Monica Yant Kinney: A Bucks man's challenge for churning out new jobs

Gene Epstein awoke at 3 a.m. recently with an idea to jump-start the economy. But it would cost him. Gene's dreams usually do.

The Bucks County insomniac made millions in cars and real estate, retired before 40, and began putting his money where his heart is. He's sent kids to college, fed the hungry, and clothed the homeless, but this plan was bigger and bolder than any he'd ever hatched.

"What," Epstein wondered, "if we convinced small businesses to hire just one new employee?"

Employers could slash overtime and increase productivity. Overworked veterans would welcome the help, as new hires would gain buying power, potentially boosting other businesses' bottom lines.

"This could be an incredible ballooning chain of positive events!" Epstein plotted in the dark. "Here's a way to turn the economy around without government interference. No Democrats saying, 'I did this.' No Republicans saying, 'I did that.' "

Epstein needed a hook, an incentive to move nervous executives off the dime. What if he gave $1,000 to charity for every job created?

A salesman at heart, Gene pitched his plan to

Action News

, which led to an

ABC World News

segment on change agents.

"Businesses have created what we are in the United States," the Newtown man told the national TV audience of his offer to spend up to $250,000 paying it forward. "Why can't they be the salvation for what we are in the United States?"

A Huffington Post profile two days later generated 500 comments and landed Epstein, 71, on CNN.

"I've been up since 3:30 a.m.," he told me when I dropped by Monday. "We still need a name. And a logo. And a website."

By week's end, he had all three, after graphic designer Steve Williams volunteered his services. "You've got to be direct, say what it is," Williams explained. The result is "Hire Just One: Putting America Back to Work - One Person at a Time."

The media machine was up and running. But would it churn out any new jobs?

"We'd been talking about making hires, but had been afraid to pull the trigger."

That was Philip Chant of Chant Engineering, a 40-person manufacturer in New Britain. He's never met Epstein, but after mulling the Hire Just One campaign, he agreed to hire four more - an electrical engineer, a shop tech, a quality-control expert, and an assistant bookkeeper.

In King of Prussia, Bearoff & Co. added a fourth real estate appraiser after one of the firm's founders saw Epstein on TV.

"I thought it was an exciting challenge," said Gretchen Bearoff, an animal lover who asked Epstein to give her $1,000 to the SPCA.

"We've given someone a job and improved our ability to service our clients," added Thomas Bearoff. "It's like throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples."

In short order, Epstein inspired 25 hires nationwide. An increasing number of curious employers contact him every day.

Hire Just One is a "nice gesture," said Temple University economics professor Bill Dunkelberg, but "as an economic-stimulus package, it's not going anywhere."

All those hires, he said, must generate more than their salaries in revenue to create value for their employer. "And we still have too many small businesses waiting for customers to show up."

I shared the grim prediction with Epstein, who has no time for pessimism. He's too busy recruiting volunteers to cruise I-95 in informational Hire Just One vans.

"I have nothing against economists," Epstein sniffed, "but they're not businesspeople."

Besides, he's asking employers to promise to retain new workers only for at least six months.

Every entrepreneur knows you've got to make the numbers add up. If they don't, Hire Just One becomes Fire Just One. That's life, and capitalism.

To learn more about

the Hire Just One campaign, go to www.hirejustone.org

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