Can good character build good profits?

Cliff McCorkle freely admits he's an

idealist working in a world filled with

hard-nosed realists.

But McCorkle is beginning to find

success with an organized effort to inspire

businesses in northern Nevada to commit

themselves to standards of integrity and

honesty.

His Sparks-based nonprofit organization,

The Golden Guild Inc., makes a

pitch that businesses and their employees

will thrive if they consciously dedicate

themselves to The Golden Rule.

But the group is taking things a bit

farther as it prepares in next year or so to

publicly praise companies that subscribe

to its tenets.

Already, The Golden Guild Inc. has

made a mark in the Reno area with occasional

billboards that simply encourage

honesty and fairness.

"This is basic mom-and-apple-pie

stuff. But nobody is saying it," said

McCorkle.

The business program, however, is the

biggest part of The Golden Guild effort.

Here's how it works:

Companies selected for The Golden

Guild honor roll have undertaken management

workshops in character, won

support for the effort from at least 90 percent

of their employees, committed themselves

to a community service program,

and operated without unresolved complaints

at agencies ranging from the

Better Business Bureau to the U.S. Civil

Rights Commission.

In return, The Golden Guild will

spread the word to consumers about participating

companies through its Web site,

paid advertising and other materials.

McCorkle said a few days ago that the

greatest effects of the program should be

seen in the operations of participating

companies.

The Golden Rule treat others like

you want to be treated is one that

demands trust, respect, and fairness, he

said. Those same values help build

stronger employee teams and stronger

customer relations.

"Everyone would agree that's a noble

cause," McCorkle said.

"But how do you do it? We want to

celebrate the ones that are doing it right."

One of the first companies to sign on

Western Nevada Supply has seen

positive effects.

"In any organization, you can't have

enough about the Golden Rule, honesty,

integrity, caring and thoughtfulness," Rick

Reviglio, the company's general manager,

said last week. "It's a fundamental rule of

anything in life not just business."

The company's mission "We make

a difference in people's lives" already

was well-known when Western Nevada

Supply took on The Golden Guild commitment,

and the program increased the

awareness of its importance among

Western Nevada Supply's 200-plus

employees.

"If you increase the awareness, then

you will increase the success rate," said

Reviglio.

He said the supply company's management

team enthusiastically embraced the

program, and that enthusiasm spread

through the company.

McCorkle acknowledged that he has

an agenda: He hopes adults who dedicate

themselves to what he calls "noble values"

at work will take those values home and

teach them to their children.

"If we do this with enough companies,

we can change the fabric of the community,"

he said.

That changed fabric, he said, will be

seen in a community that is concerned

about doing the right things in its future.

"I'm trying to raise up a society of

social activists," McCorkle said "Not necessarily

people who agree with you or

with me, but people who care."

A resident of the area for much of the

past 40 years, McCorkle made his mark

as a real-estate syndicator and a state

senator.

Even in his success, however, he began

asking how he might translate success

into significance.

Ultimately, that question led him to

creation of The Golden Guild.

Along with the business program,

The Golden Guild provides workshops

and character-awareness posters to

schools and businesses and oversees a

speakers bureau.

The standard bearers

The selection committee of Golden Guild Companies includes:

* Nazir Ansar, former professor of business management at the

University of Nevada-Reno

* Sam D. Young, retired chairman of Chase Bank of Texas

* Larry Tuntland, former president of First Interstate Bank of Nevada

* John Smith, former general counsel of First Interstate Bank of Nevada

* Gen. Martin Brandtner, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel.

* Jim Johnson, retired owner of Elevator Services

* Fritsi Ericson, president and chief executive of Nevada Women's Fund.

* Bernice Martin-Mathews, a state senator

Members of the group's advisory committee are:

* Randolph Townsend, president of Northstar Investors Inc.

* Rick Reviglio, general manager of Western Nevada Supply

* John Mitchell, division president of Centex Homes

* Marsha Lindsey, president of Nevada Bell

* Walter Davis, vice president of physicians services for Washoe Health Systems

Here's how to participate in The Golden

Guild:

Cliff McCorkle, president of The Golden Guild, can

be reached at 743-8329 or via e-mail at cliff@goldenguild.

org. The organization's Web site is www.goldenguild.

org.

Participating companies are asked to contribute to

support of the nonprofit. Companies with 10 or fewer employees are asked

to contribute $1,000 a year. The contribution schedule rises to as much as

$10,000 a year for companies with more than 250 employees.