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Family Values
UNH cites four family businesses that have passed the test of time
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Business New Haven
10/7/1996
By: BNH
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Gov. John G. Rowland and members of the Center for Family Business at the University of New Haven came together September 30 to honor four family-owned companies which have clocked more than 100 years: The Ashford Co. of Stamford, Bishop's Orchards Inc. of Guilford, the Harvey & Lewis Co. of Hartford and Martin & Rowland Inc. of Waterbury.
Speaking from professional experience as the state's chief executive and from a personal perspective as a scion of one of the families (Martin & Rowland Inc.) receiving the awards, Rowland said: “At a time when such mainstays as defense and insurance are in upheaval, the roles families have played as steady employers and pillars of our communities deserve our attention, respect and support. It's estimated that two-thirds of the state's private-sector workforce in some way depends on family enterprises for paychecks.”
The Ashford Co. is a full-service corporate real estate firm operating in the Northeast and Northwest that just hit the century mark. Founded in New York in 1896 by Albert B. Ashforth and relocated to Stamford in 1965, the firm is now run by his grandson, Henry B. Ashforth Jr. The company has 188 employees and eight family members of the third and fourth generations running it, as well as more than three million square feet of office space under its management in Connecticut, 600,000 square feet of office space in Portland, Ore., is a founding investor in UNICO Properties which leases and manages three million square feet in downtown Seattle, Wash., and also has a construction management and general contracting division called A.P. Construction.
Now celebrating 125 years in business, B.W. Bishop & Sons Inc. is a farming and farm market business more familiarly known as Bishop's Orchards. The Bishop family is famous for innovations like pick-your-own fruits and environmentally friendly growing techniques. Founded in 1871 by Walter Goodrich Bishop, the business is now run by four family members of the fourth and fifth generations, provides 85 jobs for the local economy, farms 320 acres of fruit, vegetables, pumpkins and Christmas trees and recently opened a bakery. Farmers are at the mercy of Mother Nature, and Keith B. Bishop, the retail and business manager, tries to explain their success through stormy weather: “We recognize risks and our inability to control them. [But] we try to minimize the effect by using the best management techniques, technology and educational resources. One reason for our success is the diversity of our crops, so even if several don't do well, hopefully others will carry us through.”
Literally speaking, Foster E. Harvey and Robert H. Lewis had a vision - in 1890 they started the optical manufacturer and dispenser company, the Harvey Lewis Co. of Hartford, and grew it into one of the first eyewear chains in the country. With stores at one time in Springfield, Worcester, New Haven, Bridgeport and New Britain, they also expanded their product line to include photography equipment, binoculars, telescopes and weather instruments. Adding to its rich history, in 1956 Norman Rockwell immortalized Harvey Lewis Co.'s Hartford store in his painting The Optometrist. The 17-employee company prides itself on providing all Connecticut's governors of this century with spectacles except for Rowland, whose vision doesn't need optical correction. Now run by the third and fourth generations, five family members are employed or on the board.
John Rowland himself is from a family whose insurance business, Martin & Rowland Inc., boasts an impressive longevity - 151 years. Started in 1845 by Nelson Hall, it later fell into the hands of Nelson Welton and Henry Lincoln Rowland. In 1889, the governor's great-grandfather gained full ownership and forged relationships with clients in the early 1900s that are ongoing: New London County Mutual (1907), Continental Insurance Co. (1910) and Hartford Insurance Group (1914). Three family members are still involved in the business, which employs eight people.
During the statewide search for family-owned businesses operating more than 100 years, the center turned up 28 companies. The center then contacted the companies to apply for the Legacy of Service award which recognizes positive family and business culture, multi-generation family business involvement and contributions to industry, community and the state of Connecticut.
Although the four businesses were selected before the CFB's new executive director, Paul Sessions, came on board August 26, he says the center had tough choices to make. “It was hard to do,” says Sessions. “You could lay out all 28 companies [that we identified], and they would qualify.”
