音频下载[点击右键另存为]
Forget about a big fat check from Uncle Sam, here survival means a bailout of a different kind, for Accutech Photo Machining, it means owner Paul Gemellaro is cutting his pay in half. From ($)75,000 to less than ($)40K, also he can pay his employees.
“Well, there was, er, no credit available for us, and you know, the bills keep piling up, so, and a lot of people at work here are my friends, so that makes it more difficult. But you know, they’re loyal to me, and you know, they / helped me through the tough time, so I have to return the loyalty.”
His employees are not just thankful, but willing to work even harder.
“It’s amazing, I don’t know anybody else really who would do that, because, you know, you have your own responsibilities for your own family. It’s very difficult to go from making money to making nothing.”
Gemellaro isn't alone in his generosity. According to a December study done by office supply retailer Staples, 50% of small business owners have cut their own salaries to avoid layoffs. Meg Hagele (“Right, right, right.”) who owns High Point Café, hasn’t paid herself since December, and says she has dipped into her own savings to pay her staff.
“I take huge responsibility for the fact that I have 15 people who depend on me for their living. And that's something that I take very seriously and I think that’s what’s missing in large business.”
Experts say small business owners have little choice. They don’t have much fat to trim. “Small business owners really get to know each and everyone of their employees. They live with them, and work with them, so it’s much different than a big business where everybody is more anonymous certainly as you get past, say, a particular department.” “Here you go, sweetheart.”
Of course, both Hagele and Gemellaro would like some government help, but both say they would never accept a bailout, what do they want? For the banks to start lending again, so they can make payroll, and still manage to bring home a paycheck.
How often have you heard that the Obama administration says it has a substantial program in place to get the banks to lend money again! But it hasn’t happened yet.
Carol Costello, cnn, Washington.
Vocabulary:
1. K: 【口】1000
2. pile up: to arrange things in a pile
3. trim: To remove (excess) by cutting