In an era of consolidation, Hercules remains independent
In an era of business consolidation, remaining independent can be seen as an act of courage. For Adam May, vice president of Business Development at Hercules Corp., a Hicksville, N.Y.-based supplier of laundry equipment, it’s simply a matter of family—his father and grandfather, the extended family of employees and clients, and the community at large.
Persistent rumors that Hercules may be acquired by a larger corporation are flat-out false, says May, the third generation of the May family in the business. After visiting the offices throughout his childhood, the 28-year-old is continuing a family legacy dating from 1959, when his grandfather Alfred May founded the company in the Bronx.
“I enjoy the business,” May said. “My grandpa founded the business, my dad grew it, and I’ve been working here every summer since I was 16, in various departments from sales to collections to installations. The real pleasure is dealing with the customers face-to-face.”
Ironically, Hercules itself grew by acquisition in its early years, buying a large company in 1978. Four years later, Alfred May’s son (and Adam’s father), Andrew May, joined the team, and began a major expansion that now sees the firm servicing 6,000 buildings. Today Andrew May is president and CEO of the 150-employee firm. Alfred May has retired—yet calls in every day to keep his fingers on the pulse of the company and the industry.
“He’s here, but not here,” smiled May, who is now focused on expanding the family’s already solid network of relationships to a new generation of landlords/property managers coming into the industry. “The relationships that we have are so important to us within the industry. These relationships continue to grow as new managers enter the business and Hercules further expands outside of the metropolitan areas,” added Andrew.
In fact, the strength of those relationships has created an even greater concern with a current wave of consolidation, as financial firms seek to grow by acquisition. The transactions are pushed largely by a desire to grow the top line, May theorized. But Hercules’ clients want to maintain the close contact with senior management and staff.
Maintaining a private, family-owned status is essential to Hercules and its close relationships with its clients, and the May’s have every intention of remaining independent.
“I’ll walk into a room for a meeting or to survey a facility, and the resident manager, the superintendent, or the managing agent will ask if the company is still family-owned,” said Mark Eisler, vice president of Sales, and a three-decade veteran of the industry who joined Hercules 13 years ago. “Laundry is in the Mays’ DNA. They’re not selling.”
Hercules’ private status offers a number of advantages for its clients.
“Are you able to reach the owner of the company instead of just your account rep? Andrew and Adam are accessible every day of the week,” Eisler observed. “When you call for service are you going out of the country, to the Midwest, or to the south? Our headquarters is located in Hicksville, 30 minutes from New York City; not four hours away on a plane. These all are benefits of dealing with a private company versus a huge corporation. That allows us to provide a superior, 24-hour service.”
Smaller companies have less bureaucracy and red tape, he continued. At Hercules, there’s no need to fill out multiple forms in triplicate to order a needed part.
“By the time something goes through a regional and perhaps corporate approval, a washer could be out for three days,” Eisler said.
“And we’re available 24 hours,” May added. “Our website has a link for ‘Ask Andrew.’ We want to hear from our customers.”
The result is a series of awards and honors including in 2016 the Fred Maytag Award, the oldest and most prestigious honor in the commercial laundry distribution industry, presented to a Maytag distributor for outstanding achievements and remarkable performance for that given year.
Its private status also allows Hercules to invest in new technologies. The company was an early adopter of smart cards, beginning in 1992, and today nearly all of its facilities use the technology. More than one million New York City residents use the Hercules smart cards.
More recently, the company introduced the Hercules Smart Center, an internet-based service that allows users to request immediate service, and that will notify them when a repair is completed. Also new is a real-time online “Laundry Monitoring,” an application that will allow residents to know when machines are available, and even email them when their wash is complete, saving time and energy-wasting trips to the laundry room.
“When we want to try something new or make a change, we can research and deliberate, but don’t need to go through multiple layers of management at a large corporation,” May said.
The strong relationships also extend to its staff. The company hosts regular outings and events for their staff and their families, from picnics to holiday parties, and offers regular training for its technicians, all of whom are direct company employees. Twice yearly newsletters, distributed to all Hercules staff, property managers, resident managers, and board members, include updates on employees’ milestones including marriages, births, and the occasional sports outing, as well as a Q&A with a staff member.
Helping others also is a priority. The company works with a number of charities, including to the Ronald McDonald House of New York, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Hudson Valley, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Jewish Children’s Museum, American Medical Research Foundation, Cure Breast Cancer Foundation, Cure for Asthma, the Making Headway Foundation, the Goshen (N.Y.) Humane Society, and various animal shelters throughout Long Island and Upstate New York.
And there is more opportunity ahead as a new generation of tech-savvy professionals and empty nesters seeking a more urban lifestyle flock to apartments and condominiums in the greater New York area. The multifamily complexes being built to accommodate them will require the latest in high-quality, technologically advanced laundry equipment, May observed, and provide Hercules with an extraordinary opportunity for growth.
“There are a lot of new developments. We want to service as many buildings as possible,” May said.
Those commitments–to serving their clients, their staff, and their community, and to growing its business its own way, is why Hercules will remain a private, independent, family-run company.
“It has been a true joy to see this family legacy continue as I took over Hercules from my father, and now see Adam adding new dimensions to the business,” Andrew observed.
“I would never want to see the company my dad and grandpa built go from such exceptional service to bad service,” May said. “My phone would ring with people asking, ‘What’s going on?’ and my hands would be tied. That won’t happen. We are here to stay.”
Andrew May
President and CEO
Hercules Corp.
550 West John Street
Hicksville, NY 11801
516-870-3840
andrew.may@hercnet.com
Adam May
Vice President, Business Development
Hercules Corp.
550 West John Street
Hicksville, NY 11801
516-281-8760
adam.may@hercnet.com
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