Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox were prepared for the March 3, 2004
issue of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
On the Move
For nearly 25 years Thomas Judge has been preparing tax returns for
small businesses. And right in the middle of the tax season, in late
February when his lease ran out, he moved from 168 Franklin Corner
Road to 9 Princess Road.
That doesn’t faze Judge, who is also in the middle of a transition
from a parent company that is based in California to one that is based
in France – two business cultures that don’t automatically mesh well.
The new owner, Fiducial, is a privately held firm, headquartered in
France with 6,500 employees worldwide serving 185,000 clients. From
its Park Avenue North American headquarters it administers just under
600 franchises in the United States and Canada, plus 25 company-owned
stores and a processing center in Columbia, Maryland. There are 10
similar franchisees under various names within 50 miles of Princeton,
and Fiducial is still buying.
Soon after Judge opened his business in 1980, he took out a franchise
with an Illinois-based accountant who had invented an efficient system
that allows his company to handle a large number of clients with not
as many staffers. A press release lauds the current “complete package
of services – from advanced systems, products, procedures, web-based
applications and processing centers – to the depth of management
experience and collective knowledge of the network,” but just how this
is accomplished is a trade secret.
Judge’s first franchiser went through various changes and eventually
turned into Century Small Business Solutions. When Fiducial began its
“roll-up” of U.S. accounting firms in 1999, it bought Century Small
Business Solutions from C-Biz the following year. Now Fiducial is the
13th largest accounting firm in the world and the ninth largest in the
United States.
Overall, says Judge, he has no problems with the franchise and relies
on the systems it provides. But there have been some problems in the
transition, partly because the concept of independent franchise owners
was new to the French management. “I head up a recently formed
franchisee/franchiser relations committee, and we are trying to smooth
the ruffled feathers,” says Judge. An ombudsman has been appointed,
who has earned the trust of both the French management and the
American owners.
“Now we think we have blended the four entities and are going to
promote the Fiducial name,” says Judge, noting that the legacy firms,
such as his, are allowed to keep their trade names. The Fiducial name
will be bold, in black, and the individual company names (such as
Century Small Business Solutions) will be underneath in light gray. A
television ad campaign begins soon.
Judge, 53, is the son of a sales manager for the Singer sewing machine
company. He was born in Toronto and moved to New Jersey when he was in
high school and went to Rutgers College, attending night classes. He
and his wife, Effie, have a son and daughter, both grown. Effie works
with him in the business, as does his sister (Sheree Newell) and one
of his brothers, who runs two affiliated offices in Florida. His
attorney is Don Veix at Mason Griffin Pearson, and Tom Romano at
Buschman Partners helped him find the new space.
“Our client base covers all aspects, but we do specialize in small
businesses with less than $1 million in sales. We love going after the
payroll services because they are impersonal, rigid in their time
frames, and problems are hard to resolve,” says Judge. “Our bread and
butter is monthly financial statements, and we also do payroll, ‘live’
or ‘after the fact,’ business plans, budgets, and web-based accounts
payable.” He is not a certified public accountant, so he does not do
audits, but he is moving into the financial planning area and
affiliated with a Dallas-based firm for that. “And of course,” says
Judge, “we do taxes.”
