Helping Hands

When Philadelphia's Connelly Container Corp. went up in flames last January after a banner year ($7,000,000 in sales), all that Owner John F. Connelly could salvage from the wreckage was a water-soaked picture of his wife from his half-burned desk. It seemed that Connelly, who had founded his company in 1950 after quitting as Eastern sales manager for Container Corp. of America, would be out of business for some time.

But while firemen were still wetting down the ashes, Connelly rented half the second floor of the Penn-Sheraton Hotel for temporary offices and installed his staff. While some were scouting around for an empty plant to move into, Connelly's salesmen were out after orders.

Before long, having collected the first installment ($500,000) of insurance, Connelly was flooded with messages of encouragement and offers of help. An employee returned a still uncashed Christmas bonus check to Connelly, told him: "You'll need that, getting us back in the ball game."

Until he could get going again, such competitors as Robert Gair Co., Seaboard Container and Fiberboard Products offered to help Connelly keep his business by filling his orders. Soon his trucks, which had not been damaged, were picking up boxes made by competitors and stamped with his name, and delivering them to his customers. Connelly found the empty 25-acre plant of a closed down iron foundry just outside the city limits, and bought it for $500,000. Thirteen labor unions got their members to work round the clock to rush it into shape. But he still needed machinery. Machinery makers combed their order lists, persuaded customers to let them divert $300,000 worth of equipment to Connelly's greater need.

Last week, only, 39 days after the fire, Connelly and his competitors gathered at a celebration opening the new plant. By next month the 400 employees will all be back. Despite the fire, Connelly expects to sell more boxes this year than last. Said he: "I didn't know there were so many unselfish souls in one country."

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