The Story of Chapman’s Ice Cream

Chapman’s Ice Cream is legendary in Canada.  They are a family-owned and operated business in northern Ontario.  What makes Chapman’s a great story is not the quality of their ice cream (I have never had it), but rather their response to a disaster in September 2009.

On September 4, 2009, their creamery burned to the ground, essentially stopping production for the entire company.  Because of where the company is located, the ripple effect of this could have been disastrous.  Nearly everyone in Markdale, ON works for Chapman’s.  It was the classic story where a small factory town loses the factory, and the town disappears.

Except that it didn’t.  Chapman’s, through an insurance policy they had been paying on for nearly 40 years, kept every single employee either on their payroll or helped them to subcontract with the companies that were used to resurrect the operations of the company.  Chapman’s contracted with their competitors at times just to keep production moving and keep their people working.

Chapman’s returned to limited operation just seven weeks after the fire, and were back in full production a few months later.  Not only that, but they actually hired more people when they returned to full production than they had employed prior to the fire.

The lesson in this story, that we should all remember, is that the people who work with you and for you are the most valuable asset your company will ever have.  The Chapman family understood this and acted this way for 40 years before it was ever put to the test.

Question:  What do you do to keep your employees happy and productive?