Emerson Electric

They pursue sustainability with a commitment to excellence.

This is arguably what U.S. firm Emerson Electric has done.

Emerson was established in St. Louis, Missouri in 1880.

Incredibly, the company is on only its fourth CEO since 1954.

Imagine the kind of stability and opportunities to plan strategically this offers.

Emerson has resisted the temptation of short-termism, unlike so many companies, and they have reaped the benefit.

Emerson Electric outpaces stock market gains, read the Nasdaq headline in April 2022.

Its performance has been exemplary.

But another sector that's done well over the last year or so is automation.

So we hold Emerson Electric and Rockwell Automation in the sustainable funds that we manage.

They've had some good returns year to date.

What are you seeing in the sector?

Rockwell posted 10% growth organically for the last quarter.

So definitely that recovery continues.

Emerson is a little bit different.

It's more process automation.

And I'm going to start with myself as a role model for something.

So I worked in a company called National Instruments, which is part right now of Emerson.

And they actually... produce manufacturer industry computers and industry software.

So actually one of the solutions is in CERN.

We do not own HXL.

Scott Davis also likes Emerson Electric, EMR, which we do own, and Xylem, XYL, a global water technology company.

We have Emerson up 17% year to date, and Xylem is down 18% year to date.

And DC, let's finish up with roundtable member Adrian Halford from Barron's Magazine, Chief Investment Officer, Westwood Holdings Group.

The Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute has announced the individuals who will be a part of its Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute Class of 2027.

And they are Dontrelle Anderson of SEEDS, Leilona Anna Singh of Cleaning for Hope, Megan Ball of Brown Winnick Law, Barrett Bierschenk of Denton's Davis Brown, Katie Boyd of CLA, Kayla Bruss of Brown Winnick Law, Kayla Burkett of Metro Waste Authority, Kelly Campbell from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Shanice Coleman of Woodward Community-Based Services, Ben Curtis of EOC Environmental Group, Madison Dirks of Confluence, Judy Downs of Dress for Success, Natalie Estrum of Lutheran Services in Iowa, Chris Fitzgerald of Bankers Trust, Liz Fleming of Liz from Iowa Digital Media, Nick Fredrickson of ISG, Brittany Freeman of the Iowa Credit Union League, Tatiana Giacente of Red Dot, Ryan Iberg of Ryan Companies, Sam Irwin of BCC Advisors, David Jennings of Principal, Madison Lawless of Salmon's Financial Group, Casey Lewis of Benning Financial, Laurie McClure of the Federal Home Loan Bank, Emily Menendez of Proteus, Libby Nichols of the ITA Group, Maureen Arzynski of Wesley Life, Jake Parks of Emerson Electric, Brandon Pollard of Impact Community Action Partnership, Lane Prall of RDG Planning and Design, Tony Raymer of Easter Seals Iowa, Emily Rizvik of Confluence, Nick Ross at the Weitz Company, Andy Ruschenberg of Foster Group, Corey Sheher of Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, Mikkel Settle of United Way Central Iowa, Julie Solis Alvarado of Mellon McCormick PC, Andy Stefanik of Athene, David Sternquist of Waldinger Corporation, Rizan Torhola of Rizan, Rick Trauer of Newman Brothers, Lacey Van Ort of Amazon, Jacob White of Primary Healthcare, Sarah Watka of Talent Collective DSM, and Luke Zielinski of Brick Gentry.

Seventeen Iowa companies have been named to the 2026 Inc. 5000.

That's an annual ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States.

And you want to start thinking about automation, things like getting things done with fewer workers.

Firms like Emerson Electric, symbol EMR, seeing demand to automate utility grids, automate chemical plants and oil facilities.

An often overlooked bottleneck is the amount of water that's required for electrification and for chip fabrication.

Pure play water management leaders like Xylem, are positioned for long-term tailwinds as scarcity forces public and private investment in pumping and providing water.

But as I mentioned, as we discussed a little bit, I mean, this company has these roots going all the way back 80 years in Ohio as a cooling business.

Then you were part of Emerson Electric.

You had a SPAC.

Does any of this history matter? I mean, you talk about culture.

Not just the cooling, the entire infrastructure, power cooling, et cetera.

It's always a serious coincidence, if you will.

Very simply, I was curious about joining a company that had just been acquired by Emerson back then.

I said, hey, this is going to be a fun adventure.

You left Montastic Quiet on your right coming out of town.' You know how often it happens that a word shuttles in and out of many years, waking all sorts of incongruous associations.

I had met Monadnock on paper in a shameless parody of Emerson's style, before ever style or verse had interest for me.

But the word stuck because of a rhyme in which one was, "'Crowned coeval with Monadnock's crest, and my wings extended touched the east and west.' Later, the same word, pursued on the same principle as that blessed one Mesopotamia, led me to and through Emerson, up to his poem on the peak itself.

The wise old giant busy with his sky affairs, who makes us sane and sober and free from little things if we trust him.

So Monadnock came to mean everything that was helpful, healing, and full of quiet.

There is so much, so very much to write, if it were worthwhile.

About that queer little town by the railway station, with its life running for all outward seeming as smooth as the hack coupes on their stay mounting, and within, disturbed by the hatreds and troubles and jealousies that vex the minds of all but the gods.

For instance, I know it's better to remember the lesson of Monadnock, and Emerson has said, Zeus hates busybodies and people who do too much.