The center has 52 member companies in New Haven and Middlesex counties as well as some in Fairfield County. To reach other members and make the meeting more accessible, on October 22 the center will hold the first meeting of its new Fairfield County chapter. At meetings, members share critical information about how they successfully structure their buy-sell agreements, educate the children they bring into the business or organize a board of directors.
A Collective Sigh of Relief
Local and federal officials sign on the dotted line to keep the FBI in New Haven
What Business New Haven reported in June has been made official: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will stay in New Haven.
On behalf of the city and the federal government, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. and Robert J. Dunfey Jr. of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) signed a letter of intent “to enter into a ground lease with a private developer” so that the GSA can build a headquarters for the FBI in downtown New Haven.
Currently located in the Giamo federal building at 150 Court Street, the FBI has determined that it requires more than the 35,000 square feet it currently occupies, as well as more parking and increased security measures to meet federal requirements called for after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, an event which claimed more than 140 lives.
The negotiations were decidedly touch-and-go. Over the past 18 months, a small but important cast of players pulled all the stops to make sure the Connecticut FBI headquarters remained in the Elm City rather than relocate to another town: DeStefano, Salvatore J. Brancati Jr., the city's director of business development, U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-3), U.S. Sens. Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph I. Lieberman, the GSA's Dunfey and the FBI's Merrill S. Parks.
On December 4, 1995, BNH reported that prospective area buildings were rejected because they didn't meet the FBI's needs. Those rejections prompted Brancati to write a letter to the GSA arguing against the FBI packing up because it would take with it confidence in the city, public safety and jobs.
And as reported here on December 18, 1995, press inquiries and the city's persistence generated a letter from the National Council for Urban Economic Development (CUED) reminding the GSA of Executive Order No. 12072, which states that “Cities will receive the first consideration when federal agencies are looking to relocate or expand,” and that the GSA was in violation of that order for excluding city officials from the search effort.
Although there's a lot of credit to be shared in the FBI's commitment to stay in New Haven, Dunfey deserves a special share: In the face of criticism he came out and admitted to oversights in the original plan. “Your inquiries and the letter from CUED,” he said, “caused me to begin a review of our process. We would like to see [the relocation] happen within the Central Business District. I'm not convinced that we've done everything we can do.”
DeStefano and DeLauro also tested their effectiveness by succeeding in keeping the FBI in town. DeStefano worked a chorus of Clinton administration and federal officials with the refrain, “The FBI must stay in New Haven.”
Half-joking about their partnership, DeLauro said: “The mayor was on the phone to me two or three times a week. They would say, 'It's the mayor.' And I knew who it was.”
The benefits of these joint efforts are many: the creation of construction jobs; the preservation of 150 inner city jobs; the spin-off business to local shops; the retention of a department with an annual budget of $15 million, much of which is spent in the area; the approximate $200,000 annual tax revenue to the city; and the productive use of a downtown property more or less dormant for the past 21 years.
The city owns the former New Haven Arena property circumscribed by State, Grove, Orange and Wall streets which it acquired through the State Street urban development program. The city will lease it to the private developer who builds the new FBI headquarters. The developer will then lease the building to the GSA for no less than 20 years.
Bringing in a private developer enables the city to collect taxes on the property and expedite construction.
No timetable has been set for the headquarters' construction, but Merrill S. Parks Jr., special agent in charge of Connecticut for the FBI, has such confidence in the project's imminent presence, he's willing to bet a colleague $100 that his department will be settled within two years.
There's also no estimate of the building costs, since it will be a private-sector project, rather a public one. However, Dunfey said the annual net lease for the building has to stay under $1.7 million unless it seeks congressional approval. He expects it to stay under the cap.
During the press conference, Barbara Johnson, chairwoman of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, talked about the importance of preserving jobs in the core city and the hidden costs of urban sprawl to taxpayers: “The fact is that when we remove current jobs from the city as well as remove the opportunity to create jobs, the costs to the taxpayers of the city are not obvious. It looks like we've made a business decision, and that it's cheaper to relocate [to the suburbs]. We forget that loss of opportunity in the inner city creates great costs for the core city. Ultimately, it means fewer tax dollars and less job opportunity. The core city must be successful for the region to be successful.”
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