Sharing the wealth
Posted: Monday, March 16, 2009 12:48 PM by Daily Nightly Editor
By Kevin Tibbles, NBC News correspondent
There are a lot of small towns in America that depend on one or two main employers. Some might called 'em 'One Horse Towns'.
I, on the other hand, like to refer to them as this country's backbone. Tiny Humboldt, Kansas is one such place; a couple of thousand hard working residents who send their kids to school, pay their taxes and depend on B and W Trailer Hitches for their livelihood.
The company makes truck beds and trailer hitches; and in today's challenging economy B and W is struggling to make ends meet. After all, when folks stop buying RV's or trailers they aren't going to be needing trailer hitches. A simple scenario right? Depressed sales naturally lead to layoffs, which would lead to fewer people shopping in town, which would lead to local shops and restaurants closing, which would lead to another small town in the American Heartland going broke.
Joe Works, who owns B and W and whose claim to fame is a patented hitch with a hideable 'turnover ball', could see hard times on the horizon for his beloved home town. He also remembered tripping over one of the rusted out metal grates in the center of Humboldt. Repairing the grates with scrap metal from the factory was a no brainer, so he dispatched a few workers. Soon the idea grew. Why not dispatch employees to spruce up Humboldt in other ways, repair the local baseball diamonds or paint the churches?
Instead of laying his skilled and loyal employees off, Works continues to pay them to do the work of good neighbors. In tough times, Joe says he's taking an additional 10 percent financial hit as a result…but he is quick to add… "I did go through a lot of lean years. I know what it's like; and I think my employees appreciate the fact that they know that I know what it's like."
