By Jack Houvouras
HQ 64 | WINTER/SPRING 2008
The importance, relevance, and impact of the American entrepreneur is, sadly enough, a fact that has gone underreported and under appreciated in this country for decades. Instead, politicians, economic development agencies and the mainstream media seem obsessed with major corporations and Fortune 500 companies. Today, our country’s economic health is measured strictly by the pulse of big business – defined as those firms with more than 1,000 employees.
However, did you know that small businesses – defined as firms with less than 100 employees – represent 99.7 percent of all employers in the United States?
If you were to flip through the pages of every magazine HQ has published, you would find an array of articles addressing the relevance of entrepreneurs and small business owners. At the same time you would be hard pressed to find more than a handful of stories about nationally-based businesses or chains. Why? When compared to such entities, entrepreneurs and their locally-owned businesses (whether big or small) are quite simply far better corporate citizens. Here are just a few examples:
Marshall Reynolds, Huntington’s most accomplished entrepreneur, started as a delivery boy with Chapman Printing before ultimately buying the company and building it into one of the largest commercial printers on the east coast. The wealth and jobs he has created have done much to improve the quality of life for the people of Huntington. What’s more, unlike most big businesses or national chains, Reynolds has given back to the community in hundreds of ways. Whether it is chairing the United Way’s annual campaign, teaching a Junior Achievement class or writing six figure checks to local charities, his entrepreneurial success, coupled with his innate desire to help the communities where his companies have flourished, has positively impacted hundreds of lives. You just won’t find that kind of commitment to the local community from nationally-based companies, no matter how many millions of dollars in profits they make in this region.
The late Jerry Zitter, owner of Sterling Supply Co., is another classic example of the entrepreneurial spirit. She took over the reigns of the company in 1972 following her husband’s death and went on to become one of the most recognized and respected businesswomen in Huntington. Not satisfied to merely turn a profit, Zitter sat on a number of boards including the United Way, the Boys & Girls Club, the YMCA, Junior Achievement and numerous others. Later in life she became a philanthropist, supporting Marshall University, the Foundation for the Tri-State Community, Scott Community Center, the Carter G. Woodson Foundation, and St. Joseph Catholic Church. At St. Joseph High School she established two scholarships and funded the expansion of the school’s library, which was aptly named in her honor in 1995.
Budget Pharmacy, which is locally owned by Richard and Gina Finley, has flourished despite the increased competition from national retail chains. They have even found room in their corporate checkbook to sponsor local Little League teams, youth soccer and numerous civic organizations including the Boy Scouts. That’s something you won’t see from their Fortune 500 competitors at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, CVS, or Rite Aid.
Entrepreneur Art Weisberg started out in Brooklyn, NY shining shoes before making his way to Huntington where he built State Electric Supply Co. into an empire. In addition to the financial impact his success has had on the community, friends say it’s impossible to estimate how much money he and wife Joan have given to charities or employees in need over the years. Perhaps Weisberg sums up the mindset of the American entrepreneur best when he says, “I’d feel guilty living in Huntington all this time and not giving something back to the community.”
The desire to “give something back” is truly unique to entrepreneurs who have struggled to build a business from the ground up. Unfortunately, you will not find that kind of philosophy embraced in most corporate boardrooms. That fact, coupled with the evidence that big business comprises only .03 percent of employers nationwide, must leave all of us wondering why we, as a country, aren’t doing more to foster the growth of entrepreneurs and small businesses which are the backbone of our economy.
