"...Five years ago, I don't think I would be working at Sticky Fingers..."

[SoCalDem]

HARD LABOR: The faces of unemployment
In good times and bad, the Hildreths stick together
By Armando Barragan
(Published March 11, 2009)
Part III of a series
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/187/story/488089.html

Robert "Speedy" Hildreth's grading company was a family affair. His sons, Philip and Jason, could be found in the trenches next to dad.It was also a family affair when Robert's business - DK & SK Grading - struggled when new jobs stopped coming in last year during the economic downturn. That left Robert - a Fort Mill resident for 30 years - and his sons without a paycheck, sometimes for up to four weeks. Ultimately it led all three to the unemployment line late last summer when DK & SK folded. The dreams Philip and Jason had of working hard so dad could retire: gone. All the equipment to run the business is gone, too.

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Today, Robert, 60, finds himself in unfamiliar territory for the first time in his 45 years in construction - wondering if he'll have enough money to keep the cable on or when he might find work. "I was driving a backhoe before I had a driver's license. I have never been unemployed. Always made it on my own," said Robert, whose wife of 34 years, Kathy, 52, works at Target full time and gets health insurance.

"If it wasn't for Kathy, I don't think we could make it."

The Hildreths pride themselves as a family that sticks together - whether it's being good friends, helping each other with bills or as coworkers. Even before DK & SK Grading, Philip and Jason worked with their dad at two other grading companies. It's no wonder when Philip and Jason needed to find employment, they started with family first by turning to younger brother Zachary, 18. Zachary's job at Sticky Fingers helped Philip, 34, rejoin a restaurant industry he worked in before. A few months after Philip started in the kitchen, 26-year-old Jason got hired as a dishwasher.

On any given weekend, the three brothers can be found behind-the-scenes at the Ballantyne, N.C., restaurant. "If Zach hadn't been working at Sticky Fingers, I don't know where we'd be," says Philip, who has a 9-year-old son. "Five years ago, I don't think I would be working at Sticky Fingers. There were lots of jobs that would pay more out there. "I am grateful for this job. Be happy you have a job in the morning."

The 'bottom fell out'

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