A Tale of Two In-plants

Quality and confidentiality aside, his operation's financial health certainly carried a lot of weight when the university was considering his in-plant's fate. But Doughty concedes that timing also played a part in his operation's survival.

"The decision the university made to bring us down here, because it was made before Lawrence's decision, I think was a lucky thing for us," he says. "But then again, if we weren't in the black, and if we weren't enamoring customers [with] what we do, it wouldn't have mattered either."