ANDREA SEABROOK, host: GM is just one company among many cutting back these days. But now, we'll look at one firm that's giving its employees a little something extra. Make that 6.6 million little some things. It's the Peer Bearing Co. of Waukegan, Illinois, and it makes ball bearings.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: This fall, the Spongen family sold the business to a Swedish firm, and now, year-end bonus is so big, they made some employees cry. The Spongens are dividing up $6.6 million among just 230 workers. That's sending many home with 5-figure bonuses, as big as $35,000.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: The employees got their checks at a party. One employee says he watched co-workers burst into tears. Another looked at his check and thought the decimal point was in the wrong place. The company had $100 million in sales last year. That's a lot of ball bearings and now, a lot of happy ball bearing makers.
Employees of the Peer Bearing Co., which makes ball bearings outside Chicago, are getting a healthy year-end bonus, thanks to the family owners who sold the company to a Swedish firm.