Manus & Associates is not the only company set up to give away
its profits - Paul Newman has given away more than $175 million
raised through his Newman's Own brand since he bottled his first
salad dressing in 1982 - but it definitely is a rare bird. And
there are plenty of philanthropic programs, but few businesses are
set up to give away the bottom line. Clearly, it requires a sizable
cash reserve or an additional business to be able to give up a fair
share of the profits.
Bill Broich and his wife, Phyllis McGavick Broich, do just that
with their second business, McGavick Winery in (appropriately
enough) Grapeview, Washington.
In 1976, Bill Broich founded the Ste. Chapelle Winery in
Sunnyslope, Idaho, then sold it to go into the insurance business.
Five years ago he decided he wanted to get back into winemaking as
a hobby. But since the couple had to go "through all those hoops"
of getting a license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms anyway, says McGavick Broich, they decided to do something
more than their original plan of a "little hobby winery." They swap
cases of their wine for $200 checks - which are tax-deductible -
made out to one of five local charities. "The theory behind this is
to help the greater good by providing help on the local level,"
says Broich. The winery produces about 3,000 cases of wine per
year.
The Broiches pay all of the winery's overhead out of their own
pockets - at least $80,000 annually.
But the Broiches make it clear that they get back a lot more than
the dollars they put in: "We have been blessed in recent years, and
this is our way of giving back to our community," says Broich.
Actually, the winery motto is noblesse oblige - the blessed
are obliged. His wife adds: "We spent so much time working hard on
the insurance business that we didn't get to focus on that"
giving-back sort of attitude.