William H. Child.

• Position: Brief Article

In 1995, Warren Buffett was on his way to California to play golf with Bill Gates. He stopped in Salt Lake City for a visit with Bill Child at RC Willey. Soon after, he bought the Utah furniture giant because he said it was a "jewel" of a company. Sound. Profitable. Enduring.

Bill Child, still CEO, has been running RC Wiley for 46 years. He took over the operation from his father-in-law in 1954, running the fledgling company out of a 600 square foot addition attached to the family home in Syracuse, Utah. Child could not have imagined the growth his company would enjoy over the next five decades,

"Obviously the last 15 years have been quite brisk. Actually, the 15 years before that were terrific, and the 15 before that. We've grown one step at a time. I remember being excited with a half-million dollars in sales. Then $5 million. At $10 million we thought we were king of the hill." What are sales today? $400 million. And 2,000 associates work for the company.

Child believes the major factor affecting the Utah economy in the past 15 years has been the influx of Californians into the job market. "Fifteen years ago California was in a major slowdown. People came to Utah for a safe haven, to improve their standard of living, to get their kids away from drugs and gangs. Unfortunately, some brought those problems with them."

On the...