Fiducial: Century Small Business Solutions, 9 PrincessRoad, Suite K, Lawrenceville 08648. Thomas H. Judge, president.609-620-0011; fax, 609-620-0277. Home page: www.tejindustriesinc.comTop Of PageExpansionsConcord Advisory Group Ltd., 700 Alexander Park, Suite203, Princeton 08540. Christopher E. Cahill, chief executive officer.609-987-9000; fax, 609-987-9997. Home page: www.concordadvisory.comWall Street scandals bode well for Christopher Cahill and ScottSantin, who are nearly doubling their staff and moving from 600Alexander Park to 5,500 square feet at 700 Alexander Park in midMarch. They have added six people for a staff total of 14.The company helps institutional investors with asset allocation,development of investment policies, manager selection, and managerevaluation on an ongoing basis. Their clients are “middle market”institutions, with from $20 million to just over $1 billion in theirportfolios. “That we work on a retainer basis has driven interest,”says Santin. “People are looking for independent analysis andcounsel.”What fund manager they recommend is determined by the size andcomplexity of the portfolio. “We maintain a universe of managers anddo ongoing research on managers and funds,” says Santin. “We mightrecommend a money manager, a bank, or a trust department, depending onspecific needs.” Fees are based on portfolio size.Santin is a graduate of Rider College, Class of 1983, and has agraduate degree from Rutgers, while Cahill graduated in 1982 fromWashington & Lee. They met at Merrill Lynch, where they providedsimilar consulting services until they founded their own firm in 1988.Concord expects to grow to 20 people and will hire people withexperience in asset management community, plus one recent collegegraduate to do portfolio analysis. KSS architects designed the space,which is being fitted out by Blue Rock Construction on behalf ofproperty manager Trammell Crow. The furniture is being provided byInnovative Commercial Interiors. Gerard Fennelly of NAI Fennellyrepresented the tenants and Karen Iman of Trammell Crow representedthe landlord.Concord’s competition comes from other regional firms and fromcompanies like Merrill Lynch. “It all comes down to the independenceissue, especially institutions,” says Santin. “At this juncture theywant to be sure the advice is untainted, unaffected by soft dollarsfrom asset managers. It’s a small niche, and all of our business comesfrom referrals.”Top Of PageExpansionsTrammell Crow Company (TCC), 700 Alexander Park, Suite100, Princeton 08540. Karen Iman, vice president. 609-951-0200; fax,609-951-0180. Home page: www.trammellcrow.comTrammell Crow has expanded from five to 10 people and is moving from600 Alexander Park to 4,376 square feet at 700 Alexander Park, partlyfor more space and partly to accommodate the building’s major tenant,Mathematica. Mathematica is taking the 4,800 feet now occupied by thecommercial real estate firm and Concord Advisory Services (see articleabove).Resource Solution Link LLC, Mountain View Plaza, Box6176, Hillsborough 08544. Michael Kenyon, president. 908-281-6900;fax, 908-281-6943. Home page: www.RSL95.comIn February the six-person employee and benefits planning firm movedfrom 684 Whitehead Road in Lawrenceville to 2,000 square feet inHillsborough, and it has new phone and fax numbers. Founded in 1995,it does corporate and employee planning – benefits, compensation,insurance, training, HR operations, accounting, information systems,and employee relations.Right Management Consultants (MAN), 155 VillageBoulevard, Suite 130, Princeton 08540. Ray DeMaio, regional vicepresident, sales. 609-987-0730; fax, 609-987-0583. Home page:www.right.comRight Management Consultants expanded from 2 Research Way to ForrestalVillage when it bought the national career transition and executivedevelopment business of Manchester Right Management is based inPhiladelphia Recently Right Management announced it was being acquiredby Manpower Inc. of Glendale. Right Management offers careertransition, talent management, organizational performance, andleadership development.Top Of PageCrosstown MovesBradford Investment Partners LP, 92 Nassau Street, SecondFloor, Princeton 08542. Bradford Mills, chairman. 609-921-3880; fax,609-921-9577.In February Bradford Mills moved his 30-year-old investment firm from44 Nassau to half of 2,400 square feet on the second floor of HamiltonJewelers (the Pyne Building). His firm shares the space with SolonCapital. The Mills Foundation is also located here.The company’s former president, Cheryl Mills, recently took a job inWashington for the Bush administration as associate deputyadministrator for entrepreneurial development for the United StatesSmall Business Administration. Her department provides information,training, and business counseling through business developmentnetworks, programs at state universities, SCORE volunteers, and theSBA web site.In addition to the investment advisory business, Bradford investscapital in seed, first and second-stage companies and, with family andclient funds, buys mature, mid-size companies.Akros Learning Group, 116 Village Boulevard, Princeton08540. Steven Haase, owner. 