The Demise of the Big 3 is Good for our Community

Last week’s announcement of the acquisition of Xerox by Fuji, Ltd. is another nail in the coffin of Rochester’s Big 3.  I would contend that they have been long dead and good riddance.

I don’t mean to minimize the suffering of those who may lose their jobs as a result.  Nor, am I ignoring the emotional impact on a community that long identified with our erstwhile leading employers and benefited from their contribution to our community. 

I am simply saying that these events over the last 25 years or so are part of the natural order.  Just as the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age, companies come and companies go.  Both Xerox and Kodak were part of the Nifty 50 highflying stocks in the early 1970’s, a list that includes many companies that are long gone.  Those that have survived, including GE, IBM, and AT&T, have done so by morphing into something else.  A time traveler from the 70’s wouldn’t recognize them today.

I am tempted to quote Michael Douglas’ “greed is good” speech from the movie “Wall Street.”  But, the last time I did that I was buried by hate-email.  I could also quote its counterpart in economic theory, Schumpeter’s “Theory of Creative Destruction.”  But, that would put you to sleep. Instead I’ll simply point out that the demise of the Big 3 is not one of the Seven Deadly Sins and, moreover, we are complicit. 

As a consuming society, we have explicitly expressed a preference for email over the post office and Netflix over Blockbuster – to say nothing of the number of businesses that have been disrupted by the Internet from travel agents to Big Box retail.  No one looks back and mourns the loss of jobs from those transitions.  We’re too busy consuming what they sell.

And, so, the Big 3 are no longer Rochester’s biggest employers because their customers now prefer the better products and services of others. 

For the most part, the impact of the Big 3 on the local economy has been gradual.  The move of Xerox’ headquarters, the big layoffs at Kodak, and the sale of Bausch & Lomb occurred over a 30 year period.  And, what has happened in the wake of those activities?

Entrepreneurs have founded companies, like Conserve, eHealth Technologies and SunCommon NY, which have grown quickly, providing jobs and healthy working environments.  In short, our community has become less dependent on large mega-corporations and thrives on fuel provided by smaller companies with local owners. 

Local business owners are more likely to be good citizens of our community.  They support local charities, create jobs locally, and ask less of taxpayers in the form of infrastructure and tax breaks. 

We -- their neighbors, customers and stakeholders – should stop mourning the loss of a bygone era and begin to identify with the community we have become.