2012 Awards for Excellence Winners Shine in Their Success [New Jersey Business (NJ)]

By Anonymous

Proquest LLC

On October 16, New Jersey Business & Industry Association President Philip Kirschner will present the Association's 2012 Awards for Excellence to 11 companies that have done outstanding work in several areas of business operations.

The awards will be presented during a dinner ceremony at the Pines Manor in Edison. Every year, NJBIA honors a select group of employers from among its more than 21,000 members for their outstanding achievements in four categories: business expansion, environmental quality, human resources and public service.

All NJBIA members in good standing are eligible to be nominated for this annual award. The winners are selected by an independent panel of judges who volunteer their time to select the winners. This year's judging panel was comprised of representatives of SCORE - Counselors to America's Small Business, and selected NJBIA members.

Mercadien P.C. verified the information supplied by the winning applicants.

The 2012 Winners:

BUSINESS EXPANSION AWARD

The Business Expansion Award is presented to companies that have contributed to the state's economic growth through the expansion of their businesses.

International Vitamin Corporation

President & CEO: Steven Dai

NJ Location: Freehold

Founded: 2010

Full-time NJ Employees: 360

Business: Global Manufacturer

In just two years, International Vitamin Corporation, a global manufacturer of vitamins and nutritional supplements, has improved its position within the private-label vitamin industry to number two from number five.

Within this period, the company has hired another 80 employees, a 25 percent increase, bringing its total employment in New Jersey to more than 360 employees. It has also doubled its sales revenue.

International Vitamin Corporation, also called IVC, owes its success to a number of factors, all of which flow from its reincarnation under its current name following the purchase of the vitamin, OTC and RX-related assets of Inverness Medical by the Aland Holding Ltd. private-equity group in January 2010.

IVC's predecessor company was founded in 1955. Under its new ownership, the company has rapidly expanded its business. The keys to this expansion include:

* Vertically integrating access to the raw materials needed to make its products, 90 percent of which come from China, giving the company total control over its supply chain.

* Hiring a new CEO and President, Steven Dai, in addition to hiring a new sales team, key executives and extra staff in most departments.

* Investing in an Oracle E-Business solution, giving it the ability to produce products, ship them and bill customers continuously without interruptions.

* Investing in a new warehouse facility less than a mile from its Freehold headquarters for shipping, receiving, inventory control and quality assurance.

The company sells brand and custom products to the nation's largest retailers, including Walmart, Walgreens, Wegmans, ShopRite, RiteAid and similar retailers. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the company has affiliated itself with the popular SpongeBob SquarePantsTM. IVC's SpongeBob multivitamin gummies are a popular item with its young viewers.

Pro Computer Service

President: Anthony Mongeluzo

NJ Location: Marlton

Founded: 2002

Full-time NJ Employees: 30

Business: Services

Not every small business has the resources to invest in an in-house IT staff, but in our computer-driven society where new things go wrong with the machines we trust to run our companies every day, it's essential nonetheless. That's where Pro Computer Service (PCS) comes in.

The company is a full-service, nationally award-winning, IT support company that employs 30 full-time professionals who provide onsite and remote IT support. For a fixed monthly fee, PCS will become an extension of a client company's team, offering the company a virtual Chief Information Officer, 24/7 helpdesk support, virus scanning, as well as many other services most companies believe are impossible to outsource. Because their services are offered at a fixed fee, businesses can feel confident in their financial planning, and their budget plans can give even the smallest companies the same peace of mind.

In recent years, PCS has improved its performance through the implementation of software that has significantly streamlined their processes. Using new monitoring software, the company has been able to more easily communicate with clients and offer faster helpdesk support through remote desktop management.

Although the upgrades did not come cheap, costing well over six figures, the investment has paid off big time for the company. Revenues, which totaled just over $2 million in 2009, have grown to $5.9 million in 2011; a 186 percent increase in only two years!

The company's staggering growth has earned it a mountain of state- and national-level awards, including ranks on the CRN "Top 100 Fastest Growing US IT Firms" list for the past three years, a ranking of 1,567 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the United States and a spot on the Philadelphia Business Journal's "Philly 100 Fastest-Growing Companies" list for the past five years (with both the company and CEO Anthony Mongeluzo earning inductions to its Hall of Fame).

