It’s unusual to hear about any new business owner who feels that giving back is an integral part of the business plan.
Imagine how rare that trait is for a business that started the exact moment as the current recession. Chris Rutledge, the young owner of Red Line Painting had a plan when he started out and despite news reports that sent others to stockpile, he kept his hands open.
He stuck to his plan and faced down the economic tsunami that took out much older corporate giants and kept taking it one day at a time. It’s all working out, slowly but surely.
I used to know a fellow who’s father-in-law ran a company where they saved a tithe of the company profits against the bad times. When the economy did take a downturn, instead of laying off his workers, he sent them out to do work for the city parks and other public service projects at their normal pay rates.