There was definitely a market, but how were the tailors going to react? There were none present today. There were guild rules and there were laws about who could make clothes, but no rules about using machines to make clothing. Not yet, anyway. Karl got to meet several people he had wanted to meet for some time. The Wendells, and Dave Marcantonio especially. He needed to know things before he decided what to do.
Food had been cooked, and brought by guests. There was not nearly enough Coca-Cola for all the guests, so it stayed in the fridge. Beer and Kool-Aid were available though. Conversation flowed. Problems were brought up. The cost of the sewing machines was still very high. The value of the company had jumped sharply from what it had been just the day before. Legal questions about children running a company, that had seemed less important when it was a hobby in all but name, were asked. Where would sewing machines be sold? How would they be sold? Sarah Wendell held forth on the subjects of dealerships and “rent with an option to buy.”
David Bartley wandered around the party, getting more and more worried as time went on. Aside from Mr. and Mrs. Wendell, there were some other members of the finance committee, and they were busy questioning whether children should be allowed to manage such a potentially valuable export. Mr. Schmidt was asking about the possibility of buying production machines from Mr. Marcantonio. Was he planning on going into competition with them? With the completion of the first working sewing machine, they had reappeared on adult radar, and were in real danger of being shot out of the sky. For their own good, of course.
David didn’t trust the motives of those that expressed doubts children could run a company. It seemed to him that many of them were searching for ways to jump onto the gravy train now it looked like it was going to pull out of the station and actually go somewhere. Others appeared to resent their success in the face of adult wisdom.
October 12, 1631: Grantville High School
Sarah had bad news. “I’ve been checking into the laws regarding corporations. It is illegal in West Virginia for minors to be on the board of a corporation.”
“But we’re not in West Virginia,” insisted Brent. “We’re in Germany.” He knew better, he was just upset.
“It doesn’t matter.” Sarah shook her head. “Grantville corporate law is West Virginia corporate law without so much as a period changed. Maybe we should forget about incorporating.”
“Maybe not,” said David. That moved everyone’s stares from Sarah to him. “I was listening to some of the people at the party yesterday. They were worried about leaving the Higgins Sewing Machine Company in our hands. When we actually built a sewing machine, some of the grownups that were never too keen on the kids running a company started paying attention again. Incorporation may be a way to satisfy them, without having them take over. Sarah, are there any other jobs in a corporation that a minor can’t hold, like say Chief Engineer, CEO, CFO, any of that stuff?”
“I don’t think so. In fact there almost can’t be. What jobs there are in a corporation changes from corporation to corporation. How could they make it illegal when all the corporation had to do to get around the law is change the name of the job?”
“Is there a law against a minor owning stock or voting stock?”
“Not owning, I’m pretty sure. Voting I don’t know. I think it would be like other stuff kids own. Their parents could probably veto their selling it, and vote the stock for them, or maybe not. It could be something determined in the corporation’s bylaws. I can probably find out.”
“We can incorporate and select the people on the board of directors, and the people that don’t like the idea of kids running a company can look and see that the board of directors is made up of responsible grownups. ‘We ain’t running things, just doing our jobs the way the board tells us to’.” David grinned. “Of course, since the four of us and Grandma hold the biggest chunk of stock, we elect the board. Which will be Grandma, and a few other people. Maybe Mr. Marcantonio, and maybe your parents?”