Lisa and Charles Hirsh have heard plenty of horror stories about family businesses, and the current and former presidents of Accurate Box Company admit they’ve caught sight of a few. “But if it works, it works really well,” says 50-year-old Lisa, exchanging smiles with Charles, her 81-year-old father and predecessor.
The Hirsh family’s high-graphics corrugated-packaging company was founded by Charles’s father, Henry, a carton salesman who was chasing the American dream when he borrowed $25,000 in 1944 to start a small carton manufacturer in Newark. The company thrived, eventually outgrowing the 17,000-square-foot Miller Street facility. In 1960, Henry and Charles, then 30, borrowed $12,500 for a down payment on a 35,000-square-foot building in the north end of Newark.
When Henry passed away in 1964, Charles was ready to take the reins. “My dad and I shared an office and had a great relationship,” explains the Newark native. “We talked about all decisions together.” The business continued to flourish under Charles’s leadership. Progress included a move to Accurate’s current 300,000-square-foot location in Paterson and a gradual manufacturing shift from folding cartons to the high-graphics corrugated packaging you see stacked in club stores like Costco.
In 1997, Charles decided it was time for the next generation to take over. “I told Lisa she was going to be president,” Charles says. “I didn’t ask her. I told her.” But Lisa was hesitant. “I thought he was a really great president, and I didn’t want to step in,” she says. “And there was about six months of arguing back and forth before I said, ‘Alright, alright, I’ll become president.’” Charles became chairman.
Now Accurate Box is entering its 66th year of business and Lisa’s thirteenth year of leadership. Lisa’s husband, Mark Schlossman, an advertising professional, also works at the company, serving as executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Lisa says it’s too soon to tell if any of her and Mark’s three children (Jenny, 24; Samara, 20; and Eric, 15) are interested in following suit. For now, the father-and-daughter management team is focused on running the company they love and taking an active role in improving its Paterson neighborhood.
“We are very proud of what we built. We think we have a terrific company,” Lisa says. “And we really enjoy running it together.”
Founded: 1944
Headquarters: Paterson
Owners: Lisa Hirsh, Mark Schlossman, and Kim Hirsh
Business: High-graphics corrugated-packaging manufacturer
Employees: 190
Family Members Employed: 3
Generations Actively Involved: 2
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Finalists (Revenue Over $10 million)
Becht Engineering
The thought of working with family might make some people cringe, but Charles Becht IV, the second-generation president of Becht Engineering, appreciates the “greater opportunities for interactions” with his loved ones.
Becht’s father, Charles Becht III, founded the firm in 1964, providing consultation on building systems for architects and homeowner associations. His son, who earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Memorial University in Newfoundland, Canada, joined the family business in 1986, expanding its engineering services to the energy sector, including refineries, nuclear power plants, and industrial gas production.
In 2006, the Liberty Corner-based firm split into two companies: The senior Becht, 84, serves as CEO of Becht Engineering BT, focusing on building systems; Becht IV, 56, is president of Becht Engineering Company, catering to the chemical-process and power industries.
Combined, the companies have about 80 full-time employees, including Becht IV’s sister, Laurie, principal and senior vice president for Becht Engineering BT; and his wife, Mary, who handles marketing and mailing lists for Becht Engineering BT.
In 2007, Becht IV’s son, Charles Becht V, 28, joined Becht Engineering Company after earning a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. “I expect the business to remain a family business well into the future,” Becht IV says.
Wellshire Farms
The son of a meat man, Louis B. Colameco III started his own premium-meat distribution company, Wellshire Farms, in 2006 to offer customers the types of high-quality beef, pork, and poultry that he would feed his own family. “I felt there was no need to eat food that was packed with preservatives,” says Colameco, 51. “I have a bunch of kids, and I didn’t like what they were eating.”
“Less is more” may be his approach to preservatives, but it definitely isn’t his philosophy toward mixing family with business. The Swedesboro-based operation has twenty employees, six of whom are Colameco relatives: his daughter, Jessica, 21; twin sons, Matthew and Thomas, 19; nephew Dominic, 16; nephew Thomas, 15; and niece Christina, 20. “It’s nice to have the kids working with me because I get to mentor them and teach them the value of hard work,” he says. “They get a work ethic before they go out in the real world.”
Colameco’s wife, Barbara, worked in the company’s finance department until she passed away in March after a three-year battle with breast cancer. In his wife’s honor, Colameco and company have raised about $40,000 for the Greater Philadelphia Breast Cancer Transportation Fund, started by Barbara after realizing that many cancer patients need financial assistance for transportation to and from chemotherapy treatment.
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Semifinalists (Revenue Over $10 Million)
Advanced Digital Data
In 1973, Bruce Bott Sr. founded what would become a longstanding business providing software systems for the oil/petroleum and convenience-store industries across the United States. Among the 175 current employees, eleven are family members across two generations. The Flanders-based firm has a strong commitment to the community, as seen in its charitable work for the St. Clare’s Foundation.
Data Reduction Systems
Brothers Rick and Jim McQuade founded the software development company in a basement in 1985. The brothers work alongside five family members and anticipate two more joining their ranks in the near future. The Union-based company uses funds raised from its golf outing to support nearly a dozen charities each year.
Montrose Molders
William “Bill” H. Wilson is the current CEO and president of the custom injection molder based in South Plainfield. The oldest son of founder William B. Wilson, Bill has more than 200 employees, including his own wife and sons. Established in 1966, the business has withstood a merger, major personnel changes, and an embezzlement scheme. It supports several youth programs, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the North Plainfield soccer team.
Energy Kinetics
Family owned and operated since 1979, the company makes the high-efficiency System 2000 boiler, an integrated heat and hot-water system. In 2007, the late founder, John Marran, was succeeded by his son, Roger. Located on 42 acres in Lebanon with 48 employees and two generations involved in the business, Energy Kinetics is a national leader in its field.
Otterstedt Insurance
Chairman and CEO Joseph Parisi Jr. considers his full-service insurance firm to be a “marathon and not a sprint.” He is a second-generation owner; his father, Joseph Parisi Sr., and mother, Lucille, purchased the firm, founded in 1919, from its original owner, Fred Otterstedt. The firm is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs and employs a staff of 103 at seven locations.
— Candace Wells