Corrections or additions?
These articles by Barbara Fox and Melinda Sherwood were published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on August 25, 1999. All rights
reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane: Response to Roper
Too often, consultants say “Do what I say, not
what I do,” and they don’t take their own advice. Response Analysis
executives finally took their own counsel; they bit the bullet and
relinquished their own name in favor of the name of the larger company
that bought them out last year. The Roper Starch sign went up last
week on Route 206 and the company operators answer with the new name.
Founded in 1969, Response Analysis was an employee-owned market research
and consulting firm for design, data collection, and statistical analysis.
It focused on banking, insurance, and investments, telecommunications,
and information technology. Like Response Analysis, Roper is owned
by employees and investors. Based in Manhattan, Roper Starch was founded
in 1923 and offers marketing, advertising, and public opinion research
services to blue chip corporations.
Princeton is now the headquarters for Roper’s custom division, headed
by James Fouss, and this division also has offices in Los Angeles,
Dallas, District of Columbia, New York City, London, and Hong Kong.
Roper also has divisions for syndicated reports, mall research, and
advertising research; it now has the largest print advertising database
in the world.
Fouss, the former president of Response Analysis, says it was his
company’s idea to switch names, even though the original contract
called for maintaining the Response Analysis name. “It was confusing
to our clients, when we would go out with someone from another Roper
division,” says Fouss. “It made more sense for our employees
to all get behind one brand. That is what we would have advised one
of our clients to do.”
Another employee-owned company that was bought out at about the same
time last year says it has no plans to change its name. Joe Metzger
of The Gillespie Organization says his advertising agency has no near-term
or long-term plans to erect McCann Erickson signs at its headquarters
on Princeton Pike.
Roper Starch Worldwide (formerly Response Analysis),1060 State Road, Box 158, Princeton 08542-0158. James H. Fouss, vicechairman. 609-921-3333; fax, 609-921-2611. Home page: https://www.roper.com.Top Of PageLaw MergerDrinker Biddle & Reath, the Philadelphia law firm withan office on College Road East, leads a long list of mergers and acquisitionsannounced recently. It will combine on November 1 with Shanley & FisherPC, the Morristown law firm that has real estate, corporate, tax,and healthcare practices. The firm will still practice under the nameDrinker Biddle & Reath LLP except in New Jersey, where it will becomeDrinker Biddle & Shanley LLP for at least three years.Issues Management Inc., a public affairs consulting firm, currentlya subsidiary of Shanley & Fisher, will become Drinker Biddle & Reath’ssecond office in Princeton. The name will not change, however. Thecombination, announced on August 23, brings a total of 350 lawyersto the 150-year-old firm, which now has offices in New York, WashingtonD.C., Philadelphia, Berwyn, Morristown, and Princeton.Drinker Biddle & Shanley LLP, 105 College RoadEast, Box 627, Princeton 08542-0627. Samuel W. Lambert III, partner-in-chargeof New Jersey office. 609-716-6500; fax, 609-799-7000.Issues Management Inc., 101 Poor Farm Road, Princeton08540. Michael J. Faigen, managing director. 609-252-1300; fax, 609-252-0123.Top Of PageNo Village BankIt takes more than a village to raise enough cash fora bank, Kenneth J. Stephon, president of Village Bank in Lawrenceville,discovered. Bank officers invested $950,000 of their own money tolaunch the bank, but when that was eaten up by start-up expenses,they decided to cut their losses and close the bank.Since February, Stephon had been trying to gather the $4.25 millionin capital required by federal law to open the thrift bank. He endedseven months of campaigning with only $1.9 million in stock sales,which is expected to be refunded to investors.In an interview with