Big company, small town: Corning Inc., Corning, New York

However, the end of the dot-com boom in 2001 eliminated a considerable portion of Corning's business, the company's revenues and earnings suffered, and so did its stock price. Once priced at more $100 per share during the height of dot-com boom, Corning's shares fell to as low as $1 per share in 2002.

Indeed, when a formerly well-capitalized company's share price descends to the $1 range, that generally is a signal that Wall Street has concerns about the business model and that the company has an operational hurdle or two ahead. Still, Corning demonstrated that no challenge was, or is, too big for the company's collaborative culture, and within a few years Corning had transformed itself again, this time into a leading display technology company. Today, Corning has a 50% market share in glass used in liquid crystal displays (LCDs). (Corning's shares currently trade at about $26 and the company is expected to earn $1.94 per share in Fiscal 2008, according to the Reuters consensus estimate.)

Further, the spread of monitors, LCD TVs, laptop computers, mobile phones/PDAs, and other devices throughout the U.S., developed world, and in emerging markets bodes very well for Corning, but the company is not standing still. Its environmental technologies unit has developed state-of-the-art emissions/pollution control systems from substrates and filters for automotive and diesel engines for the environmentally-conscious 21st century -- products that will account for an increasing share of Corning's revenue in the years ahead.

Corning, N.Y.: A slice of Americana

Also, it goes without saying that Corning Inc. is a major player in the town of Corning, but it is not an overwhelming presence.

The history of Corning, N.Y., briefly, according to the Corning Area Chamber of Commerce: Populated and dominated by Iroquois Native Americans well into the 18th century, armies under the orders of U.S. General George Washington eliminated the threat to the American frontier in 1779, with the first land in the area sold to settlers in 1789. Then Albany, N.Y., investors purchased land in the Chemung Valley and planned a new village, arguing that a planned railroad, to go along with a connection to the Erie Canal, would enable the area to prosper. They named the village Corning, after Erastus Corning, an Albany banker who was one of the original investors. The railroad produced that anticipated growth, and in 1890 the village of Corning merged with Knoxville to become the City of Corning. Its chief industry: the Corning Glass Works.

A friend from yours truly's college days, Edward LaChance, lived in Corning for two years. LaChance, an accountant, had lived in Boston after earning his bachelor's degree in 1986. At the start of his fourth year in Boston, a company buy-out occurred, and after applying for a junior accountant's position in Corning, N.Y., he decided to take the new employer up on his job offer.

"It was a one-year, for-contract assignment, but I ended up working there for three years," LaChance said. "After Boston, I was looking for a new setting, but I wasn't ready to pack up and make a big move to California or Florida, so I took the Corning post. I almost didn't move there in 1990 when I found out what my new salary was (about half his Boston salary), but when I researched the cost of living, which was low, that calmed me down."

LaChance said his lasting impressions of Corning were the beauty/open lands of the Western New York/Finger Lakes region, the friendliness of its people, the coldness of its winter season, and "its emphasis on what's important in life."

"Corning is just a classic American small town, but unlike other towns with a large corporation, Corning has found a balance between family/home life and the business world's demands," LaChance said. "The Corning company obviously is a major player and news affecting Corning ripples throughout the community, but the company isn't all-encompassing. I really liked that."

Further, LaChance liked the fact that Corning offered a small-town pace but with ample cultural attractions, including the Corning Glass Museum and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, and numerous outdoor recreation opportunities. "You seem to get the best of both worlds there, at least I did," LaChance said. "You can have everything a larger town offers, but with the quality of life offered by a small town."

Be sure to check out more Big Company, Small Town posts.