With well over 400 businesses reporting how their employees,
customers, and their communities are being rewarded by their employers, the
estimate is that this number represents about 10% of the actual number of
companies participating.
Company owners who were contacted cite a number of reasons
for not making it known.
The majority cite a value of just doing what is
expected. John, the owner of a regional
chain of landscape nurseries, stated, “I don’t put out news releases about our
work with local charities or how we give bonuses to those employee that go
above and beyond with their customers. The
help with personal situations like long-term family problems like disease,
financial disasters, deaths, and such, to me, is just between me and my
employees, and I don’t really want to use that to promote the business.
“You know what we have done for our employees with the tax
cut money, to me, is just like paying the bills on time, keeping the grounds
clean, taking care of customers, employees, vendors, and such. It’s part of the job. Nobody’s business but ours.”
On a darker side of the political climate, we found a group
of businesses that were taught a lesson about what they say and do these days. Some downtowns are getting a new lease on
life by converting old storefronts to craft breweries, restaurants, music
venues, coffee shops, art galleries, and trendy gift and craft shops that
appeal to the 18 to 34 demo. These
people are generally upscale and current with the fashionable values and
politics. For the most part, so are the shop owners.
Daniele owns a coffee shop and music stage in a trendy part
of town. She has three full-time
employees and four part-timers. She is
used to putting out releases and has an Internet service that blasts them out
to local media outlets. “We have the
usual specials and unique drinks from time to time, but I really need to let
everybody know who is performing that night,” she explained. “I prepare releases just about every day.”
So when Daniele forecast the savings she was about to
receive from the tax cut she wrote a release about the raises she was giving
everybody, the extra paid time off for charity work, and additional help with
their health insurance premiums. When
the news hit the usual outlets the next day, everything seemed quite normal and
routine.
The next morning, like most other small business owners,
Daniele was up hours before opening to do paperwork, clean up a bit, do some
maintenance, and set out new displays.
When she arrived at the shop her heart sunk when she saw the destruction. Broken windows, spray-painted walls inside
and out with profanity laden anti-Trump graffiti. Equipment inside was broken, chairs thrown
against the wall, and paint everywhere.
Daniele went outside, sat on the curb and cried as she called
the police.
Later that day in interviews with neighboring shops and
stores fear was in the air. Some, not
all, had also begun to share their tax relief with employees with bonuses and
raises, with customers with price reductions, and the community and downtown
area in various ways. Some never intended
to promote their generosity, but the ones that had plans to said, in
confidence, that they now planned to be quiet.