609-524-4029; fax, 800-878-6708. Homepage: www.akroslearning.comTrainfans Inc., 16 Princeton Avenue, Hopewell 08525.Steven Haase, principal. 609-333-1144. Home page: www.trainfans.comAkros Learning Group moved from Princeton Avenue in Hopewell toForrestal Village. The phone is new. The company offers turnkeyenterprise learning and compliance solutions. Simultaneously Haase’strain video company moved to a home address in Hopewell. Trainfansproduces educational travel videos for children.Christopher Construction Services, 310 Ward Avenue, Suite6, Bordentown 08505. Chris Moser, president. 609-291-1500; fax,609-291-1353.The company moved from 335 Yardville-Allentown Road, Hamilton 08620 toBordentown. It offers full-service construction – estimating, projectinspection, scheduling, project advisement, management, steelbuildings and general residential and commercial constructionMercer Commercial Realtors, 510 Route 130, Town CenterPlaza, East Windsor 08520. Tommy Cuilla, owner/business broker.609-918-1500; fax, 609-918-1166.Mercer Commercial Realtors moved from Royal Plaza to Town Center Plazaon Route 130. The telephone is new.Mitchell Rose, A Communications Consultancy, 2500Brunswick Pike, Suite 203, Lawrenceville 08648. Roger A. Shapiro,president. 609-434-0030; fax, 609-434-0031. Home page:www.mitchellrose.netThe full-service marketing communications firm moved a seven-personoffice from an address at Princeton Shopping Center to 1,000 squarefeet in Lawrenceville.Top Of PageDown-SizingFrontLine Technologies Inc., 3131 Princeton Pike,Building 2B, Suite 105, Lawrenceville 08648. Kris Subramaniam,principal. 609-912-0004; fax, 609-912-0307. Home page:www.frontlinetech.comThe software consulting firm moved from 3,000 square feet to 2,000feet on Princeton Pike. It does project-oriented information IT –E-business, Internet technology, and client server business systems,with 35 workers at client sites, also in Bangalore.HexaWare Technologies Inc., 1095 Cranbury-South RiverRoad, Suite 10, Jamesburg 08831. Home page: www.hexaware.comOnce at 1095 Cranbury-South River Road, HexaWare has no Princeton areaphone that answers as a business number. At its peak, during the Year2000 conversions, this global IT consulting firm had 80 employees and10,000 square feet on Independence Way.Prodex Sciences LLC, 3490 Route 1, Princeton ServiceCenter, Suite 15-3, Box 7064, Princeton 08543. Joseph Nichols,president. 609-275-5975; fax, 609-452-8345. Home page:www.ProdexSciences.comAfter 16 years at Princeton Service Center, Joseph Nichols is closinghis biomedical laboratory. Nichols consults on new surgical implantmaterials and medical devices, technology of natural biomaterials,research and development of composite wound and burn dressings, skinreplacement.He hopes to find a buyer for the laboratory and equipment. “Ratherthan dismantle the laboratory, I would like to pass it on to anotherinvestigator who may be looking for space for equipment,” saysNichols.A graduate of City College of New York, Class of 1938, with a PhD fromMinnesota, he worked for Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon and foundedPrinceton Biomedix and Helitriex, which was later sold.Exide Technologies (EXDTQ), 315 Old Brunswick Pike, Suite230, Lawrenceville 08648. Craig Muhlhauser, president and COO.609-512-3000; fax, 609-512-3071. Home page: www.exideworld.comExide Technologies moved its headquarters from 21,000 feet at 210Carnegie Center to 11,000 feet at Crossroads Corporate Center. Phoneand fax are new. With 30 employees at this office, the company employs16,000 overall.With operations in 89 countries and net sales last year ofapproximately $2.4 billion, the firm is being reorganized underChapter 11 bankruptcy. Exide Technologies is one of the worlds largestproducers and recyclers of lead-acid batteries. It has two majorgroups, industrial energy and transportation.Top Of PageName ChangesNew Jersey American Water Company, 989 Lenox Drive, Suite224, Lawrenceville 08648. Andrew Chapman, president. 609-512-9400;fax, 609-512-3680. Home page: www.americanwater.comElizabethtown Water Company has a new name, the result of a mergerwith another firm. The merged firms are owned by RWE AG, a100-year-old German company with core businesses in electricity, gas,water and wastewater, waste disposal, and recycling.Top Of PageLeaving TownBrill Public Affairs, 7 Williams Lane, Yardley 19067.Frank J. Brill, president. 215-295-9339. Home page:www.brillpublicaffairs.comFrank Brill closed his public affairs office in West State Street inTrenton and moved to Yardley.DPRA Inc., 1300 North 17th Street, Suite 950, Rosslyn22209. Richard E. Seltzer, president and CEO. 703-841-8068; fax,703-524-9415. Home page: www.dpra.comDPRA moved its Research Park office to Virginia. Founded in 1961 andbased in Manhattan, Kansas, it does environmental health and safetyconsulting.Frequency Marketing Inc., 6101 Meijier Drive, Milford45150. 513-248-2882; fax, 513-248-2672. Home page:www.frequencymarketing.comThe loyalty marketing firm relocated the Princeton office last fall toits headquarters in Ohio.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