Voltaix, LLC

CEO: Peter Smith

NJ Location: Branchburg

Founded: 1986

Full-time NJ Employees: 136

Business: Specialty Chemicals Manufacturer

Tucked in a corner of Branchburg, Somerset County, you will find a fast-growing manufacturing company that makes the logic chips in your computers, smart phones, tablets and other devices run faster.

That company is Voltaix, LLC, the world's leading producer of specialty chemicals that enhance the performance not only of semiconductor chips, but also of photovoltaic cells.

The company's main products are germane, diborane, trisilane and trimethyl boron. These materials enable chips to compute more quickly and solar cells to absorb a broader portion of the solar spectrum.

Lately, Voltaix has been on a tear, expanding its business at a high rate of speed. Over the past five years, from 2007 through 2011, the company boosted its sales by 117 percent and expanded its <location value="LS/us.nj" idsrc="xmltag.org">New Jersey workforce by more than 200 percent, from about 40 employees to 136.

The company's impressive growth has been noted. In 2009, Deloitte ranked Voltaix 276 on its ranking of the nation's fastest growing technology companies. The "Fast 500" recognizes companies that have "defied the odds with their remarkable five-year revenue growth."

Among the keys to the company's recent success:

* An influx of new dollars from investors, including Novus Energy, MissionPoint Capital and Intel Capital.

* Implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to reduce paperwork and increase work flow.

* Automation of processes, enabling one operator to remotely monitor and control multiple production plans.

* Providing extensive training programs to employees.

* A strict and continuing focus on plant safety, resulting in many awards, including the Governor's safety awards.

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AWARD

The Environmental Quality Award is presented to companies that have done outstanding work to preserve or enhance the quality of the environment in New Jersey.

General Mills, Progresso

Plant Manager: Jeff Williamson

NJ Location: Vineland

Founded: 1905

Full-time NJ Employees: 400

Business: Manufacturing

General Mills/Progresso Quality Foods manufactures roughly 28 million cases of soup annually, filling, cooking, labeling and packaging cans for retail sale. However, when you make that much soup, you unfortunately can't help but waste a lot of water.

So General Mills took a closer look at its manufacturing process and found an opportunity for improvement. The water used to cool cans before they are sent to labeling was simply being drained, resulting in about 94 million gallons of water wasted per year.

In December, the company put into place a system that would distribute the used water to a heat exchange system, allowing it to reclaim the heat and indirectly transfer it to potable water for process use, requiring less steam to heat and thus reducing the load on the natural gas boilers. In addition, once the heat extraction occurs, the water is then sent back to another holding tank where it is recycled and returned to the cooling vessel, reducing the amount of new water added to the system.

General Mills' initiative will result in a significant reduction in its carbon footprint. The company has seen a 15 percent reduction in plant water usage, which will result in 56 million less gallons of water used annually, as well as a 16 percent energy reduction and a 12 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.

Munich Reinsurance America, Inc.

President & CEO: Anthony J. Kuczinski

NJ Location: Princeton

Founded: 1917

Full-time NJ Employees: 894

Business: Reinsurance

Munich Reinsurance America, with its home office in Princeton, is one of the largest reinsurers in the US. Like many well-established businesses, the company recently had to confront a hard reality. Its aging home-office buildings were a study in the inefficient and wasteful use of water and electricity. Such inefficiencies are very costly, especially when modern technology provides plenty of tools to reduce a company's environmental impact.

In a few short years, Munich Re has not only fixed the problem, but also become an industry leader in environmental sustainability. Already carbon neutral in its Munich headquarters in Germany, the company expects to be carbon- neutral in 2012 throughout its global operations and in Princeton.

Through a contract with SunPower Corp., a leading solar energy provider, Munich Re has installed a 2.5 megawatt solar generation system at its Princeton offices. The solar panels are installed in canopy fashion over the office parking lots.

