It’s said that “dividend days” are the best days of the year in the remote Brazilian town of Jaragua do Sul, population 180,000.
That payment, together with a profit-sharing program from electric-motor maker WEG SA, helps to support some 20% of the city’s residents, spanning current workers to family members and retirees. The 64-year-old company, founded by an electrician, an accountant and a mechanic, says its own health clinics treat nearly as many patients a year as the city’s health system.
A seven-hour drive southwest of Sao Paulo, Jaragua do Sul’s prosperity is in large part tied to WEG, which has customers in 135 countries ...