Peerless Piers

The Morey family’s wild ride reaches new heights.

Founded: 1969
Headquarters: Wildwood
Owners: Will Morey, CEO, and Jack Morey, executive vice president
Business: Seaside amusement piers and hospitality destination
Family members employed: 19 (10 full time, 9 seasonal)
Employees: 150 year-round; approximately 1,800 seasonally
Generations actively involved: 3

Morey’s Piers celebrates its 40th anniversary this year as the face of the Wildwood boardwalk. But second-generation owners Will and Jack Morey are not putting on the brakes anytime soon. The brothers have enough new ideas for at least 40 more years of fun.

Will, 52, and Jack, 49, are at the helm of the Morey Organization, a multimillion dollar tourist treasure. With eighteen acres, three piers, two beachfront water parks, more than 100 rides and attractions, and a slew of hotel properties and restaurants, Morey’s is the largest seaside amusement center in the western hemisphere.

“What’s on the drawing board is way more than what’s here now,” says Jack, the laid-back idea guy of the duo.

“His job is to think of ten things, and my job is to keep him from doing nine of them,” jokes the more conservative Will.

Morey’s Piers has seen tremendous growth since it was founded by Will and Jack’s late father, Will, and their uncle, Bill Morey. The elder Will Morey was a contractor and developer who entered the amusement business when he and his brother purchased the classic Wipe Out slide in 1969.

To commemorate the 40-year milestone, the Morey Organization produced A Wild Ride, a book documenting company history, including memorable anecdotes from the early days (before safety rules and regulations), like the story of cousin Ray, who surfed down Wipe Out on a dinner plate and flew out onto the boardwalk.

The Morey family has always been committed to the Wildwood community, as seen in its ties to local causes like the Doo Wop Preservation League. The Moreys also are committed to local development; current plans include a central parking facility, a beach park, and a bike path that will connect Wildwood Crest to North Wildwood.

Also floating around the Morey “vault” (yes, there is literally a room for their ideas) are plans for an epic two-pier wooden roller coaster, their largest investment to date and tentatively slated for 2012; a major water-park expansion; and a haunted ghost ship, which could set sail by next summer.

“Our strength is to be unique—eclectic, family friendly, flexible, not fussy, maybe a little honky-tonk—but with levels of cleanliness, safety, service, and friendliness that are almost at odds with what the boardwalk is,” says Will.

It’s all made possible by the company’s exceptional staff, Will says. Nineteen family members are actively involved. Still, the majority of the staff are non-family, which makes Will and Jack a little uncomfortable with the term “family run.”

“It takes a lot to run a business like this,” says Will. “We’ve worked with some [employees] for 20 to 30 years, and their own family members have come to work for the business, so there is a real equity and ownership environment here.”

With two sons each and a dozen nieces and nephews who have all held various positions on the piers, the organization seems poised for a third generation to run the show someday. Jack says that may be the case, but family are not automatically entitled. “We would be lucky if they have interests in the specialized fields that we need, but there’s no master plan for them to all be in the business,” he says. “That’s a good way to kill a business.”

“These are unique animals, these family businesses,” Will adds. “We definitely value at least the potential of that occurring. There’s a real attitude of trusteeship there, and hopefully my brother has shown them how much more there is to do.”

Being a family business helps the Moreys better serve the families that visit them. This summer, they offered a variety of cost-cutting deals—a nod to one of Will Morey Sr.’s favorite sayings: “You always want your guests to feel like they’re stealing from you just a little bit.”

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Finalists (revenue over $10 million):

Accurate Box
Lisa Hirsh credits her success as third-generation president of Accurate Box Company Inc. to the fifteen years she spent working her way up the ladder. “It was helpful that I never worked directly for my father,” says Hirsh. “I gained the depth of knowledge and the contacts to really be able to run the business well.”

The Paterson-based maker of high-graphic corrugated packaging was founded in 1944 by Hirsh’s grandfather. Hirsh’s father, Charles, took over twenty years later and handed the reins to Lisa in 1997. The company since has doubled in size, with sales reaching $42 million.

Accurate Box is one of the smallest companies of its kind but has big-name clients such as Kellogg, PepsiCo, and ConAgra.

Hirsh is proud to be part of a family business. Her father still works part-time as chairman, and her husband, Mark Schlossman, serves as executive vice president of sales and marketing. “Working with family has been a huge success,” says Hirsh. “The only downfall is that we never get away from it. I never stop planning or thinking about the business. My children call it AccuTalk.”

Hirsh would like to see her three kids, 14, 19, and 23, continue in the business but feels they should get outside experience. “I encourage my children to work elsewhere at first, something I never had a chance to do.”

Wellshire Farms
A second-generation “meat man,” Louis B. Colameco III created Wellshire Farms in 1996 to use pure, natural ingredients to make healthier products. “I wanted to make food that I would want my own family to feel good about eating,” Colameco says.

The Swedesboro-based operation has twenty-two employees, including Colameco’s wife, daughter, 20, and twin eighteen-year-old sons. “We treat customers and partners like we would a guest in our own home,” says Colameco. “We never deviate. From our offices to our products—everything reflects our core values.”
He looks forward to passing the company on to his daughter, Jessica, a student at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. “She is a natural fit. I am profoundly proud of her, but nothing will be handed to her; she will have to work twice as hard.”

The company will soon feature organic meats. “Our customers are the voice of Wellshire,” Colameco says, “and we make products they want to eat.”—Alicia Staffa

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Semi-Finalists (revenue over $10 million):

Bridgeway Senior Healthcare
In 1981, financial planner Anthony Pelligrino and Dr. Rebecca Rivera opened a nursing home in Bridgewater. The operation, now with three facilities, is co-owned by Pelligrino’s son, Donald, and Rivera’s son, Jon Dugenio. It provides services for more than 400 residents.

Advanced Digital Data
Bruce Bott Sr. started ADD in 1973, providing one of the first software systems for the fuel oil/petroleum industry. The Flanders-based company has 200 employees, including fourteen family members.

DCH Auto Group
Started in Shanghai by the father of current owner Shau-wai Lam, DCH originally was a food-and-apparel trading company. Coming to the States in 1948, DCH launched its first auto dealership in 1977. Lam took over in 1992. Headquartered in South Amboy, DCH has grown to 27 dealerships, including twelve in New Jersey. The company promotes Chinese culture through donations to the Princeton Art Museum and sponsorship of a Dragon Boat team.

EPS
Francesco “Moose” Musorrafiti began EPS, of Tinton Falls, in 1983 to specialize in military training, communications, electronics, and security systems. Today he works alongside his wife, Angelina, and daughter, Antoinette.

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About the Awards:

The seventeenth annual Family Business of the Year Awards honor the most outstanding family-owned enterprises in New Jersey. Sponsors include PNC Bank, the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and New Jersey Monthly. A panel of judges chose winners, finalists, and semi-finalists in two revenue categories based on uniqueness, successful transition of leadership from generation to generation, and their ability to balance business acumen with civic spirit.

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