The reduction in the company's carbon footprint is equivalent to removing 400 cars from the road. The solar power array is also expected to cut its electric bill by nearly half-a-million dollars a year.

The company has also retrofitted all general-office lighting, installed a campus-wide lighting control system and now uses a highly complex automation program to make its heating and air conditioning systems far more efficient.

The company has also dramatically reduced its water usage and participates in the Middlesex County and Delaware Raritan Canal water conservation program by installing retention basins and greatly reducing storm runoff .

Since 2007, when these sustainability projects got underway, Munich Re has cut its water use in half, reduced its carbon emissions by almost as much, and moved from exclusive use of fossil fuels to 50 percent renewable energy.

The company anticipates that it will be relying 100 percent on renewable energy certificates by the end of 2012.

New Jersey American Water Company

President: David Baker

NJ Location: Voorhees

Founded: 1886

Full-time NJ Employees: 869

Business: Regulated Utility

No one likes a bully, and plants are no exception. For example, the invasive plants surrounding the New Jersey American Water (NJAW) facility in Tewksbury Township were harming the environment and making it impossible for native species in the Lamington River watershed to grow by choking out the helpful plants in the area and shading the soil to keep seeds from sprouting.

Fresh off its last environmental protection project where the company spent millions rebuilding the Pottersville Sewage Plant to reduce pollution, NJAW, the largest water utility in the state, turned its sights closer to home and voluntarily removed the invasive Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, and bittersweet vine plants that were destroying the ecosystem in the area surrounding the plant site.

The utility, with the aid of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, planted several hundred native bare root sock plants, shrubs and trees in their place throughout the 2.5-acre property to enhance the habitat for wildlife, particularly migratory birds, as well as wood and bog turtles.

Although NJAW has committed to maintaining the restoration work for at least the next 10 years, the utility is hoping the project will take on a life of its own. The migratory birds and pollinators that feed on the fruit plants will naturally disperse their seeds in the surrounding watershed, allowing the benefits of the project to extend beyond the property's boundaries.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

President: Andrè Wyss

NJ Location: East Hanover

Founded: 1968

Full-time NJ Employees: 5,000+

Business: Pharmaceutical R&D

The environmentally-sound principle of recycling has been adopted by virtually every large company in the US, not only because it cuts waste and saves large sums of money, but also because it is required under state and federal law.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, with more than 5,000 New Jersey employees in Hanover and Florham Park, has taken this principle to the next level by aggressively reusing most of the electronic "waste" generated at its two facilities.

In 2010, before this new program was implemented, Novartis sent over 154,000 pounds of LCD monitors, notebook computers and cell phones to be recycled. This was an important part of the company's long-standing recycling practices.

But company officials recognized that they could do better. The federal EPA had done studies showing that the environmental benefit of reusing electronic devices (i.e. extending their useful life) was 25 times greater than recycling them. This is because 75 percent of the energy required to make and use electronic devices occurs in their original production, before they are even switched on. Also, many thousands of pounds of raw materials are used to make computer notebooks weighing just a few pounds. It stands to reason that extending the useful life of these devices by two to three years or more, will dramatically reduce their environmental impact.

In 2011, Novartis implemented its new "reuse" program by contracting with a third-party broker to refurbish and then reuse 62 percent of the 105,000 pounds of electronic equipment, all of which in the past would have been sent to recycling facilities.

The company estimates that these efforts to extend the life of this equipment, 66,000 pounds in all, saved the equivalent of 1.9 million metric tons of carbon emissions in a single year.

OUTSTANDING EMPLOYER AWARD

The Outstanding Employer Award is presented to companies that demonstrate a creative and forward looking approach to managing their human resources.

Riverview Estates

Executive Director: Janice Doughman

NJ Location: Riverton

Founded: 1954

Full-time NJ Employees: 92

Business: Long-term Care

Sometimes in life and work, it's the little things that count the most, especially if you can't afford the big things.

And that is how Riverview Estates, a 58-year-old, long-term-care facility in Riverton, Burlington County, has boosted the morale of employees and the quality of their care-giving over the years - by focusing on the many little things that collectively add up to a big effect.

