MHSNJ Members In The News

Fred Gerstler (right) is the Executive Vice President of the MHSNJ
and has been a member for over 15 years.

Recently featured in the Home News Tribune:

Owners of Shipping Firm Keep Business in Perspective
By JARED KALTWASSER • Staff Writer • February 18, 2009

SOUTH PLAINFIELD — For Fred Gerstler and Ed "E.J.'' Koznowicz, business and friendship always have been intertwined, and that's just the way they like it.

The co-owners of shipping supply firm New Pak met in the 1980s when they worked at Gerstler's uncle's company, Central Jersey Steel Strapping and Shipping.

Koznowicz came in part-time after high school to help with filing and other paperwork. Gerstler, who also had worked at the company as a teenager, returned after the death of his uncle to work in outside sales.

After Central Jersey Steel Strapping and Shipping closed its doors in 1988, Koznowicz, Gerstler and Tom Kay, who was operations manager at the old firm, started their own company in 1989, based out of Gerstler's Carteret home.

Fred Gerstler in the late 1980's when he founded New Pak.

"We figured, let's start it,'' Koznowicz recalled. "We did have a lot of customer contacts and stuff like that, but for the most part, we started from scratch.''

After eight months, the firm had a warehouse in Elizabeth, and by 1993, the trio had bought out their business partners in Brooklyn, N.Y. They moved the business to South Plainfield in 1993 and to its current location on Kennedy Road in 1998. Kay retired in 2005.

The company sells shipping supplies and equipment, as well as janitorial supplies. In addition to its local sales, New Pak also now makes sales across the country through its Web site, but Gerstler said customer service remains their main focus and selling point.

The pair maintains a family-like atmosphere inside their business, but both also place a premium on family and community outside of work.

"We realize we have a life outside of this place, and we enjoy it,'' Koznowicz said.

At the end of the day, Gerstler said, they know those community ties are just as important as any sales they may make during the day.

"We tend to be two people who enjoy life and don't take ourselves too seriously,'' he said. "We respect our business, we enjoy our business, but we put it in perspective.''

IF YOU KNOW OF ANY MHSNJ MEMBERS IN THE NEWS, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@MHSNJ.COM.

MHSNJ Members In the News

Recently featured in the Home News Tribune:

First Energy Reduces Businesses' Utility Bills
By SUSAN LOYER • Staff Writer • March 3, 2009

Herb Unger (right) has been a longtime MHSNJ Member

OLD BRIDGE — With the economy in a recession and utility bills skyrocketing, many companies are turning to the First Energy Group to reduce their energy consumption.

First Energy Group, which designs and arranges the installation of energy-efficient equipment for commercial, industrial and institutional organizations, was founded 19 years ago by Herbert M. Unger and Howard Porter. The pair were joined in their endeavor by Jay Lopatin in 2001. Porter retired in 2007.

The group has helped cut energy costs at nursing homes, hospitals, schools and businesses and in some municipalities, Unger said.

Although the company primarily focuses on businesses in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, it has worked with companies throughout the country.

"Over the years, we've saved about 3 million kilowatt hours of energy or almost six million gallons of gasoline,'' Lopatin said. "We've saved so much energy that it's equivalent to planting 87,000 acres of trees or removing 42,000 cars from the road.''

Lopatin said he joined the group when he wanted to make a career change.

"I heard all this talk about using too much energy and global warming and thought this was something I can help with,'' he said. "Saving all this energy for customers is a good thing. Not only does it make economic sense, but in addition, there are only a few times when you can make money and help the world at the same time.''

Unger got into the energy business in 1981 after owning a maintenance chemical company, which he sold in 1977.

"In the chemical business, I saw an awful lot of problems with petroleum and derivatives,'' Unger said. "I felt that energy was a growing problem in this country, and I thought I could service it very well. With the gas crisis and the rising cost of energy and oil, I thought it was the right place to be at the right time.'' Unger started his own energy company, which he sold nine years later. He then joined forces with Porter and founded First Energy Group.

"We will solicit a company to reduce their energy consumption and improve their environmental conditions by addressing things like lighting, motors, air conditioning and refrigeration,'' Unger said. "We look at about 40 different things to reduce energy consumption.''

The first step in First Energy Group's efforts to cut costs is an energy audit, Unger said.

Typical changes, he said, include replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.

"We take the warehouse lighting, which is notoriously inefficient, and we install lighting that's much more efficient and uses 50 percent less energy,'' he said.

First Energy Group then sub-contracts the jobs to licensed and insured electrical contractors.

"We design a "turnkey' project,'' he said. "We tell the subcontractors what to do. We arrange for the installation and deliver the finished project.''

Companies save anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent in their energy bills, Unger said.

"Everybody needs to reduce their overhead,'' he said. "Whatever we reduce in energy goes directly to the company's bottom line.''

Companies who undergo an energy reduction generally are eligible to receive incentives from the state, Unger said. Those incentives are handled by First Energy Group, Unger said.

"We arrange for the client to get the benefit of those incentives, which reduces their capital cost,'' he said.

Besides savings on utility bills, Unger said, companies also may see increased productivity because of improved working conditions.

IF YOU KNOW OF ANY MHSNJ MEMBERS IN THE NEWS, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@MHSNJ.COM.