the Times of Trenton, Stephon attributed thebank’s monetary shortcomings to competition from other start-ups,as well as a preference among investors for commercial banks, notsavings or thrift banks.The founders and investors in Village Bank, according to the prospectus,included:William C. Hart, head of Mercer Mutual Insurance Companyin Pennington; who invested $25,000 in seed money and $25,000 in refundablestock.William Fogler, president of the Van Rensselaer investment fund;$30,000 in seed money, $30,000 in refundable stock.Jonathan Sachs, gastroenterologist; $15,000 in seed money,$20,000 in stock.Paul Russo, co-owner, Lawrenceville Home ImprovementCenter Inc.; $50,000 in seed money, $25,000 in stock.George Taber, president, Business News New Jersey; $15,000in seed money, $25,000 in stock.Village Bank’s 300 investors contributed an average of $6,300to the venture. Stephon, however, chipped in $51,000 of his own moneyand may or may not get that back, depending on the proceeds from thebank’s liquidation.Village Financial Corporation, 590 Lawrence SquareBoulevard, Lawrenceville 08648. Kenneth J. Stephon, CEO. 609-689-1010;fax, 609-689-0689.Top Of PageBank Start-UpNew Millennium Bank, 57 Livingston Avenue, NewBrunswick 08901. Chris Van Der Stad, president and CFO. 732-729-1100;fax, 732-729-4399. Home page: https://www.nmbonline.com.The New Brunswick-based state-chartered community commercialbank opened its doors to the public last month. “We offer thearea’s best banking hours, friendly on-site management for fast decisions,and outstanding rates for depositors,” says Chris Van Der Stad,president.Organized and incorporated by a group of former bankers, lawyers,and entrepreneurs, New Millennium Bank emphasizes neighborhood bankingfor consumers and businesses, and is focusing on the growing minoritypopulation in the New Brunswick area. Mayo Sisler, former presidentof Franklin State Bank, which merged to form United Jersey Bank, ischairman.Top Of PageExpansionsDeLorenzo’s ASP Inc., 1145 South Olden Avenue,Trenton 08610. Robert DeLorenzo, owner. 609-586-8020; fax, 609-586-4989.DeLorenzo’s has added a digital photography division that can processphotographic prints within minutes of capturing an image. A softwarepackage developed by Kodak allows the operator to create custom borders,add type, crop, even remove unwanted objects in backgrounds and thenprint a variety of print sizes ranging from wallets to 8 by 10 inboth color or black and white. Images can also be downloaded for storageor for use on corporate or personal web sites in various formats.”The old-style photo lab is going to be non-existent in a fewyears,” says Robert DeLorenzo, owner, a former I.A.S.T.E. motionpicture camera operator and commercial photographer. “By usingthis new system, I can hand pictures back to customers immediately.Even if people don’t particularly like their pictures, I can fix theminstantly, either by altering them or simply re-taking them.”DeLorenzo bought the system initially to expand his sports photographybusiness, All Sport Photo & Trophy, which specializes in servicingthe needs of youth sport organizations as well as professional sportsorganizations such as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Trenton Titanhockey teams. But this new technology has allowed him to expand toa larger variety of events such as proms and corporate parties. DeLorenzowho doubled his previous studio space now employs six full time and35 part time employees.The Independent Traveler, 2 Tree Farm Road, Pennington08534. Kathleen Tucker, editor and publisher. 609-730-9155; fax, 609-730-9160.The five-person office of this cyber-reporting travel company lostits lease at Pennington Business Park and has expanded to a biggerloft-like space on Tree Farm Road. The nine-year-old firm publishestravel information and monitors interactive travel communities onAmerica Online and the World Wide Web (U.S. 1, March 11, 1998).MWH Advertising, 40 1/2 Nassau Street, Princeton08540. Martin W. Hilson, president. 609-430-9212; fax, 609-430-9213.This full service ad agency moved from 1 Palmer Square to a largeroffice space behind Talbot’s. Phone and fax are the same.Business Alliance Capital Corporation, 300 AlexanderPark, Princeton 08543-5215. Ted Kompa, president. 