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Show Seneca Foods Enjoys Fourth Quarter Profit THE NATIONAL Sales for the period turnaround in fourth quarter sales for Seneca Foods totaled 543,975,000 against Corp. (OTC 2.875, 3.375) re- 1975 fourth quarter sales of flected more normal market $36,730,000. Wolcott also announced conditions in the juice products. S. S. Pierce higher earnings for the year of and Western divisions, said $620,00 or 23 cents a share Arthur Wolcott in announcing compared with net income last the firms fourth quarter's year of $521,000 or 19 cents. A Sales for Fiscal 1976 were profit of SI. 132 million. year ago, he said, these $158,518,000 vs. $147,859,000 A Were it is cMlEiy pAcC0RpN& To rug -- LATEST foil, T44E 1NR OF THE TWO PEbATE IS BARBARA non-foo- products d, were selling in severe price competition. For the quarter ended July 31, Seneca announced net income of 42 cents a share, or $1, 132,000 compared with a loss in the same quarter last year of $486,000. in 1975. Wolcott also said assets of Ross Packing Co. of Selah, Wash., a dried apple processing subsidiary, were sold to Tree-To- p Inc. of Selah. He did not disclose the value of the transaction. Murphy Motor Freight Has Record Revenues ST. PAUL, Minn. Motor (OTC Murphy Lines, Inc., Freight 5.25) 4.50, reported record revenues and increased earnings for the third quarter and nine months ended Sept. cents per share, compared with $238,000 and 15 cents per share a year ago. For the nine months, Murphy reported revenues of $42,266,000 and net earnings 30, 1976. Murphy reported reven- of $937,000, or 59 cents per ues of $14,788,000 for the share. This compares with h reventhird quarter, an increase of last years 12 percent over the same ues of $36,875,000 and net period in 1975. Third quarter income of $342,000, or 22 earnings were $402,000, or 25 cents per share. nine-mont- Interview with Fred Ball Business in the U.S.S.R. After returning from a good will trip to the U.S.S.R., Fred Ball, executive director of the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, shared some of his observations with the National Enterprise about Business in the Soviet Union. Mr. Ball, what can you tell us about the business climate in the Soviet Union? BALL: Actually, the business climate was very hard to observe by the outside The most obvious aspect of traveler. business, however, was retailing. Generally, consumer goods are extremely scarce. Before one can transact any retail business at all, he must wait in a seemingly endless line. And it appeared many Russian consumers didn't even know what they were waiting in line for. They see a line forming and go to the back of it. Once they reach the top, they find out what is on sale. A man in our group saw a long snaking line of people in Leningrad at a small stand. He walked to the head of the line and saw a clerk selling long winter underwear as fast as he could collect the rubles and hand out the underwear, apparently without any regard ENTERPRISE: to size. ENTERPRISE: Did you visit any large retail stores? BALL: The largest department store in the Soviet Union is Gums, in Moscow. One Salt Laker said he could only describe it as Thousands and thousands of people are jammed into every department and into every aisle. It seemed impossible, because of the congestion and chaos, to transact any business. ENTERPRISE: Did you observe anyto is thing in Russian retailing that unique that country? are The "dollar stores BALL: of Russian certainly a unique aspect is retailing. Only foreign currency accepted a zoo. for what appears to be quality merchandise. Several Russian citizens attempted to get into the dollar stores, but were told they were reserved strictly for foreign travelers. This accomplishes the need of the Russian government to obtain outside currency, since the Russian ruble is worthless outside the U.S.S.R. Russian citizens were constantly approaching visitors to black market rubles at a very attractive exchange rate. Evidently, they black market rubles so they can get into the dollar stores. ENTERPRISE: What is "consumer demand" like in Russia? BALL: It appears the Russian people have the money and the desire for retail goods of all kinds, but evidently, shortages are very prevalent. Members of the Salt Lake group were regularly stopped on the street or in hotels and shops and actually begged to sell personal clothing and jewelry. ENTERPRISE: How about other business in the Soviet Union? Did you make any observations there? BALL: In manufacturing and farming, the primary problem is the lack of productivity and a need for many more workers. We learned that while many parts of the world are concentrating on birth control practices, the Soviet Union is doing everything possible to encourage larger families and an accelerated birth rate to provide an A n workers. army of mother in Russia who has ten children, is and is classified as a "hero mother decorated and honored by the state. Is the Soviet Union ENTERPRISE: doing anything besides encouraging population increases to increase its productivity? "next-generatio- BALL: Yes, various motivational tools are being used by manufacturing entities to increase production. Extra time at trade union vacation resorts is offered to the best workers. Photographs of exemplary workers are displayed in factories and plants, in city squares and in regional publications. At the same time, Russia is attempting to penetrate more world markets by sponsoring trade shows throughout the world to generate more exports to assist their balance of payments situation. We had an opportunity to visit a trade show in Yalta featuring medical supplies. I understand this same show will eventually be shown in the western world. And we were told a fashion trade show from Russia is presently in Los Angeles, Calif. ENTERPRISE: In summary what can you say about Russian business in comparison to the free enterprise system in the U.S.? BALL: The general concensus of our group was that the big problem in the Soviet Union is still a tremendous lack of "incentive. That seemed to be the main problem, in fact, with all facets of Russian life there is just no incentive to do a good job. It is not enough to have your picture hanging on some wall in some plant. It was obvious that lack of incentive results in mediocrity in practically everything. The competitive still generates superior quality, system and as far as Im concerned, far better prices. Consumers in the U.S. dont realize how good they have it. Our standard of living is head and shoulders above the eastern block nations. Even the most severe critic of our economic system would be quickly convinced that we are indeed fortunate. On the way home I thought how nice it w'ould be if all the critics of our system could just spend a few weeks in the Soviet Union and experience for themselves the alternative to free enterprise and capitalism. Its a shame this country is nearing more and more the position of a socialist state. |