Many companies were devastated by loss of workforce and raw materials during World War II. With all of the country’s resources going toward the war effort, by the end of the conflict, some companies had ceased to exist while others were a mere shadow of their previous size and strength. One of example of a company in the latter category who managed to rebuild and persevere was southwestern company .
Founded in 1855, the company had ground to a halt during WWII and had only five full-time employees and some secretaries on staff by 1947. It was the energy and enthusiasm of those five employees that allowed the company to rebound and then expand to the international family of companies it is in 2010.
In 1946 Fred Landers had a list of 43 names of people he felt were good prospects to join the southwestern sales team. Landers, along with Dortch Oldham and R.W. “Bob” Henderson had returned from war and sold books in the summer of 46. They noticed that books were easier to sell in the post-war economic boom and turned Landers list of 43 prospects into a sales force of between 400-500 people by 1948. The combination of a blossoming population of soldiers and their children needing educational books and a huge workforce looking for jobs as war industries shut down, created a perfect balance of demand and supply. The three comrades criss-crossed the country recruiting, selling, and motivating new salesmen in a textbook example of how to rebuild a company after a major war.