Rising business executive Jake Peterson(Tim Matheson) is given a make-or-break assignment when he is sent to a small town for the purpose of severely downsizing the local tractor factory.Upon his arrival,Jake is mistaken by the townsfolk as the man sent to save rather than destroy their community, and is treated as such, much to his discomfort.Making his task even more difficult is Jake's blossoming romance with factory employee Emma Murphy (Melissa Gilbert), whose daughter Noelle (Michelle Trachtenberg) regards our hero as Santa Claus Incarnate.