Growing up, I was blessed to work in agriculture on both farms and ranches. As a 14-year-old, I was amazed at how much value was created from a single piece of equipment. I remember being so excited to finally drive a John Deere 8440 tractor to disk wheat fields for the first time. To me, the tractor was so massive and a marvel to drive.
I was terrified when I learned how much it had cost. I was not a math whiz at 14, but I did have enough sense to realize it would only take me about 25 years, working full time, at my then farm hand wage to buy one. And I even had a really good wage for a 14-year-old kid at that time.
The fact is, tractors are expensive but very useful. That John Deere 8440 created a considerable amount of value over the years. It was taken care of meticulously. It lasted a long time. It showed me the significance of using physical assets to create value. I learned how important it is to maintain those assets every day. I also learned how critical it is to continually look ahead, to plan and prepare, so capital assets can be relied upon to meet our needs long into the future through a broad range of uncertainty.
We are excited to discover, with you, the key commonalities and best practices that allow both public and private organizations from capital intensive industries to become stronger at managing their assets over time.
Learn more at: www.durablecapitalindex.com.
