Yesterday dozens of local businessmen and women gathered together at the monthly Jewish Business Network event which featured a talk by the legendary former CEO of Malden Mills, Aaron Feuerstein. The event which was held at the Wingate at Sudbury included the talk by Mr. Feuerstein, networking time, and refreshments and socializing time.
Mr. Feuerstein who was the owner and CEO of the Malden Mills for many years became a national legend following the devastating fire that destroyed his mills and almost destroyed his business. At the time thousands of people worked and earned their livelihoods at Malden Mills. When the employees saw the destruction and devastation wrought by the fire, they assumed and predicted that the company was finished and so were their jobs.
But the next day Mr. Feuerstein got up and declared to his workers that we will rebuild and we are not going anywhere. Two days later, wages were due. "Pay everyone in full and on time," Feuerstein ordered. Along with the payroll checks Feuerstein included a $275 bonus for the New Year season, and a note: "Do not despair. God bless each of you." He continued to pay his workers for 6 months following the fire to the tune of $25 Million Dollars and was revered as a national hero for his ethics and in the way he treated his workers.
Mr. Feurestein spoke of his upbringing and the values that he learned from his grandfather, who used to go around and pay every worker at the end of every day's work, and from his father who continued to run his business in the spirit of Jewish Torah ethics and values.
Mr. Feuerstein explained that in his view the reason why he was titled "the Mentch of Malden" was more telling of the times we are in, in which money and 100% profitability are the way of the game and less about him doing something special. He explained that 100 years earlier what he had done was considered normal, but in 20th century what he did was abnormal.
Mr. Feuerstein spoke of the Torah view which although it encourages success 
and entrepreneurship nevertheless it doesn't define the goal of work to be 100% profitability. Rather he quoted from last week's Torah portion the idea that we "leave over some of the field and the vineyards for the poor among your people and the strangers that are among you".
Following his speech there were some questions and answers from the audience which was then followed by the Business Networking part of the evening in which people could introduce themselves and what they do and then network among the crowd.
A special thanks to Mr. Alan Shapiro of Delaney Uniform Service 
(http://www.alluniforms.com) who sponsored the evening, and to the JBN committee for helping plan this event. A special thanks to Mr. Ed Brookmyer who worked so hard to make this event a success.
The event was recorded and we are planning on uploading it to the web in the near future.
The next JBN event will take place on Wednesday May 26th. For more info about the JBN please visit www.jbnsudbury.com or email [email protected]
Join us on Linkedin by clicking here http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=2693738 . If you don't yet have a profile on Linkedin you will need to create one first.
The Jewish Business Network of Sudbury is a project of the Chabad Center of Sudbury and is run by a dedicated Committee.
The JBN aims to bring people together and provide a venue and opportunity for networking, connecting, business development, idea sharing, learning and giving back to the community.
To see many more pictures of the event click here.
Ed Brookmyer wrote...