Chicago Tube & Iron from 1942 – 1972

Mr. Haigh was a very benevolent individual whose high concern for people resulted in a strong paternalistic management environment. In fact, one of the primary motives for his non-leverage financial philosophy was that, in times of business downturn or economic uncertainty, he was able to minimize the need to reduce staff in order to fund or finance debt service. In the downturns of the cyclical steel industry, he had only one financial obligation to satisfy, and that was the payroll. In his paternalistic style, which was later passed on to subsequent successor managements, he provided many progressive employee oriented benefits, such as profit sharing, as early as 1942.