Believe This ...

Donald W. Davis Was A True American Hero

In a recent post, I raised a proposition: 

What would Don Davis think of weasel American corporations which add payroll outside of the USA to the detriment of the American economy.

For those who don't recognize the name, Donald W. Davis was the long-time chairman and CEO of The Stanley Works, the iconic manufacturer of high-quality hand tools. During Don Davis' tenure, Stanley Works recorded billion-dollar profits. It employed some 20,000 plant employees, among that number a sales force who ensured American builders and do-it-yourselfers could get their hands on quality tools to perform quality jobs.

Davis built Stanley around the observation that do-it-yourselfers (such as yours-truly) would gladly spend their hard-earned bucks on quality tools that produced a professional result.

His genius, furthermore, was embedded in his belief that the workers who manufactured and sold Stanley tools lived in a community and that the community would prosper as a result of their productiveness: prosperous employees are loyal and productive employees, and thus are the bedrock to the success of the company.

New Britain, Connecticut served as the HQ of The Stanley Works during Davis' stewardship -- the company was one of the original members of the NYSE with its listing as "S" --  and its factories (granted, the plant was ancient by modern manufacturing standards) hummed nearly round-the-clock. Employees were mostly unionized -- Davis wasn't bothered by this.

He encouraged them to buy Stanley stock (most did) as further investment in "our company."

As further testament to his community involvement and engagement, Davis enrolled his six children -- three-and-three -- in New Britain's Public Schools System. And to control the company's bottom line as it pertained to providing employee health insurance, Davis served as chairman of the New Britain General Hospital Board of Trustees where he could ride herd on the doctors and the administrators. 

Make no mistake: Don Davis was a true American Capitalist. Stanley Works thrived during his tenure and so did its work force, and by economic ripple effect, so did the entire state of Connecticut.

Members of my family worked for and subsequently retired from The Stanley Works.

I, however, had the distinct pleasure to caddy for him from time-to-time when he played a round of golf at the Shuttle Meadow Country Club. By my recollection, he wasn't that good on the course...

But years later, during one of my professional lives, I had an opportunity to serve Don Davis yet again when an association I worked with developed legislation that prevented The Stanley Works from being acquired by a competitor through hostile take-over.

At some point during the strategy session on how to gain support for this bill, someone asked Davis why it was so important for The Stanley Works to prevail on the matter.

The short answer was: losing The Stanley Works would destroy New Britain and its major work force. By extension, losing would weaken the state's overall economy and its prestige as a manufacturing center.

Don Davis believed that the employees of The Stanley Works were that company's most-valuable asset. If they prospered, so would their community and his company.

Anyone out there in corporate America talking that kind of talk today?

The corporate weasels who invest in foreign jobs to the detriment of American workers -- and our communities -- ought to pay attention to the life and times and successes of Don Davis.

Postscript: Donald W. Davis succumbed to lymphoma last September, at the age of 89.