609-514-1140; fax,609-514-1137. Home page: https://www.baccorp.com.The asset-based lendor and financier is expanding and has signed alease for 3,100 more square feet at 300 Alexander Park, making a totalof 8,100 square feet.Business Alliance Capital Corp. specializes in providing asset-basedcredit facilities and term loans to companies whose needs range from$200,000 to $4 million. The Princeton headquarters employs 25 employeesout of a total 38. Other offices are in California, Illinois, Ohio,New England, and New York.J. Consiglio, Attorney, 2273 Route 33, Suite 207,Hamilton Square 08690. 609-631-0100; fax, 609-631-0722.The law office has moved from 2681 Quakerbridge Road to the GoldenCrest Corporate Center, a shared office with Paglione and Massi lawfirm. The phone and fax numbers are the same. Consiglio focuses onthe construction business and surety laws.The Olson Research Group Inc., 300 Phillips Boulevard,Suite 100, Ewing 08618. Susan O. Olson, president. 609-882-9888. Homepage: https://www.olsononlinesystems.com.The full-service marketing research firm moved from Princeton MeadowsOffice Center to Phillips Boulevard in July. With nearly two dozenemployees, the firm specializes in pharmaceutical, animal health,agricultural, financial, and consumer marketing.Top Of PageNew in TownEdward Jones, 145 Route 31 North, 16, Pennington08534. 609-333-1363.Mark D. Gross, a former financial consultant for Merrill Lynch, openeda franchise of this Missouri-based firm. Gross holds a BA in economicsfrom the University of Chicago, Class of 1985.Zullo Associates, 1 Academy Street, Princeton 08540.Rick Zullo, owner. 609-683-1800; fax, 609-683-4773.This ad agency moved from Wirt Street in New Brunswick earlier thisyear.Top Of PageCrosstown MovesPennington Systems Inc., 5 Independence Way, Suite300, Princeton Corporate Center, Princeton 08540. Stephen F. Heffner,president. 609-919-0990; fax, 609-426-9880. Home page: https://www.pennington.com.This software developer moved from 916 Commons Way. It does softwaretranslation and migration, analysis, and re-engineering, includingYear 2000 (Y2K), and also software development and tools such as XTRAN.The phone and fax numbers are new.DPRA, 258 Wall Street, Princeton 08540. Tony Montrone,principal. 609-279-2123; fax, 609-279-2150. Home page: https://www.dpra.com.The Kansas-based environmental health and safety consulting firm movedfrom 707 Alexander Road to private office space in Research Park.Top Of PageName ChangesStaffmark, 125 Village Boulevard, Suite 230, Princeton08540. Christine Ackerman, branch manager. 609-243-9000; fax, 609-243-0557.Home page: https://www.staffmark.com.Staffmark, based in Edison, has acquired Progressive Personnel Resourcesand the name has changed. The employment agency — which movedto Forrestal Village in April — also has an office in East Brunswick.IT Corporation and Fluor Daniel GTI Inc.,200 Horizon Center Boulevard, Trenton 08650. Gary Gardner, vice president,northeast region. 609-584-8900; fax, 609-588-6300.OHM Remediation Services Corp has changed its name to IT Corporation.The environmental remediation firm was bought out by the Pittsburgh-basedIT Corp last year. The firm also bought out Fluor Daniel GTI Corp,previously located at 310 Horizon Drive. Fluor Daniel’s phone andfax are also new.CorPay Solutions Inc., 405 Wall Street, Princeton08540. Harold Friedman, vice president, marketing. 609-683-3934; fax,609-683-3954. Home page: https://www.corpays.com.Freight billings is another service industry that has been revolutionizedby the Internet. NPC Freight Services sold off its billing division,which is now known as CorPay Solutions Inc. Harold Friedman, a vicepresident of marketing, maintains a four-person sales and serviceoffice at Research Park, but the demand for data entry work has virtuallydisappeared.”Now the carriers are doing the data entry,” says Cathy B.Candia. Companies that ship their products — ranging from carsto jelly jars — authorize CorPay to pay the freight bills. CorPayprocesses the data, pays the Federal Express and UPS bills, and sendsa unified statement. In addition to this customer sales and serviceoffice, CorPay has a headquarters in Norwood, Massachusetts, plusfour national operational offices.The Hobart West Group, 212 Carnegie Center, Suite102, Princeton 08540. Barbara Tamis, branch manager. 