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When Metropolitan Steel CEO James R. Hill Jr. saw his manufacturing business begin to decline a year ago, he shunned thoughts of layoffs, wage cuts or bonus postponements.

Instead, Hill had another kind of announcement for his 50 employees last week. As production line workers gathered around, the CEO hopped on a table and announced that everyone would receive a $600 check, with "no strings attached."

"Let's get money into the economy the old-fashioned way," Hill said Tuesday in Metropolitan Steel's warehouse on English Muffin Way in Frederick, where workers were busy punching, drilling and welding steel. "I feel a responsibility to try to do this. … I'm challenging every business owner to access their back money and put it into circulation. It's more critical than ever to do this."

Hill doled out a total of $30,000 to employees at the Frederick plant and his two other local companies — Metropolitan Choppers in Frederick and Regal Printing in Hagerstown — after he had been slowly saving for about a year. Giving employees chunks of money is his idea of a meaningful economic stimulus plan, mimicking the federal stimulus checks sent to taxpayers this year.

"All I really can control is what I oversee," Hill said. "Everything in our business has been hurting, too. There's a lot of desperation in business today. But if there's a rainy day fund, it's pouring now. … I've had several employees come to me in the past few months saying that they're hurting."

Hill's father, James R. Hill, founded the company in 1970 as a two-man installation basement business in their Rockville home. When Hill graduated from college and joined the company in 1983, Metropolitan moved to a shop on 5th Street in Washington, D.C., where four employees worked and annual revenues totaled $100,000. The company moved to Frederick in 1986 on Industry Lane and in 1998 relocated to its current warehouse off Buckeystown Pike.

At its peak in 2005, Metropolitan employed 65 workers, many of whom have retired or moved on. But none have been laid off.

Now with roughly $12 million in annual revenues, Metropolitan Steel has been weathering the downturn in commercial development along with its clients, which include Donohue Construction Co. of Port Republic, Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. of Baltimore and James G. Davis Construction Corp. of Rockville.

"These are really unprecedented times right now," Hill said. "We're fighting the economic war. I want to see who comes out of the foxhole with me — it's going to be these guys."

David Clevenger of Hagerstown has painted steel products for Metropolitan for 15 years. Like many of his co-workers, by Tuesday he had already spent his check. None of his co-workers planned on saving the $600, Clevenger and Hill both said.

As he gathered with his co-workers last week, Clevenger said, he remembered wondering, "Is everything slowing down? Is [Hill] going to lay people off?"

"I started to panic for a little while," Clevenger said. "What happened — nobody expected it. I couldn't believe it. Everybody here is ecstatic. It makes you feel appreciated. He really went above and beyond and thinks about his employees ahead of time."

Frederick Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R), who attended the surprise announcement and encouraged employees to spend the $600, said he thought Hill's move was a "tremendous gesture" that triggered "relief and almost disbelief" reaction among the workers.

"Metropolitan Steel is going through this by buckling in and working hard," Holtzinger said. "That's not easy. They're not focusing on the bad news. … I think it's a great idea and I hope it catches on."

Laurie Boyer, director of the Frederick County Office of Economic Development, said the unique, private stimulus package "can be nothing but positive for the local economy. Hopefully, other companies will see that."