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About Horizon-Bradco
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Horizon-Bradco is a privately-held and financed company. Headquartered in Schenectady, New York with a branch office in Salem, New Hampshire, we specialize in selling and maintaining the highest quality commercial and industrial food preparation equipment to supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, bakeries and institutional operations throughout the Northeast. |
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Company History
Horizon Food Equipment was founded in September of 1987 by Brian Donovan. Headquartered in Schenectady, New York, the company began with the modest mission of providing the highest possible service to a single product line: bakery equipment. Focused on service, Horizon Food Equipment soon became the premier service provider to both manufacturers and customers alike.
In 1994, with a focus on expanding the product offerings and services of the company, Kathryn Donovan joined the company bringing with her a marketing degree and experience with such fortune 500 companies as IBM and Forbes. Together, the two expanded the company’s product line to include distribution and maintenance of bakery equipment, weighing equipment, packaging equipment, slicing equipment and food processing equipment.
As Horizon’s customer base grew, the company added sales, service and administrative staff to support the expanding operation. By 1997 the number of Horizon employees had grown to 30 and the company was handling distribution and support for 10 separate product lines. Having outgrown its original space, in November of that year, Horizon relocated its company’s headquarters to the 25,000 square feet of office and warehouse space on Warren Street in Schenectady where it remains today.
By 2001, Horizon had built a loyal customer base throughout the northeast and decided to focus on expansion in the New England market to address the needs of its current customer base. In January 2002, a satellite service office was opened in Massachusetts. In an effort to further expand their market presence, the Donovan’s evaluated the possibility of an acquisition. They began negotiations with the owners of a well-known organization in the market, Bradco Equipment.
Bradco Equipment was founded in 1969 as a division of Koffman Products, a company specializing in paper and packaging supplies for the supermarket industry. Bradco sold and serviced food equipment for supermarkets, eventually becoming the premier distributor and service provider of supermarket equipment in New England.
During the 1990s Koffman experienced a series of acquisitions. The unfortunate byproduct of these events was a gradual de-emphasis on Bradco as a viable business. The years of persistent lack of focus and investment in Bradco had significantly erroded its customer base.
In spite of this loss of market share, the Donovans and long time business associate, Frank Corvino (a former Bradco employee with over twenty years experience in the supermarket equipment industry) recognized the value of the Bradco name and more significantly, that value of its employees. The three decided to form a partnership to purchase the assets, and the Bradco name from Plassien International, in November of 2002.
Since the acquisition, the Horizon and Bradco team, a talented group of dedicated and hard working employees have made significant strides in restoring value in the Bradco name. Together, the Horizon Bradco name has become synonomous with quality and value in the industry.
We at Horizon Bradco look forward to servicing our customers throughout New York and the Northeast by combining the talents of these two industry leaders.
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