The company I now own with my
sister was started as a painting company
by my grandfather in 1916.
When my father took it over in
1941, he changed it to a general
contracting firm. He specialized
first in home building, then in
commercial remodeling, with a speciality
wallpaper company on the
side.
It was a successful business. By
the time I joined the company in
1968 to do payroll and job costing,
my father had a crew of 30 men in
various trades, from truck drivers to
cabinetmakers. He worked hard to
make sure these people
had work. He succeeded,
even though
it meant long hours
and that, at times, he
had to skip paying
himself.
In the 1970s, however,
the continuous
boom that