Passage 1

Together, the employer and the employees pay over a million dollars each year in state and local taxes. Together, they provide materials for about one-fourth of the automobiles produced in the United States. Together, they haveshoweredstockholders with over a half-million dollars in dividends (股息）in the past five years. Together, they make up Karson Manufacturing (制造厂), the area’s largest employer.

Karson Manufacturing began as a garage operation when, in 1952, the late Rodney Karson started machining parts for local businesses. As business developed, he moved to the present location on Oak Road. But the site was hardly the same then as today. Photographs in the 1962 edition of the Daily News show the company as little more than a series of one-story brick buildings, obviously added as needed. Not until 1983 did the present facility begin to lake shape. Additions in 1998 and 2003 resulted in today's facility.

George Hatman, vice-president of the manufacturing, began with the company in 1958. “I still remember my interview with Mr. Rodney Karson. He wore a blue work shirt, sleeves rolled up, with black suspenders holding up his work pants. He looked like all the rest of the workers except for his hat. He wore this funny bowler with a red hat band. Usually he kept a pencil stuck in the hat band. Don't know why. Never saw him use it. But that's the way he showed up for the interview. Funny, but I’d worn my best suit. Thought I should try to impress him.”

“We didn't talk long. He asked me a few questions about experience. I didn't have any but I was willing to work. So you know what he said? He said, ‘Well, get yourself home, son, and put on some work clothes. Come back this afternoon and we’ll see what you’re made of.’ That’s what I did. And I’m still here.”

Hatman believes that Karson's philosophy made the company what it is today. “He thought if you wanted to work, you were a good man to have on the team. And that's what we have here 一 a team. We all pull together, work together, make decisions together, show success together. It's really a good team to be on!”