Kicking off her 2014 statewide tour highlighting New Jersey’s fastest growing businesses and promoting the state as an ideal business location, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno visited Turtle & Hughes, Inc. at its Central Distribution Center, in Bridgewater.
“New Jersey-based companies illustrate our state’s vast appeal from warehousing and distribution to construction, manufacturing and energy, proving New Jersey is the ideal place for companies to succeed, grow and compete in the global marketplace,” said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. “The Christie Administration remains committed to assisting businesses like Turtle & Hughes to grow and thrive in New Jersey.”
Turtle & Hughes, Inc. is a fourth generation family-owned business that was founded in lower Manhattan in 1923 and moved to New Jersey in 1970. Headquartered in Linden, the company serves the industrial, commercial, utility and contractor markets from 17 locations nationwide. Jayne Millard, CEO, is the third generation of women to own and operate the business during its 90-year history. With more than 700 employees, the company has $550 million in annual sales.
Turtle & Hughes has grown rapidly in the field of data communications and sustainable energy, offering a full line of customized and value added service and programs. Its division, Turtle & Hughes Integrated Supply (THIS), is an emerging force in the supply chain management market. In May 2013, the company expanded its presence further into the industrial market with the acquisition of Long Island-based Mid-Island Electrical Supply. Turtle and Hughes was recognized in 2013 by Modern Distribution Management’s Distribution List and ranked 15thamong the top 25 distributors by revenue in electrical distribution nationwide. The company was also recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the top 5,000 fastest growing companies in the United States. Turtle & Hughes is one of country’s top 50 women-owned businesses and was ranked number one among women-owned businesses by NJBIZ.
“We have been proud to call New Jersey our home for over 40 years,” said Turtle & Hughers CEO Jayne Millard. “What makes our company great is the culture of entrepreneurism. It inspires standards of excellence, extraordinary resourcefulness, and an insistence on innovation. We believe the way to foster success is to hire the right people and then give them the support and resources they need to sharpen their expertise and grow with the company. Over the past seven years, our company has nearly doubled its revenues as a result of the hard work of our employees.”
The Christie Administration created the Partnership for Action to serve businesses of all sizes and development stages and provide access to a variety of resources to ensure their success. The New Jersey Partnership for Action supports the vital role business plays in advancing the state’s economy and creating jobs. Led by Lt. Gov. Guadagno, the PFA is a public-private approach to economic development and the starting point for all initiatives, policies, and efforts to grow New Jersey’s economy and create quality, sustainable jobs in our communities. The four elements of the PFA include the Business Action Center, reporting directly to the Lt. Gov. and providing the business community with a single point of contact, applying a proactive, customer-service approach to businesses’ interactions with state government; the Secretary of Higher Education, which works with New Jersey’s institutions of higher learning to prepare an educated workforce for a growing and thriving economy; the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, serving as the state’s bank, and Choose New Jersey, an independently funded 501(c)(3) business attraction and lead generation organization that markets the state as an ideal location.
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