Jon Huntsman and Armenia

NOVEMBER 19, 2005
Business Week
By Bremen Leak

Until his family business went public this year, Jon Huntsman sat at the top of the world's largest privately held chemical company, Huntsman Corp. (HUN ) Nearing bankruptcy just a few years ago, Huntsman staged a remarkable comeback. Now it's paying off pledges and thanking supporters with new gifts.

A cancer survivor, the University of Pennsylvania graduate continually funds his cancer institute and the Wharton School at his alma mater. [...]. I mentioned in my book that my father was a rural schoolteacher, and I'm not Jewish, but a wonderful Jewish family gave me a scholarship to the Wharton school.
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How has your philanthropy evolved with the global expansion of your business?

We have the need of food and shelter in many countries, but we're getting more into medical care and particularly cancer care in different parts of the world. It started strictly with the earthquake of 1988 in Armenia, and that evolved into a lot of apartments-- 40-unit apartment buildings. We've been building those for probably 15 years. We've brought in trainloads of food -- 75 railcars at a time -- during harsh winters of '93 and '94.

We opened a beautiful new school, one of the largest in Armenia, about a year and a half ago, and we continuously provide medical equipment and supplies.

It's always been a labor of love, and it's been a great source of joy to be able to do this, particularly in areas where we have facilities and where people really appreciate the private sector getting involved.

I'm not Armenian or from any of those areas, but it doesn't matter. When it comes to charity and humanitarian focus, one is totally color-blind.

How do you make sure that your charitable dollars are doing the most work?

I have people here in my office who are just focused on our charitable giving, and what they focus on, under my direction, is to see that our dollars go directly to the people involved and not into administration. We're very, very careful when we give these large sums of money, for instance, to Armenia. We do it through our own warehouses. We distribute food through our own warehouses -- and fuel, eyeglasses, concrete panels that we build to construct buildings. We do all the distribution ourselves in countries where we're large enough, so that we can have total accountability with our own people. In areas where we can't, we ensure that the overhead is as minimal as possible. [...].

How should charity-minded companies respond during economic downturns?

Corporations, in my opinion, have as much of an obligation to putting back into society as they do to enhancing shareholders' wealth. You won't hear that from many people, but I believe that firmly. During the difficult years of Huntsman, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, when energy costs were extremely high and the company was not profitable because of recession and energy costs spiraling out of control, I simply had to borrow money from banks to keep the cancer institute going, to keep my obligations at Wharton and to universities and Armenia. You can't just give money during good years, because during good years most charitable causes are flush with funds anyway. The time they need them is during the difficult times when most people say: "I can't afford to give anymore." That's the exact time when you have to honor your commitments and to stand up and let your character and your integrity be more than your pocketbook.
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Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.