Thanks for visiting humankinetics.com. The Human Kinetics staff and I feel you’ve landed at a special place. Since 1974 when HK was founded by Rainer Martens, HK has been committed to providing quality information for the physical activity and health fields including sports, fitness, physical education, sport sciences, recreation, and dance.
We are committed to providing information and, whenever possible, solutions that help our customers work, play, compete, and live healthier, more enjoyable lives. We are committed to providing accurate, useful information and education, packaged and delivered at affordable prices with technology being a key driving force in improving our products and their accessibility.
As with most companies, the past year has been a painful one for HK. For the first time in our history, we laid off staff regretfully parting with 30 employees. Our performance over the past seven months is offering optimism for the coming months. We have brought back or offered positions to some of the staff we laid off. We are filling open positions. Sales are showing improvement over the previous year. Our bottom line is looking better.
There is some optimism in the midst of continuing economic uncertainty and considerable change within the publishing industry. The digital delivery of information from publishers accelerated in the past several months with the release of Apple’s iPad, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, and price drops on Amazon’s Kindle. Digital development is nothing new for HK. We were among publishing leaders in building a website with e-commerce capabilities, online courses, and now e-books. Today, digital products are published simultaneously with print products. Our online courses remain on the cutting edge of quality and attract international attention including a recent visit from Chinese Olympic Committee representatives to see how HK was building courses.
The world is getting flatter. Our international presence is strong with growing subsidiary operations in England, Canada, and Australia and expanding distribution initiatives in Brazil, South Africa, India, and China. During the past year, 30% of HK’s business was done outside the United States.
While our products might be changing, one area of our business that won’t change is our culture. Our staff remains focused, respectful, and committed to doing quality work to serve our many markets. We are excited about the emerging opportunities and our ability to deliver even more engaging and valuable information.
-- Brian Holding, CEO, brianh@hkusa.com
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