609-452-2080;fax, 609-452-1691.Focus Management has changed its name to the Hobart West Group. TheFlorham-Park based firm provides administrative and information technologyservices personnel for temporary, contract, and permanent positions.It has 12 offices in four states.Top Of PageDown-SizingHolistic Health Association of the Princeton Area(HHAPA), 366 Nassau Street, Princeton 08540. Marjorie Herman, executivedirector. 609-924-8580; fax, 609-924-3836. Home page: https://www.holisticliving.org.Citing insufficient funds, the health resource center for informationand education is scheduled to close permanently at the end of September,but the bi-monthly magazine will continue. Just over one year agoHHAPA moved into a new building and renovated the space.Visionet Systems, 4365 Route 1 South, Princeton08540. Arshad Masood, CEO. 609-452-0700; fax, 609-452-7148. Homepage: https://www.visionets.com.The software consulting firm closed the office at 4365 Route 1 South,where five employees formerly worked. Employees have been transferredto the firm’s technical office at 4 Cedar Brook Drive.Top Of PageLeaving TownL&B Typographers of Princeton, 27 Wall Street,Princeton 08540. Ed Booth, manager. 609-683-7888; fax, 609-497-9779.In May this digital printing company consolidated and Ed Booth movedhis Research Park storefront to Scotch Plains: 2590 Route 22 East,Scotch Plains 07076, 908-232-7770; fax, 232-8756.Top Of PageBuilders’ MovesC & M Construction Company of NJ Inc., 28 JeffersonPlaza, Princeton 08540. 732-274-0255; fax, 732-274-0025.Earlier this year the construction company opened an office at JeffersonPlaza; it does excavation, paving, and underground utilities.National Waterproofing Inc., 55 Route 31 South,Pennington Business Park, Pennington 08534. Bill Hoffman, manager.609-730-9526; fax, 609-730-9529.A Berlin-based company opened an office at Pennington Business Park.It does waterproofing and also crack repair.Huber, Hunt, Nichols Inc., 410 Scotch Road, Box997, Pennington 08540. Pete Clark, vice president. 609-818-2000; Homepage: https://www.huberhuntnichols.com.The construction company that is managing the Merrill Lynch projectmoved from Independence Way to Scotch Road. Tim Vaughn is the managerfor the project.Princeton Gardeners, 364 Princeton-Hightstown Road,West Windsor 08550. Bill Turner, horticulturist. 609-452-1092; fax,609-750-9890.The landscaping and horticulture business moved from Princeton ServiceCenter to a more visible address.Ricasoli & Santin Contracting Co., 4 FrontdaleAvenue, Mercerville 08619. Louis Santin, partner. 609-588-9539; fax,609-588-6848.The building construction company has moved from its 2127 Route 33location to 4 Frontdale Avenue in Mercerville.Schroeder/Perez, 549 Route 130, East Windsor 08520.Richard Schroeder, principal, AIA. 609-443-4031; fax, 609-443-5277.Schroeder Architects has changed its name, adding a partner, RickPerez, and has moved from 47 South Main Street in Cranbury to Route130.Wilkinson Interiors, 20 Nassau Street, Princeton08534. 609-252-9010.Earlier this year Sandra Wilkinson moved her residential and officeinteriors firm from 23 Route 31 North in Pennington to 20 Nassau Street.Witherspoon Construction, 2 Tree Farm Road, SuiteA 230, Pennington 08534. Clayton G. Keeler, president. 609-737-1771;fax, 609-737-8088.In July Clayton Keeler moved his firm from the Straube Center to anotherPennington location.Zvosec & Associates, 211 College Road East, Princeton08540.Earlier this summer John Zvosec closed his architectural office andjoined the Peace Corps. He is working in the Ukraine.Top Of PageDeathBobby Sheehan, 31, of undetermined causes on August 20at his home in New Orleans. Raised in Princeton, Sheehan played bassfor Blues Traveler, the rock ‘n’ roll megaband that began at PrincetonHigh School.Corrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
