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4 * SPEECH AT DINNER CELEBRATING THE OPENING OF MARTINEZ PLANT NOVEMBER 12, 1964_________ Thank you, F e r g , v ery much. I would hope I d eserve, and m ore im portant, live up to the nice .things you have said. Before I say another word, I want to thank you, F e r g , for your untiring efforts in making our plant opening and this gathering such a su cce ss. You have handled the hundred and one details in addition to Your very taxing job. It is a good example of the cooperation which exists in our Thomson fam ily. On behalf of some 1100 employees of Thomson Company it is my privilege to welcome you this evening, with a p articu larly w arm greeting to our many new friends in M artinez and Evans who have provided our magnificent new M artinez plant. Time would not perm it referen ce to the contribution of each individual. Buddy Grey is the sparkplug who determined that industry m ust com e to M artinez and brushed aside all ob stacles. What an a sse t he is to your community. Tonight, we Thomson employees take the opportunity to proudly look back to our beginning, and re fle ct upon our p ro g re ss. It has been a happy journey, made possible only by the hard and dedicated work, the jubilation and heartaches of many people. The founding ©f Thomson Company on January 6, 1936 reflected the initiative and courage of H arry Johnson, A rchie Clarke and Lavelle M cCampbell. What we 2. have seen today justifies th eir courage and confirm s th eir good judgment. in its firs t year Thomson prospered. Even By 1940 we had expanded by opening the Millen plant. In 1955 H arlem was added. In 1958 we built a huge Service C enter, to efficiently handle our cu sto m ers1 o rd e rs. Opening M artinez reconfirm s the confidenceof our Company in the Central Savannah R iver a re a . employ about 120 op erators. Initially we will T hereafter we have the space to double our payroll, and that is our intention. Our slacks line at the beginning consisted of a couple of styles in a couple of fa b rics, in the cheapest construction retailing at $ 1 .4 9 to $2. 49 . Gradually the product was upgraded, reflecting both the ability of southern operators to produce garm ents of better quality, and the A m erican C onsum er's d esire, and ability, to buy better products, with m ore money to spend and m ore leisu re time for recreatio n . By 1948 we had advanced com pletely into d ress slack s. Today, our m en’s slacks a re in the middle p rice bracket, retailing from $5. 95 to $1 9 . 95. Our lad ies’ slacks - "M r. T hom son.. .p le a se ! " have reached national leadership in a rem arkably short tim e. Next Spring M r. Thomson will add coordinated tops and jack ets, of which many of you have seen a preview this afternoon. Our products a re sold to the great chains, whose support and confidence we will always cherish, and strive to d eserve, - J . C. Penney and the Belk Stores, and to re ta ile rs , large and sm all, throughout the country. Another great m ilestone was reached on April 20 of this y ear, when Thomson b e c a m e a wholly owned subsidiary of Salant and Salant. Salant, in 72 y ears 3. since its founding in 1893* has been successful and has earned the highest reputation for integrity. In its twelve m odem plants it produces m ore than twenty-five million slack s, utility pants, sh irts, jackets and children's outfits per y ear. The Thomson stockholders conclucded that the Salant philosophy of business conduct, that its resp ect for its employees, coincided with ou rs, that our officers and employees would be assured of a compatible association, and that together the two companies could prosper m ore than they could ap art. What is the key to the su ccess of all en terp rises? To us a t Thomson there a re two fundamental ingredients: good people and good corporate citizenship. never forget Charlie W ilson's "G eneral M otors is people". "is people". many people. L e t's Thomson likewise As a case in point, opening a new plant involves hard work by To give the impetus in training a la rg e number of new operators Ju el T urner, General Forelady and Bum ease Lane, Training Supervisor at Millen, Ethel Poole, General Quality Supervisor and Mildred Cowart, Quality Supervisor at Thomson, Jim C arpenter, Bob M urray and Em m et Brown, Industr Engineers, and Bill Ansley and Ed Pounds, respectively in charge of building and m achinery maintenance, a re making a long round trip daily. These people would rath er be at their own jobs at home, but their creed is cooperation. here tonight, and I thank all of them