President's Message

2008 is proving to be a very challenging year. Our relocation volume is up related to both US domestic and international moves and we continue to sign new clients. That is the good news. However, the real estate market in many cities in the US and other countries continues to decline with an uncertain end in sight. In addition, the credit and liquidity crisis impacting the mortgage industry has spread from a US problem to other countries around the world as a result of the global financial integration that has occurred in the past several years. It is very obvious that what happens in the United States, the largest economy in the world, will always have global implications.

Of course, Paragon has done what is necessary to deal with the challenges we face. Many meetings and discussions have taken place with current clients to make sure that we have contracts, policies and procedures in place to reflect the market conditions that that exist today. As always, we are focused on maintaining our financial stability and ability to provide quality services during good times and bad. As such, I am pleased to report that service satisfaction, as measured by client and customer surveys, has never been higher, even though we are dealing with these difficult times. This is happening because our employees continue to do an outstanding job, focusing on our clients and customers as our primary concern.

"...I am pleased to report that service satisfaction as measured by client and customer surveys has never been higher, even though we are dealing with these difficult times. This is happening because our employees continue to do an outstanding job, focusing on our clients and customers as our primary concern."

At the same time, we are moving ahead as scheduled on our ten year plan to extend our reach around the world. Currently, we have company or franchise store operations in place to provide destination services in six countries, with more on the way. Ultimately, within the next three years, our goal is to have the Paragon brand in 45 countries. Of course, we also have affiliates in place to cover 120 countries. Before year end, we will establish Paragon Relocation – China with destination services offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

GenEquity Mortgage, our wholly owned subsidiary, has taken off. Effective January, 2008, we put in place the capability to fund and close corporate and/or retail mortgages throughout the United States. Given the state of the mortgage industry, the decision to become a mortgage broker/banker has proven to be fortuitous.

In order to better and more efficiently deal with our US Domestic Renter, Short Term Assignment and Lump Sum customers, we have established a Center of Excellence at our Dallas/Irving, Texas Service Center. This Center is open from 8 am – 8 pm Central Time, Monday – Friday to provide expanded hours of operations for the majority of our customers in this move category. Our Relocation Coordinators specializing in assisting these customers are better positioned than ever before to provide a high level of service.

We have also been busy working on the 2009 roll out of Paragon Career Resources to offer expanded Recruitment Services in the US and International Cross Cultural and Language Training Services throughout the world. In addition, in 2009 Paragon Decision Resources will be expanded to offer both Mobility and various Human Resource Consulting Services. Further announcements will take place in the coming months concerning both of these Paragon subsidiaries.

The people at Caterpillar, one of our major clients, often say “they are building the tractor while it is moving.” As the founder and President of Paragon, I can relate to this saying like never before. At the same time that we implement a variety of Paragon Relocation Resources services for our clients and customers around the world in accordance with high quality standards, we continue to add new but connected services and businesses that we can offer our clients. All of the pieces are moving at once. This is possible because we have a very experienced management team, dedicated employees and a variety of partners that support all of our initiatives. Most important, we have clients that we view as "Customers for Life" who make it all possible.