(WGTD)---A brother/sister team that runs a fourth-generation company in Sturtevant says giving back to the community is a key to their success.
Matt Andis and his sister, Laura Andis-Bishop, spoke at a dedication ceremony Monday for a new facility in Burlington that they helped to fund that’ll train barbers and cosmetologists.
Looking like an ordinary salon, “The Cut—Powered by Andis,” will be staffed by Gateway students who start out in classrooms on the school’s Burlington campus and then move to the salon. It's located in a shopping plaza on Milwaukee Ave.
The company--Andis-- specializes in making a variety of hair clippers and trimmers.
Those tools are basically useless, Laura observed, until they’re in the hands of people who know how to use them. "We always say that we're not making money until hair hits the ground," she said to chuckles. "A clipper on it's own does not cut hair."
And therein lies the reason Andis is so hopped up about training, education and giving back to the community.
But there's more. "What's really exciting (for us) is for (the students) to be able to provide for their families and to continue to make a strong vibrant community," Andis-Bishop said.
Matt Andis noted that places like Gateway can't do it alone. "Private organizations have to pick up the slack to help fill in the blanks to get a lot of things moving," he said. Whether it's United Way or partnering with organizations like Gateway."
Andis, founded some 96 years ago, currently has 400 employees.
Up until now, Gateway offered cosmetology and barbering programs in Racine and Kenosha but not in Burlington.
In addition to supporting the salon, Andis funds three scholarships.
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