Question

Corporate Saint #1

AARON FUERSTEIN

For many years, Mr. Feuerststein’s family has owned a clothing manufacturing business

in Methuen, Massachusetts. In 1995, the factory building burned down. He immediately

commenced to rebuild the factory and, in the interim, fully paid the worker’s salaries and

benefits, increasing the amount of his debt in order to do so.

Unfortunately not all fairy tales have a happy ending. Although the final script has

yet to be written on Mr. Feuerstein’s business, he did have to file bankruptcy. The

costs in rebuilding the factory and not being aggressive in marketing his products caused

him to get into financial trouble. He stated that he did not attribute his financial

problems to his employees. His company is now out of bankruptcy, but it is owned

by the creditors. Mr. Feuerstein is trying to raise capital in order to buy back the

company and he is optimistic about his chances of succeeding.

Compare Mr. Feuerstein’s attitude to the attitude of executives at Enron, Tyco,

Worldcom, Global Crossing and Adelphia Communications. While in real terms the

minimum wage has declined, the pay of corporate executives increased 571% between

1990 and 2000 (five times the rate at which corporate profits increased—a fact that

should outrage shareholders). Had the minimum wage increased at a similar rate it would

now be over $25 per hour. Aaron Feuerstein is the antithesis of the CEOs who in the

name of the bottom line throw 40,000 workers out on the street—and then take an

increase in their already obscene salaries. As of the mid 1990’s, American executives

were paid at a rate that is 140 times that of the average worker.

Corporate Saint #2

OJAI VALLEY INN & SPA

“FROM BELLHOPS TO BUILDERS”

In May, 2003, a major 16-month renovation forced this luxury resort to shut-down two-

thirds of its rooms. This would have resulted in layoffs for half of its 600 employees.

Instead, the management decided to retrain willing workers as carpenters, painters,

electricians, tile setters and drywall installers, saving about 150 jobs. The training

program was performed mainly in-house, and all the trainees were state certified in safety

procedures. The hotel spent about $1-million in the retraining.

Some of the employees have been with the hotel 40 years; the average tenure is eight

years, which is unusually high for the hospitality industry. The resort felt that preserving

that experience and loyalty was important. They feel that there are lots of fine hotels

around, but guests come to them because of the employees. “Employees are the most

important part of a hotel, because this really is a people business”.

Every employee was given a chance to take part. No one who wanted to learn the new

skills was turned away. “This helps build on that mutual benefit contract… and

was a solution to keep their best workers on the payroll without being a total financial

drain on the hotel” said Alec Levenson, labor economist and a professor at USC’s Center

for Effective Organizations. Ojai is a small community with a population of 8,000 and the

hotel is the biggest employer and it would be hard for them to find other employment

locally.

The retrained workers are being used only for renovation work, such as plastering,

painting and tearing out old sinks. A contractor with his own crew is handling the new

construction. However, that doesn‘t mean that the retrained workers feel like a lower

class of laborers. The esprit de corps is so high that they have designed T-shirts

proclaiming “Building a Better Shang-ri La.”

The Los Angeles Time, December 22, 2003

Corporate Saint #3

TIMBERLAND

Jonathan Swartz, C.E.O. of Timberland, believes that in order to equip people to make a

difference in the world, we must insist that doing well and doing good are one and the

same. He serves on President Bush’s taskforce on national service and has instituted a

program called the Path of Service at his company. Timberland employees are given 40

hours of paid leave each year to perform community service—paint a house, tutor a

student, comfort the elderly. Since Mr. Swartz’s family controls the majority of his

company’s stock (he represents its third generation to head the firm), it is easier for him

to be innovative than it may be for C.E.O.s that have to answer to boards of directors.

The Path of Service program came about because of Mr. Swartz’s personal experience.

In 1989 he provided 50 pairs of boots to a group called City Year, an urban Peace

Corps type of organization, located in Boston. The group invited him to a day of

community service and he was hooked. In addition, Mr. Swartz is also committed to the

concept of tithing and estimates that 10% of his income goes to charity.

Today, Timberland estimated that 5,200 employees have invested more than 170,000

hours in community service in 13 countries. In addition, the company works with

business partners and vendors to arrange regional service events.

Fortune Magazine consistently rates Timberland as one of the best companies in the

country to work for.

Corporate Saint #4

GREYSTON BAKERY

Greyston Bakery is a minority-owned bakery in Yonkers, New York, that has become a

leader in community development and a role model for other socially conscious

businesses.

The bakery actively recruits and hires employees who have had difficulties finding in the

employment in the past. Ex-convicts and drug addicts make up a substantial part of the

employee census.

The bakery is expanding but has committed to remain within southwest Yonkers, the

community where it was created and has grown, and where there is a high concentration

of hard-to-employ individuals.

The profits of the bakery support the Greyston Foundation which includes housing, child

care, health care, a computer learning center, and more.

The bakery empowers its employees by compensating them fairly for their efforts. While

for some employees this salary may not constitute the “living wage”, the bakery

encourages and supports employees who seek outside vocational training, academic

advancement, and professional non-bakery-related enrichment.

Corporate Saint #5

BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM

We all know about the fantastic ice cream products sold by Ben & Jerry’s. However,

there is another part of their success story. The two native New Yorker’s, who moved up

to Vermont and started the company, had another mission besides the goals of making the

best ice cream and also creating a profitable company.

Their mission, which they continuously worked towards achieving, included operating

the company in a manner that actively recognizes the central role that business plays in

society by initiating innovative methods to improve the quality of life both nationally and

internationally. They realized that the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than at

anytime since the 1920’s. Another part of their mission was to provide economic

opportunities for those who have been denied them.

As the manufacturing of products creates waste, they worked towards minimizing their

negative effect on the environment. Since the growing of food is overly reliant on the use

of toxic chemicals and other methods that are unsustainable, they support sustainable and

safe methods of food production that reduce environmental degradation, maintain the

productivity of the land over time, and support the economic viability of farms and rural

communities.

Question:What do you think of the idea of Corporate Saints? Is being a Corporate Saint realistic? Is the organization that you are/were apart of operating like a Corporate Saint? Please mention any other organizations that you believe are Corporate Saints.