I tuned in partway through this radio segment on NPR over the weekend so I'm not sure what I missed, but what I heard still put a smile on my face and restored some of my faith in "business" amidst all this bad news of millions being laid off.

A family-owned ball bearing factory near Chicago has about 200 employees. Apparently they are all like a big family. Then, one day, the employees hear the news that the company has been sold. They're shocked. "Oh, no...are we all getting laid off?" There's a big meeting where the acquisition is announced. A Swedish company bought them out, and has agreed to keep all of them! And not only that, every person also got an envelope (sounds like being a guest on Oprah). Inside, was a check for a very large amount of money, which varies with your salary and length of service with the company. One guy on the segment said he's getting $100,000--and still keeps his job! Another woman says that this check is helping her get her home out of foreclosure.

The owners are giving 20% of what they made on the sale back to their employees, which comes out to $6.6 million. Wow, that's really great. Anonymous, hands off investors and shareholders don't make great companies, great management and great employees make great companies, so it's nice to hear about employees getting something, too.

I haven't gone back and listened to the whole thing, but I think the show I heard is here.