As a small non-profit healthcare corporation with about 160 employees, Riverview cannot provide the higher salaries and wages offered by some of its bigger competitors. However, by being creative and continuously improving its employee benefits program in small ways, Riverview has achieved a low staff -turnover rate that is the envy of many of its competitors.

As Executive Director Janice Doughman explains, "It is the array of benefits that makes the program unique."

Riverview's list of employee benefits is impressive. Like all good employers, the facility offers health coverage, prescription reimbursement, paid time off, and a 401K. But that's where the comparison ends.

Riverview offers tuition reimbursement (up to $3,500 annually) to employees on a degree track that will benefit both the employee and the organization. It also offers two $500 scholarships annually for any employee seeking an advanced degree.

The company also provides regular on-site webinars for employees who must take continuing education courses to maintain licenses or certifications, and it reimburses all professional staff , nurses and aides for their re-licensing fees.

Employees with excellent attendance records can receive an additional $20 per paycheck, and if their perfect attendance extends to an entire year, their additional pay for that year would be $970.

Time and budgets are tight for many employees, and so Riverview offers all employees a free daily hot meal, which could be lunch or dinner. And all full-timers, most of whom work on their feet, receive an annual shoe allowance.

There are also a food pantry, employee recognition days, quarterly let-your-hair-down meetings with Riverview executives and trustees, employee appreciation days, a years-of-service banquet and more.

The impact of all these little things? It's big. Since initiating these staff programs, Riverview has seen fewer workers' comp claims, fewer call-outs and higher morale. It's also able to handle its entire workload without outside help - saving the facility an average of $400,000 per year in agency fees.

STORIS, Inc.

President & CEO: Donald J. Surdoval

NJ Location: Mount Arlington

Founded: 1989

Full-time NJ Employees: 81

Business: Services

In the fast and ever-changing technology sector, knowledgeable, ambitious and well-trained employees are a must for staying ahead of the curve. Recognizing this, STORIS, the leading provider of fully integrated, cross channel software solutions for the big ticket retail market, has implemented a number of programs that are outstanding and reduce employee turnover almost to zero.

Because technology advances at breakneck speeds these days, at STORIS, learning new skills is not optional for employees, it's a requirement. However, STORIS employees decide when it's time for a promotion and raise based on what they learn and when. Management places skill requirement goals for different job levels and employees are encouraged to obtain them at their own pace.

When an employee shows they qualify to advance in the company, they do so and are encouraged to pursue the next level after that. Regardless of advancement, raises are given annually, but salary levels are nonetheless reviewed regularly using the Culpepper Compensation Survey, the top salary survey for the IT industry. If salaries fall below competitive levels, they're adjusted accordingly.

One might imagine that all that climbing up the corporate ladder might lead to a stressful working environment, but not at STORIS. The company regularly recognizes employees who go above and beyond their normal job responsibilities through its ROBOTS (Reward Our Best on the Spot) recognition program, offering flexible working hours and telecommuting opportunities for those who would prefer not to add additional wear and tear to their cars or risk an accident during inclement weather, and holding annual "Summer Olympics" barbecue team building competitions where employees can participate in a variety of indoor and outdoor events. It even offers complimentary chair massages during work hours each spring.

And it works! In the last three years, STORIS has enjoyed an overall employee-retention rate of 98 percent, an unheard of figure for its industry, with average tenure for all employees at 9.6 years (and an extra 6.5 years for those in management positions).

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

The Public Service Award is presented to companies for outstanding service to their communities.

Wakefern Food Corp.

President and COO: Joseph Sheridan

NJ Location: Edison

Founded: 1946

Full-time NJ Employees: 2,564

Business: Wholesale/Retail Trade

As the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States, whose members independently operate nearly 250 ShopRite supermarkets in six states, Wakefern Food Corporation knows a lot about feeding people. However, the company has taken feeding the communities of its stores beyond just its customers and sets an example in feeding the hungry as well.

