A Noble Approach

The New York Times looks at family-owned Marvin Windows no layoff policy (via nc links):

THREE THINGS matter big in this flyspeck city just south of the Canadian border: hockey, walleye and Marvin.
Not necessarily in that order. Yes, Warroad, nicknamed “Hockeytown, U.S.A.,” has sent six of its sons to the N.H.L. And the walleye plucked from Lake of the Woods are served for breakfast, lunch and dinner down at the Lakeview Restaurant.
But Marvin — as in, Marvin Windows and Doors — is the commercial engine in these parts and has been since George G. Marvin arrived in 1904. So when times get tough at Marvin, as they are now, the 1,700 or so residents of Warroad hold their collective breath.
But in this season of economic unease, when neither Washington nor Wall Street seems to have the answers, the descendants of George Marvin are going against the grain. Unlike so many other companies, Marvin Windows has neither laid off workers nor reduced health insurance benefits. And, its executives vow, it won’t.
Marvin Windows might seem like a footnote in the nation’s economic ledger. It employs roughly 4,300 people, about 2,000 of them here, and has annual sales somewhere from $500 million to $1 billion. But what this company is doing — and, more to the point, what it is not doing — is worth knowing.

You should read the whole story.  If you are looking for windows, you might price them from Marvin.  It is a noble goal to avoid layoffs, especially at the cost of corporate profits.  You have to wonder if the 32 hour weeks will wear thin with the workers, who need more to get by.  With the North Dakota oil fields booming, they may lose quite a few people.  It's a tough business call to make, but the family seems to be going about it with the best intentions.  I wish them well, but I'm afraid the window market, like the rest of the economy, won't get better anytime soon.