THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, July 17, 1995 TAG: 9507150581
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: Allison Williams
DATELINE: WINDSOR LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
The last time Robinson Body Works was in the news was in 1994, and it was not pretty.
The Windsor Volunteer Rescue Squad decided to buy a new ambulance from a Florida company, even though Robinson Body Works had offered the lowest bid.
A lot of townspeople were outraged. Signs outside businesses along U.S. 460 encouraged the squad to ``Buy Local First.'' And on several occasions, residents packed the squad building to protest the Florida purchase.
``We were crushed,'' company president Tommy Robinson said. ``The bad part was that it was not the rescue squad as a whole that did it.''
After all, there was a certain small-town relationship at work in this Isle of Wight County town. Robinson's company for years had supported everything from the little league to the local hardware store. And Robinson had donated his own labor when he built his very first ambulance, for another area rescue squad.
In the end, although the Windsor squad bought from the out-of-state company, squad members got a strong message about the tiny ambulance-building company in the center of town: It had a legion of staunch supporters.
Since then, Robinson has re-built another vehicle for the local squad and serviced the one it bought from Florida. by CNB