Hill & Markes press release

Contact: Andrea Packer 800-836-7877 Hill & Markes to celebrate 100 sweet years with Centennial Trade Show March 10, 2006 At Turning Stone Hill & Markes, Inc is celebrating its centennial year in 2006. Amos Hill and Charlie Markes opened Hill & Markes Inc. in 1906 as a candy, ice cream and ice cream cone distributor and serviced customers from Amsterdam to Galway. In 1947, Harry and Harriet Finkle purchased the company and expanded the product lines to school supplies, paper products, and rental dishes and cutlery. In the 1970”s Neal Packer, Andrea Finkle Packer, and Jeffrey Finkle joined the family business. The business has been evolving and reinventing itself ever since. Recognizing this very momentous Centennial Year, Hill & Markes, Inc. will hold a Trade Show at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York on March 10, 2006 from 8:30 to 4:00. Two seminars will be conducted. From 10:30 to 11:30, Dr. Bob Israel (a renowned national speaker on Green Cleaning) will discuss Green Cleaning, Green Seal, and Six Steps to a healthier building and related issues. From 1:00 to 2:00 the Tennant Company will present a seminar on Eliminating & Preventing Mold in Carpets. Registration for seminars is available at www.hillandmarkes.com. or by calling 800-836-4455. This landmark day will feature the history of Hill & Markes, Inc., a barbershop quartet, a cake cutting ceremony, product give-a-ways and 50 vendors displaying the products sold by Hill & Markes Inc. Vendors the day of the show will include: Fortune Plastics, Genpak, Heritage, Johnson Diversey, Kimberly Clark, Reynolds, Solo Dup, Wausau Paper, 3M, Rubbermaid, Tuway, Pregis Packaging, Novelty Cone, Con Agra, Hoffmaster and others. Registration for the trade show is available at www.hillandmarkes.com. or by calling 800-836-4455. Hill & Markes is owned and run by Neal Packer, C.O.O., Andrea Finkle Packer, Vice President of Marketing, and Jeffrey Finkle, President. The family run operation services from the Amsterdam location the entire state of New York and Vermont. In the past year, warehouse space was expanded and modern truck docks were installed. We are also now looking forward to office remodeling. With new technology and product diversification the company offers four divisions of products including: Food service and Janitorial products to Industrial packaging and Office supplies. Hill & Markes Inc. strives to provide each customer with product information, solutions and excellent service. Recognized as a leader in the industry and the community, Hill & Markes Inc has received numerous awards over the years. The most recent award was the Edward Wilkinson Industry of the Year Award from the Montgomery County Chamber. Hill & Markes has been recognized by the Capital District Business Review two years in a row for being an outstanding employer in the Capital District and The Family Business Institute has also recognized the company. On August 5, 2004, Hill & Markes hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate its latest warehouse expansion. We were proud to have former First Lady and United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton offer inspiring words as the key note speaker. Hill & Markes is a member of the Capital District Better Business Bureau and a member of the Chambers of Commerce in Montgomery County, Fulton County, Syracuse, and others throughout the State of New York. Industry association memberships include the International Sanitary Supply Association and Network Services. One of our primary goals is to be an outstanding employer and participant in the community. Committed to being good employers, the company proudly recognizes many long-term employees. And, in an effort to give back to the community, Hill & Markes Inc. is a Corporate Sponsor for Proctors Theater, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Capital Repertory Theater, along with many other community events. We also offer an internship program for college students at local colleges and universities to guide and retain our next generation of local business leaders. Growth has been a continuous process for the company over the past 30 years. Hill & Markes has purchased a varied set of businesses including Edwards Box and Paper of Gloversville, Blackmere of Saratoga, Shoemaker Paper of Albany, Key Maintenance of Syracuse, Mitchell Paper of Fonda, Dairy Concepts of Syracuse. In addition, Hill & Markes has hired sales talent from many of these companies. In 1906, Amos Hill and Charlie Markes added candy to their wares at a store on Brookside Avenue and made deliveries by horse and buggy and even by horse and sleigh in the winter months. Family members made the ice cream and ice cream cones. Amos Hill of Amsterdam spent $34.09 for chocolate chips, nut fudge, gum and assorted candies according to a 1906 “bill of sale” from Albany confectioner Jacob Kreischer. Kreischer”s invoice noted that nut goods were perishable and purchased at the customer”s risk. In 1927, Hill & Markes sold their ice cream operation to concentrate on the wholesale candy and paper business. The partners purchased a multi-story building at Grove and Chuctanunda Streets. Bob Markes of Saratoga Springs said it was in that building that he worked for his Uncle Charlie, who then resided on Arnold Avenue. “My uncle had me help him count everything,” Markes said. In 1947, Harry and Harriet Finkle of Fulton County purchased Hill & Markes and expanded the product lines to include school supplies, paper products, rental dishes and cutlery. In the 1970s, Neal Packer, Andrea Finkle Packer, and Jeffrey Finkle joined the family business and they continue to lead it today. The Grove Street structure was victim to urban renewal and the business relocated to Park Street and Second Avenue in a building shared with Ward Products. Hill & Markes moved to its present location, a former Price Chopper facility in the Edson Street Industrial Park, in 1978. Andrea Finkle Packer, said her father, Harry Finkle, started selling candy with a pushcart. Before buying Hill & Markes, Harry and his mother, Bertha and twin brother Charlie Finkle started Finkle Candy Company, now Finkle Distributors operated by Packer”s cousins in Johnstown. Packer said her late father was the ultimate salesperson who presided over a period of expansion at Hill & Markes from the 1940s to the 1970s. Harry Finkle was the “Candy Man”. He would hand out bags of candy wherever he would go selling. From accounts payable and receivable to owners and purchasing agents, everyone got some of the “sweet stuff” from Harry. Sometimes the ladies even gave him a kiss on the cheek in return. Since 1975, Neal Packer has led the team that has made the business grow. In recent years, warehouse space has expanded, modern truck docks have been installed and an office remodeling is planned to accommodate increased business. You can still buy candy, ice cream cones and toppings from Hill & Markes, but you can also buy products ranging from bubble wrap, and tape to paper towels and floor cleaning machines. Andrea Packer has a zest for wholesale distribution and on any day will proudly show off the clean floors, orderly stacks and speedy lift trucks that make it possible for the company to deliver products efficiently. “And instead of one horse and buggy we now have 15 trucks and they”re on the road all the time,” Packer said. The business employs 100 people. The goals of Hill & Markes Inc. into the next Century are to continue to be an excellent provider of service and product and education to the customer. Who can argue with 100 years of success? For more information about Hill & Markes Inc. check out our web site at www.hillandmarkes.com.