.479 and I kind of love doing it, kind of forgetting 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.159 how to sign my name. Caro, Yeah, exactly, all right, 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.080 we'll have more on that with the CFO of doc 0:20:48.160 --> 0:21:04.719 you sign. This is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg Business 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:08.520 Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes. Tim Stinovich 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:13.880 from Bloomberg Radio Docu Soon you know. It's the electronic 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:17.480 signature company used by mortgage, government, insurance, healthcare, and many, 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:20.320 many more industries. It has been one of the companies 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:23.399 that's odds business boom during the pandemic. The stock to 0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:25.680 Tim on a tear in the last two years. We 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:28.040 both have used their services during the pandemic, and we 0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:31.080 wanted to hear more about the company's business recent quarter. 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:33.359 Any post pandemic world, what does it look like for 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.800 the company. So we got up with Cynthia gay Lord, 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:39.359 chief financial officer at covid has you know, just created 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.840 huge challenges for everyone and disruptions, um everywhere. But amid 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:47.760 those challenges, we found ways to really help our customers 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:50.800 and and really have felt honored to play a critical 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:54.439 role in helping people move forward all over the world. 0:21:54.480 --> 0:21:57.240 And that's kind of showed up somewhat in our business performance. 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:00.320 But just how folks are using our product and this, 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:01.679 you know, I think I've seen it in some of 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:03.480 the documents you guys shared with us, And I mean, 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:05.960 this was a milestone year for you, a game changer, 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:09.719 safe to say, Yeah, for sure. We crossed the billion 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.320 dollars in revenue mark earlier in the year, right before 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.960 the pandemic hit. And um, we're well on our way 0:22:16.000 --> 0:22:18.600 to a billion and a half and kind of growing 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:20.840 to two billion over the course of this year. So 0:22:20.960 --> 0:22:22.439 talk to us about some of the things that we 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:26.160