As the recession continues, the USDA reports that the number of households in New Jersey experiencing food hardship has increased from 7.7 percent in 2004-2006 to 11.5 percent in 2007-2009. As a food organization, Wakefern found that helping the cause felt like the right fit. Since 1999, the company has made it a core focus of its charitable efforts to fight hunger, donating more than $1.5 million annually to food banks in New Jersey, an amount that has ballooned to more than $19 million since 1999. In addition, its in-kind donations to food banks has included an annual donation of 50 tons of turkeys.

Wakefern has also helped to raise hunger awareness through its annual "Help Bag Hunger" program during Hunger Action Month, where local dignitaries bag groceries and encourage shoppers to buy donation cards, as well as its "Create a T-Shirt Depicting Hunger" consumer contest.

And its efforts have not gone unnoticed; for three years running, the Governor of New Jersey has issued a proclamation declaring the third Wednesday in September as Shop-Rite Partners in Caring Day for its significant efforts in the fight against hunger.

WithumSmith+Brown, PC

Managing Partner/CEO: William R. Hagaman, Jr.

NJ Location: Princeton

Founded: 1974

Full-time NJ Employees: 312

Business: CPA and Consulting Services

What's the best way to let folks in your communities know that you really care about them?

It's simple. WithumSmith+Brown, the CPA and consulting firm based in Princeton, gave its employees the entire week of Thanksgiving off in 2011 to help the charities of their choice.

They called it: "The Week of Caring." In fact, the innovative program wasn't so simple to organize and implement. The charitable activities of more than 400 professional staff in 12 offices had to be planned, carried out and documented. These individuals assisted a total of 30 non-profit organizations of their choice in Morristown, New Brunswick, Red Bank, Paramus, Philadelphia, Princeton, Silver Spring, Somerville and Toms River.

All WithumSmith+Brown employees were given the three days before the holiday to volunteer their time, but the activities of many carried right into Thanksgiving Day itself.

A number of employees, for example, purchased and cooked Thanksgiving dinner for families and entire groups of people living in shelters. The Week of Caring was such a great success, it is now an annual company event.

WithumSmith+Brown felt a particular urgency in creating the program. The need for charitable services is always there, but the recession and a weak economic recovery had left the state's most vulnerable populations more vulnerable than ever. And with the corresponding drop in government and private donations, social service organizations had less money and fewer hands to do their work.

The social service and community organizations that were helped by WithumSmith+Brown employees in turn helped the most disadvantaged people meet their most basic needs, like food and shelter.

The handwritten letters of thanks received by WithumSmith+Brown volunteers said everything about the value of The Week of Caring.

Wrote 10-year-old Javier Puentes: "Thank you for taking the time you took to cook for us. You are really nice people for doing that for us."

Verification of AFE Information Provided by Mercadien, P.C., CPAs

Mercadien, P.C. performed the agreed-upon procedures to verify the information supplied by the award-winning finalists. As entrepreneurs serving entrepreneurs, the principals and staff of Mercadien, P.C. are uniquely suited to provide creative solutions to a variety of business challenges.

Mercadien, P.C. is a single-source solution offering a full spectrum of accounting and consulting services, including traditional audit and financial report services, tax compliance and consulting services, Section 404 internal control reviews, Federal, multi-state tax compliance and planning, and international taxation.

Mercadien works with a diverse group of professionals and industries to develop strategic and financial plans designed to maximize wealth and profitability, minimize taxes and risk, and evaluate systems and processes, while increasing efficiencies.

Mercadien has a strong background in providing services to fi- nancial institutions, nonprofit organizations, professional trade associations, colleges and universities, government agencies, authorities, and municipalities and other public entities.

Mercadien, P.C., Certified Public Accountants has been in the Princeton area for 50 years and has a staff of 100 professionals, including 14 principals.

Mercadien, P.C., CPAs is a Mercadien Group Company. The Mercadien Group is a family of distinct companies created to serve the diverse and sophisticated needs of clients in a capacity fa r greater than any single organization can off er. The Mercadien Group provides accounting and tax, consulting, technology, asset management and outsourcing services.

Copyright:	(c) 2012 New Jersey Business & Industry Association
Wordcount:	3848