thank you all so very much for all your advice and help...
it has been tough on me as i have never had this much control over a situtation as i do in my plant....this is definitely the most senior position i have ever held....
as it currently stands, the new revised employee handbook is under review by the company's lawyer to make sure nothing can come back to get us at a later date, and the new policies package is under construction...
things are happening quickly as we have just cracked a new formula that gives us a hefty selling price advantage over our competitors, and business has increased approx 35% in the last 5 weeks...
please keep things coming as what looks to be either a major turnaround or a major turnover (totally up to my staff at this point) is on the horizon...