lawrence, Massachusetts, is 25 miles north of Boston. In the mid-1800s it was one of several planned industrial sites that developed the local textile industry based on the waterpower derived from the nearby Merrimack River. By 1900 the closely held private firm. The company survived a number of boom and bust cycles and watched the exodus of other manufacturers to the American South and overseas.In 1981 the firm developed Polar Tec, a lightweight versatile fleece fabric that has become synonymous with outdoor gear, and its future seemed secure. However, on a bitterly cold night in December 1995,a devastating fire burned most of the plant to the ground. The CEO, Aaron Feurstein, could have accepted an insurance settlement and closed the factory or moved operations overseas.Instead, he spent 15 million of his own money keeping all 3000 employees on the payroll,with benefits for three months while the factory was rebuilt. Fauarstein said, I have a responsibility to the worker. I have an equal responsibility to the community. It would have been unconscionable to put 3000 people on the street and deliver a deathblow to the cities of Lawrence and Mathuen. Maybe on paper our town had a population of over 95000 and mills that worked day and night. In 1906,Henry Feuerstein founded Malden Mills in nearby Lowell and relocated it to Lawrence in 1956.It has traditionally been a company is worth less to Wall Street,but I can tell you it is worth more. While the factory was being rebuilt,the human resources division used federal and state funding t o give many of the displaced workers additional training, especially on computers. Feuerstein was lionized in the press and given a number of national and international awards for his stance. The new plant is environmentally sensitive, and reportedly individual productivity in creased significantly. Nevertheless, Malden Mills again hit hard time. Face with financial difficulties that stemmed largely from financial the debt for rebuilding, it filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2001. In October 2003, the firm successfully emerged from Chapter 11.Aaron Feuerstein has been replaced as CEO,and there are six new directors on the board. Recent orders from the US armed forces have given Malden Mills a significant boost.