I stopped in Alexander County to visit a furniture manufacturing facility in Taylorsville. Every politician and business leader from NC should take note of what a small band of North Carolinians can accomplish—even when competing on a global stage— pulling together and working hard to get results. That’s what the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture Company is - a storybook success in NC’s once-domineering furniture industry which has largely moved offshore. Mitchell Gold took me on a tour of one of three manufacturing facilities which the company operates in Alexander County. Employing over 700 enthusiastic workers, the company is a model for a 21st century workplace environment which rewards and respects hard work, community and fair play.
Employees enjoy such benefits as an onsite daycare facility for their kids, a cafeteria which serves fresh, healthy meals, an employee store where anyone can arrange to have their laundry picked up or car washed- in addition to college tuition grants, top-line health insurance, sponsorship of youth athletic programs and a company gymnasium. Even the small details—like cleaning the bathrooms twice daily—foster an atmosphere of partnership between all of the company’s stakeholders.
I talked with numerous employees during the course of my visit. I took note that everyone used the same term and did so repeatedly: respect. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams is a shining example of a new values-based capitalism where companies take the responsibility to go beyond the letter of the law to provide motivating and satisfying work and contribute to solving social and environmental problems.
What I saw today is that companies with good values have true economic growth. And, that empowering people enhances business success as well as builds social capital. I’d like to take some of the lessons I’ve learned to Washington, D.C. and create a new social contract based on real family values that would encourage fair and flexible work places that are productive while also attending to the needs of employees and their families.
I also popped in to visit with reporter Micah Henry and publisher Lee Sharpe at The Taylorsville Times. This weekly paper has been a family affair for the Sharpes for over 70 years. We had a long chat—Micah had the first shot at interviewing me and then the three of us sat and talked about Alexander County. Mr. Sharpe’s a graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne with a degree in business administration and the paper’s doing pretty well despite the fact that more readers are getting information from the internet these days.
Mr. Sharpe told me how Main Street merchants like the home appliance dealer and the clothing store were a thing of the past since Wal-Mart opened its big box store down the road. It’s clear that the demise of local business owners has had a ripple effect across the community, for it was those very merchants who reinvested their time, money and energy into the community’s civic and charitable organizations.
Alexander County no longer has a community hospital and its residents have to drive 20 minutes or more to either Iredell or Catawba County for medical care. Why? Mr. Sharpe told me that the not-for-profit hospital in Alexander County was losing anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 annually in its emergency room alone. Like many hospitals across North Carolina and the US, the emergency room was also serving as a general practitioner’s office for people without health insurance. As a matter of fact, at The Taylorsville Times, Mr. Sharpe said that he pays more for his employee health care insurance costs more than newsprint!
In Washington, D.C. Senator Dole doesn’t have to worry about things like health insurance benefits. She receives top-of-the-line health care as a US Senator, or what she’d call socialized health care paid for by the taxpayers....though she was quick to vote to strip away health care insurance from over 120,000 kids in North Carolina whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to pay for private health insurance.
I’d suggest that Mrs. Dole stop by Taylorsville next time she’s in the area. There’s a lot to be learned from the people in that community— to anyone, that is, who takes the time to stop and listen.