---

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992                   TAG: 9201280295
SECTION: ECONOMY                    PAGE: 13   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

---

SUCCESS IN TIMES OF STRESS

Making it.

Hard times often bring out the resolve to survive and prosper in companies and well as individuals. While much of the current recession's news has dealt with layoffs, bankruptcies and retrenchment, the spirit to succeed has remained alive in Western Virginia companies.

Portrayed on this page are stories of four outfits that have ways to buck adversity. Their stories are of small businesses owners with a penchant for quality goods, who know how to treat customers well, who provide an indispensable service and who have forged common goals between workers and managers. Together, they say something significant about the ability to do business when it would be easier to give up the fight or avoid taking a risk.

A recession can be especially hard on small companies. Often those firms already have lean operations when a downturn dictates more cost-cutting. When sales and profits slide, small businesses usually are the first to be hit and the last to feel the effects of a recovery.

But hear the optimism of Willie Smith, who opened his own business despite the advice that this was no time for such a venture. Smith said he was tired of working for someone else and knew his own talents. So Willie's Car Clinic was born.

Or consider the 250 people who work at the two Roanoke outfits operated by Twin City Textiles Inc. In bankruptcy since last July, the company has survived so far because its workers and managers are pulling together.

And are making it.

---