from the bottom of my h eart. T hey're E v ery operator, cu tter, bundle boy, and order picker, every forelady and forem an, supervisor and m echanic, each department head and officer - they a re Thomson. I want you to m eet some of these key people. Each is equally im portant, so I will introduce 4. t hem alphabetically. I will ask them to stand and remain standing as a group: First, two w h o contributed so m u c h and are n o w enjoying well deserved retirement - Harry Johnson and Leonard Berry. H a m Berry, Vice President, w h o is responsible for manufac tu ring. Gordon Buss, Executive Vice President and General Merchandise Manager, and our m a n with Penney. Gene Cook in charge of production. Joe Gladden, Vice President in charge of Male Retail Sales. I wish that Mrs. Jules Gorlitz, known in the trade as A n n Behrens, our W o m e n ’ Sportswear styles^ and s Jules Gorlitz, nMr. T h o m s o n ” in person, w h o heads our W o m e n ’ Sportswear Department could be here, but they are s busy selling, and that comes first. P e rrow Jones, Vice President in charge of customer service, and the m a n so v/ell regarded by Belk. Harrison Jones, Assistant Secretary of the company, and the first of the active employees. D o n N e w s o m e , Director of Planning and Engineering w h o prepared our operating plans and directs our staff of industrial engineers. Bob Wilson, our Treasurer. Ferg Young, w h o handles the merchandising of our W o m e n ’ s Sportswear, and last, the m a n m a n y of you will see most often, Bill Bryant, Manager of the Martinez plant. Our people perform well together. T h o m s o n selects people w h o enjoy their work. 5. We a re surrounded with compatible people. environment. We do our jobs in an attractiv e Engineering R esearch is continuously directed to in creasing our efficiency, and of utm ost im portance* Thomson is dedicated to sharing the rewards with all our people. E v ery employee gets paid r e c e s s e s , holidays and vacations. E v ery employee is provided with group life insurance, hospitalization and surgical insurance, entirely at company expense, F e d e ra l Old Age Insurance leaves off. Our Retirem ent Plan picks up where We pay the m aximum average wages that the competitive p rice structure of oux industry p erm its. We a re as happy as our operators when we com pare present average wages to the 2 2 - l / 2 £ hourly rate in 1936, - just im agine, 2 2 - l / 2 £ an hour! We place g reat emphasis on individual incentive bonuses w herever possible, so that the individual can d irectly benefit from his efficiency. A ll those key people that I introduced to you, and a number of others, d irectly participate in the profits of the company. Out efforts have been well rewarded. gold watches upon the completion of 10 y e a rs 1 se rv ice . We have given 440 employees A fter 15 years* serv ice our employees a re entitled to a third week's paid vacation and 18.5 will enjoy that third week this y ear; 87 of our employees have received a sterling silv er flatware service upon the completion of 20 y e a rs ' serv ice . The second important factor is that as a company we m ust behave as a good citizen in the broadest sense. Tonight it is appropriate to look at one important facet of good citizenship, - our behavior in each of the communities in which we operate. 6. N o relationship can be closer than that of a community and its industries. look to the community for its help and cooperation. We W e have the obligation, in turn, to constantly support our communities. Since 1936 w e have paid out m o r e than $40, 000, 000 in salaries and wages in the three communities in which w e operate. Our payrolls in the Central Savannah River area will run at an annual rate of $4, 000, 000. But w e must do m o r e than that to merit the confidence and support of our communities. activities in every respect available to us. W e must support community W e must do everything w e can to m a k e each community a m o r e pleasant place in which to w o r k and live. This w e intend to do in Martinez w e are n o w doing in Thomson, Millen and Harlem. If any short comings on our part b e come apparent w e hope w e will be promptly told. N o w I will short-cut our chairman, selfishly because of the pleasure the assignment gives to me. I want you to meet one of the finest friends I have ever had, in m y judgment the ablest all-round executive in the apparel industry and the m a n w h o is running Salant and Salant, - Joe Lipshie. Thank you. I hope he will give us a few words.
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