Two days ago, Matt received a call from Wal$-$Mart. It had stunned him. Wal$-$Mart had plans to come to Lost Acres, which was astride the interstate freeway. The community was not accustomed to attention from national companies. It was still very much a community where everyone knew everyone else and liked doing business at local stores.

Bill Harrington, the executive responsible for development of Wal$-$Mart in the Midwest region, had called. He explained to Matt that Wal$-$Mart was still in the planning stages for moving into the Lost Acres area. Harrington stated that his company was familiarizing itself with Lost Acres and the surrounding area to determine how best Wal$-$Mart could "penetrate" the area. $"$We want to foster a future for Lost Acres," Bill said. He then got right to the point: he wanted to recruit Matt to help in the planning of the store when it opened. Wal$-$Mart felt that utilizing a local businessman in this capacity would help establish the new store and make the opening smoother. Wal$-$Mart$$s salary offer to manage the new store would be over twice the amount Matt was currently taking out of the business for family and personal expenses.

Thoughts flew through Matt$$s head as the Wal$-$Mart executive spoke. Big corporate America was swooping in on Lost Acres, he thought, and this would radically alter both the business landscape and the civic identity of the town. As a two$-$term president of the local merchant association, Matt knew how important locally owned businesses were to Lost Acres and how they fostered a strong community. Instead of profits being re$-$invested into the community, profits would now end up in some state two thousand miles away. Matt also thought about the employment consequences of Wal$-$Mart moving in$.$ He$,$ along with numerous other local business people would inevitably be driven out of business. Although Matt knew that many could expect to find jobs in the new store, he also knew the simple arithmetic: not everyone laid off could be absorbed by Wal$-$Mart; many would be left without jobs or forced to take low paying jobs. Matt also thought about how his decision would affect his own standing in town. Many would blame him for the failure of several long$-$standing businesses and for helping to create so much uncertainty in the community. All these thoughts raced through Matt$$s head as Harrington spoke about Wal$-$Mart$$s big plans.

"You should know that I$$m carrying on a family business that has been around for $100$ years," Matt told Harrington $"$I$$m not really in a position to just give it away." Matt quickly envisioned the option of organizing a united front to block Wal$-$Mart$$s arrival. He knew several members on the city council and was close friends with the mayor. As a leader of the merchant community, maybe he could rally the town and city council to pass an ordinance effectively blocking Wal$-$Mart.

But at that point, Matt realized the urgency of the situation. He knew that if he didn$$t take the general manager position then someone else would. Or Wal$-$Mart might just send one of their own people to open and manage the store. In any case, Wal$-$Mart$$s impending arrival certainly created more questions than it answered. Matt hung up with Harrington and headed toward the local bar. He knew he needed a stiff drink to digest what had transpired and straighten out what he would do$.$

The Meeting:

Bill had asked Matt if he could meet with him. He wanted to meet close to Lost Acres, but not in the town, so as to avoid any exposure of Wal$-$Mart$$s plans to the local community. Matt was to call him back so that they could set up a meeting to discuss his decision. As he thought about calling, his future, his family$$s future, and the community$$s future weighed heavily on his mind.