In stimulus effort, pharmacy owner puts own money to work for recovery

BREWTON, Ala. If only the federal stimulus plan works this well.

A local pharmacy owner in a small Alabama community has launched his own economic stimulus package, and stores in the region already are seeing a modest uptick in sales, according to a report from the Associated Press.

Danny Cottrell, owner-operator of The Medical Center Pharmacy, decided that the government’s plan to stimulate the flat-lined economy made sense. So Cottrell, whose operation includes drug stores in both Brewton and nearby Atmore, Ala., decided to fund a stimulus plan of his own – out of his own pocket.

Cottrell called his employees together for a meeting late last month, reportedly generating new fears among some employees already worried about the economy, store closings and layoffs. But instead of handing out pink slips, Cottrell passed out envelopes stuffed with hundreds of dollars in cash – all in $2 bills, AP reported, so that he and other local business owners could track how the money was spent.

Each full-time employee got $700; part-timers got $300. Cottrell’s only stipulation: that his employees give 15 percent of the bonus to charity and spend the rest in local stores – downtown stores if possible – to boost the local economy.

Total cost to Cottrell: $16,000, according to AP. Some employees at the meeting reportedly wept when receiving the money.

“It's not a huge amount of money,” Cottrell modestly told AP. “It would have a more noticeable impact if someone with more resources came up with a huge amount of money, but the times are tough.”

No word yet on whether some of the titans of Wall Street are planning similar examples of personal altruism to boost the economy. But it’s worth noting that $16,000 is the same amount reportedly spent by one well-heeled former CEO for a shower curtain.