Word: feuerstein
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...AARON FEUERSTEIN is the George Bailey of the industrialist set. And just as in It's a Wonderful Life, it looks as if it has all worked out swimmingly for the factory owner. When fire gutted Malden Mills in December 1995, Feuerstein decided to rebuild his mill right in Massachusetts, instead of moving it to a cheap labor haven like Mexico or taking the insurance payout and retiring. What's more, he kept all 2,700 staff on the payroll for three months and paid their health insurance for three more. It took nearly two years and an understanding banker...
...HAVE BECOME DISILLUSIONED WITH THE greed and ruthlessness that corporate America exhibits in the treatment of its employees. However, the story of Malden Mills owner Aaron Feuerstein, who kept his 2,400 employees on the payroll after a devastating fire [BUSINESS, Jan. 8] until his mill could be rebuilt, made me realize there are still employers left who care about more than the bottom line. Feuerstein recognizes that loyal and skilled workers are a lot harder to replace than machines. DALE GADBOIS Houston...
...money was nothing to the workers compared to what Feuerstein gave them three days later. On the night of Dec. 14, more than 1,000 employees gathered in the gym of Central Catholic High School to learn the fate of their jobs and of the cities of Methuen and Lawrence. Feuerstein entered the gym from the back, and as he shook the snow off his coat, the murmurs turned to cheers. The factory owner, who had already given out $275 Christmas bonuses and pledged to rebuild, walked to the podium. "I will get right to my announcement," he said...
Even though the stock of a rival textile manufacturer in Tennessee, the Dyersburg Corp., rose sharply the day after the fire, L.L. Bean and many of Malden's other customers pledged their support. Another apparel company, Dakotah, sent Feuerstein a $30,000 check. The Bank of Boston sent $50,000, the union $100,000, the chamber of commerce in nearby Lawrence $150,000. "The money is not for Malden Mills," says Feuerstein. "It is for the Malden Mills employees. It makes me feel wonderful. I have hundreds of letters at home from ordinary people, beautiful letters with dollar bills...
True to his word, Feuerstein has continued to pay his employees in full, at a cost of some $1.5 million a week and at an average of $12.50 an hour--already one of the highest textile wages in the world. And even better than his word, Malden Mills was up and running last week at 80% of its Polartec capacity, thanks to round-the-clock salvage work and the purchase of 15 new machines. "I haven't really done anything," says Feuerstein. "I don't deserve credit. Corporate America has made it so that when you behave...