Acker + Associates P.C. Attorneys

While traveling on vacation, I took a double-take at a billboard proclaiming, "Recession 101: It's a test not a final." Apparently, various Recession 101 billboards are appearing across the U.S. with similar, upbeat messages intended to help us through these tough, economic times.  No, this is not Big Brother but a campaign sponsored by an anonymous donor on the east coast.  Yet, current economic conditions can also provide opportunity.  More people became millionaires in the years immediately following the Great Depression than any other time in U.S. history.  In recessions/depressions, entrepreneurs usually face lower start-up costs, can benefit from fireside sales for equipment and assets, and commercial rents are usually quite cheap.  In Kentucky, a grandfather started serving fried chicken at his gas station.  By 1937 he was able to open a 42-seat restaurant.  The grandfather was known as Colonel Sanders.  Two, young electrical engineering graduates started an electrical machine business in a rented garage. By 1939 they officially became partners, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.  As one of the billboards reads, "Recession 101: Interesting fact about recessions . . . they end."  And while they continue, don't miss the giant sale.