Dear Colleagues,

I feel remiss in how long it has taken me to do what I should have done sooner. The reality is that I’ve been out of town for most of the weekends of the last 5 weeks for either lecturing or dental meetings which has caused me to be running in “catch up” mode on both the business and home front (spring is a busy time for a “farmer- boy” you know).

Two weekends ago, I had a wonderful time delivering a full 8 hours of lecture to a great group of dentists in Seattle. By in large, this group was a very classy group of dentists. They were knowledgeable, caring and wanting to absorb/learn all they could. That being said, something that has really helped me is learning from the evaluations provided me from the previous dentists I’ve lectured to over the last few months. They have given me some great inputs (even direct and somewhat painful at times but hey, we need these the most) that have allowed me to improve my presentation. Life is always about improving and pushing to do better each time. If we ever get to where we lose the desire to do better, we are on the downhill slope.

I was so impressed with our Tams who organized this. Janet Gjerde and Michelle Champion were the leads. They were probably responsible for bringing in 80% of the 120 dentists (plus 30 auxiliaries) who attended. They both are so driven, so caring and such great representatives for UPI.

Michelle always has a great positive attitude (as so many of you do). She sets her own goals and then is driven to reach them. Janet is a champion. Nobody pushed this program more than her. And furthermore, her husband, Pat, a gifted firefighter up there supports her in tremendous ways. He was even at the program the night before and late, helping to get things set up. (This is something I’ve seen so many spouses do for/with our TAMS. It makes me feel very humble and thankful for the caring people and families that we all are fortunate enough to work with.) Add to these two the bright, upbeat and personable Judi Galusha, our Tam in Portland Washington, who even brought a number of her dentists to the lecture albeit from some distance plus the likes of Cody Sunderland,(Endo), Jessica and Rachel of Seminars plus the gracious and professional Marti and it was a heck of a program filled with not only great dentists/customers but with great caring Ultradent colleagues.

The pictures show our team plus the wonderful lecturing guru Dr Nasser Bargi who happened to be in Seattle at the time and working with our great school representative, Jay Frazier yet at another program, plus the rest of the team as described above. The second is of the lecture.

We can be proud of this group and so many of the rest of you, the great and caring Ultradent individuals and groups around the country and the globe who give it your best. It is drive and purpose like this by you/us all that will push us through this “down turned” economy!

Thank you all,
Dan

Dear Ultradent Colleagues,

 I would like to congratulate Dave Nuttall and his team for being honored with the Charles A Caine Workplace Safety Award. Dave, with the support of the HR department and so many employees, has done an excellent job of looking out for our best interests. This is a gorgeous example of caring humans living/emulating our core values of integrity, care, quality, innovation and hard work.

With more than 68,000 Utah workers reported job-related injuries last year. Workplace safety needs to be a top priority for Utah companies. Kicking off June as National Safety Month, Workers Compensation Fund honored 13 business that lead the way in workplace safety. Each winner was selected through a nomination process and earned the award based on their safety record, program effectiveness and their success in creating a safe workplace.

Last Thursday, Ultradent was honored with the 2009 Charles A Caine Award for Workplace Safety. Ultradent was one of 24, 000companies in Utah and neighboring states to receive this distinction. For Ultradent to achieve this distinction is commendable especially considering our relatively large size and broad and diverse vertical integration which includes departments as machining and tooling, chemical R & D, formulation, molding, etc. Effective safety practices such as an emergency response team, offering CPR and First Aid courses to employees and their families, preventive safety measures developed both in R&D and Engineering, an on-site first aid room and continued support from management contributed to this award winning safety program.

Congratulations to everyone for making a conscientious effort in keeping Ultradent a safe and productive workplace. And let’s all: KEEP IT UP!

Thank you.

Dan

According to Ultradent’s partner, GreenFiber, the largest producer of cellulose insulation in North America, recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,000 kW of energy every year.  In an effort to conserve the natural habitat and landfill space, Ultradent has implemented a formal recycling program.  Newspapers, phonebooks, office paper, magazines, catalogs and books will be collected and donated to GreenFiber for renewal as environmentally friendly, highly efficient, flame resistant insulation and to create a greener community in the process. 

All employees will be encouraged to consider the environment when printing, even printing on both sides of the paper whenever possible and recycling used paper.  The benefits will be shared by all.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending time with our team in Nashua, New Hampshire.  We hosted a program for dentists in NH and surrounding states – over 200 participants in an eight hour program!  Thanks to our team Sheri Ganter, Courtney McInerney, Dan Hart, Susan Signori, Larry Jacobs (Editor of Doctor of Dentistry), Gregg Karlins, Lynn Mawhinney and Jessica Feil for their quality care and hard work. 

A special treat preceded the seminar!  Two of our Ultradent Elite doctors, Dr Jim Borbotsina and his brother Thomas joined a physical therapist friend, David Gazzola, in Manchester, New Hamshire to form a restaurant called  “The Way We Cook” (see background below).   Together, they have folded together the dishes they recall from their childhood in a marvelous menu.    Jim moved his dental office to the floor above the restaurant so he could stay as engaged with the operation as possible.  They fed us like kings!  And then after we were "wined and dined", the trail of desserts began- multiple desserts in large quanitities and ALL homemade!  This grand finale was an incredible array and expression of "old and new world" Greece.

Background of “The Way We Cook” http://waywecooknh.com/

The Way We Cook, opened in 2003, was conceived by two men who shared a love for cooking and wished to bring their respective heritages to the public. Both men are sons of immigrants and nourished by these traditional foods as they grew:

David Gazzola, a physical therapist, was raised in an Italian family and has been cooking the family recipes from a very young age.

Jim Borbotsina, a dentist, has similar experiences in his Greek heritage.

Together they bring forth the dishes that they recall from their childhood in a manner that is reminiscent of good home cooking.

Also, in the pictures from the restaurant you can see my wife Leenie and sons Daniel and Austin.  For the weekend following the lecture, we toured some parts of New England.  This was something I had wanted to do with my family for years.    Part of our tour included walking the “freedom trail” through Boston.  There is fabulous history there of the founding of our country and built on the invaluable democratic ideals that not only we, but so much of the world, holds precious.  I recommend to all that you do this at least once in your life.