Car Boss says thanks with $1000 cheques

csv8 · 09-09-2012, 09:08 AM

Boss says thanks with $1000 cheques

From: AAP
September 09, 2012 9:01AM

BEFORE retiring, a Michigan car dealership owner wanted to thank his employees in a special way.

All 89 employees at the Howard Cooper Import Center in Ann Arbor were given $US1000 ($A976.42) for each year of service to the 47-year-old car dealership.

"The lady behind me had tears running down her face," employee Sandy Reagan told AnnArbor.com.

"I sat next to a person who drives the parts van and he's been here almost 28 years. He doesn't make a ton of money, but he got almost $US28,000.

"I watched his face and he just said, 'Oh my God'," said Reagan, who has been with the company 46 years.

When Cooper, 83, sold the dealership in April, employee retention was part of the agreement. The business is expected to change hands later this month.

"I wanted to thank my employees and that was a way I could do it," Cooper said of the surprise cheques.

"I hope it makes a difference in their lives like they have made in mine."

Cooper received a standing ovation when the cheques were distributed on Wednesday. He did not reveal how much workers received in total, but Bob Jenkins, a mechanic at the dealership for 26 years, received $US26,000.

"I was shocked," Jenkins said. "You just don't expect something like that. The whole place was just in shock. People are still talking about it."

Jenkins' cheque is going into the bank.

"I have two little kids - a five-year-old and a nine-year-old - so the money will go to good use."

The dealership opened in Ann Arbor in 1965, selling Volkswagens. It later added Porsche, Audi and Honda to its range.

"The business has been my whole life for 47 years," Cooper said. "I love what I've done and I enjoyed going to work in the morning."

**DJM83** · 09-09-2012, 09:10 AM

Gee you dont see that happen very often, good on him. big companies could take a few pages from his book by the sounds.

mik · 09-09-2012, 10:49 AM

a nice gesture and a rare generosity these days, good on him.

partsguy · 09-09-2012, 10:58 AM

When the dealership that I work for was sold a couple of months back, the previous owners did a similar thing. If you had been there for more than six months you got a cheque, the amount was on a sliding scale regardless of position, it surprised pretty much everyone. It really left a great feeling of respect for them.

LTDHO · 09-09-2012, 11:19 AM

That's awesome!

Matty4 · 09-09-2012, 05:52 PM

The owner of Grenda's bus lines here in Melb (Ken Grenda)did this about 12 months ago when he sold off a fair portion of his business. Similar dollar amount too IIRC, $1000 per year of service.

All up he gave $15M of the $400M he made away to his employees....
Nice...

RASER · 13-09-2012, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJM83

Gee you dont see that happen very often, good on him. big companies could take a few pages from his book by the sounds.

The problem is most big companies are listed on the stock exchange and owned by the shareholders, shareholders want divdends and increased share price, giving away the profit would not be a good thing for them.

Small/private companies can do this like in this case.

Still good to hear at least ONE good story coming out of Michigan for a change

**DJM83** · 13-09-2012, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RASER

The problem is most big companies are listed on the stock exchange and owned by the shareholders, shareholders want divdends and increased share price, giving away the profit would not be a good thing for them.

Small/private companies can do this like in this case.

Still good to hear at least ONE good story coming out of Michigan for a change

Valid point to, and one i never thought of.

My work is listed on the stock exchange and some staff always bang on about the share price, i have shares in it but they were given i never purchased.
I could care about the share price, i dont care so much about the dividends as usually the bigger the dividend the harder ive had to work with less staff.

But this case is a good one thats for sure.

music189 · 13-09-2012, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty4

The owner of Grenda's bus lines here in Melb (Ken Grenda)did this about 12 months ago when he sold off a fair portion of his business. Similar dollar amount too IIRC, $1000 per year of service.

All up he gave $15M of the $400M he made away to his employees....
Nice...

the grendas used to be customers of mine many years ago
memory is of a very nice family .Unfortuantly these large family owned buisness' are getting slowly sold off, but good luck to them, thats what hard honest work and capitilisim is all about

Quicksand · 13-09-2012, 09:42 AM

Good on him - here's hoping the employees dont squander it!

**FoxtrotGolfXray 5.0** · 13-09-2012, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RASER

The problem is most big companies are listed on the stock exchange and owned by the shareholders, shareholders want divdends and increased share price, giving away the profit would not be a good thing for them.

Small/private companies can do this like in this case.

Still good to hear at least ONE good story coming out of Michigan for a change

I know it's not quite in the same league as the story above, but the exchange-listed company I work for is celebrating its 175th anniversary, and every employee was provided with a $25 prepaid mastercard (and accompanying leter) as a little bit of recognition for their efforts. I'm not sure of exactly how many employees the company has, but at our site alone there is approximately 500, so it's a reasonable outlay all round.

A small gesture for what will hopefully be a bigger return.

Any shareholder scoffing at this is just short-sighted in my opinion.

Good on the guy above for recognising the efforts and loyalty of his employees.

Craig H