ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The General Assembly honored Crutchfield for its remarkable 50 years of success Wednesday at an event held at the company's distribution center.

Bill Crutchfield is the founder and sole stockholder of Crutchfield Corporation, a leading electronics retailer based in Charlottesville.

State Senator Creigh Deeds presented the resolution to Bill Crutchfield and said it is an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for his company's contributions to Virginia.

"Our culture is rooted in respect," said Crutchfield.

Thanks to the values instilled by Bill Crutchfield since the beginning, the Crutchfield Corporation has enjoyed 50 years of success. An anniversary celebration was held on Wednesday.

"And if we respect each other, we are going to behave, we are going to be civil, it goes hand-in-hand," he said.

In 1974, he was working as vice president and general manager of a company that sold and serviced forklifts when his inability to find a modern stereo for the Porsche 356 he was restoring inspired him to establish the corporation.

"So, I went to a newsstand to see who the car stereo mail-order company was, and there wasn't one. So, I said, 'Ha! This is the niche; this is a national need.' This is always essential when you start a business; it has to fulfill a need.

It first operated out of his mother's basement, but over time, he established its new headquarters, diversified its inventory, and reinforced the core values, watching the company grow from one employee to more than 650.

"I don't think it's necessarily what we sell, but I think it's the way we behave. We have a wonderful group of employees; we've never had a layoff in 50 years," Crutchfield said.

During Wednesday's event, State Senator Creigh Deeds presented a bipartisan resolution that expresses the General Assembly's admiration for the company's contributions to Virginia.

Crutchfield hopes that the resolution will reflect his company's values, promoting civility in not only businesses but society.

"I’m very concerned about the lack of civility we see in Washington, to a lesser extent in Richmond. We see it in business, we certainly see it in our schools, and this isn't the way it used to be. This is something that's relatively new," he said.

This week, Crutchfield pitched his "Virginia is for Civility" idea to Governor Glenn Youngkin over dinner.

"He loved it, and he took the copy of the sign, put it in his pocket, and said, 'I'm taking this back to my office and putting it on my desk.' He was very pleased with it," Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield said he thinks more can be accomplished in life when people agree to be civil and polite to one another.