In 1922, 23 year old
entrepreneur Jacob Fink,
born into a family of
entrepreneurs, saw a
business need in Scranton,
PA: the many mom and pop
grocery stores on nearly
every corner needed paper
bags for their products, so
he created a company and
started looking for clients.
Deliveries were made by
truck, and even by the
occasional horse and wagon.
As he started to get to know
his clients' needs, one
product became two, two
became four, and before
long, the company was on its
way.
Over the ensuing years, as
the company grew, he bought
a building at 25 Lackawanna
Avenue which consisted of a
small warehouse and
showroom, with offices on a
second floor. The fledgling
company was strong enough by
the 1930's to survive the
Great Depression, and when
things became very
difficult, warehouse day
workers unloading boxcars
were paid with a dollar and
a shot of whiskey.
By the time World War II
rolled around, enough paper
and packaging products were
added to the company's
offerings to take advantage
of the industrial boom
period. The values that
evolved into the company
culture were forged in much
simpler times:
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Continuing this tradition,
Jerry Fink joined the
company's ranks in 1946 at
the age of 19, shortly after
his discharge from the army.
After spending a few years
learning the ins and outs of
each department, during the
1950's and 1960's he began
to add cleaning supplies,
equipment, and equipment
repair services to the
company's product line. This
was at a time when the best
technology had to offer was
bleach, ammonia, carnauba
wax, and a brand new
electrical device known as a
"Hoover." This period was
one of steady growth,
despite the fact that the
economy in Northeast
Pennsylvania began to
experience sweeping changes
as the coal mines were
depleted and closed. The
business saw so much
expansion, that in 1967, a
100,000 square foot building
at 215 Vine St. in Scranton,
PA was purchased, and the
company relocated there in
1970. This still serves
today as the company
headquarters.
In the 1970's, the economy
and country continued rapid
and dramatic change. The
corner grocery stores began
to give way to supermarkets;
multiple gasoline and
economic crises had taken
hold and put great stress on
the operations of many
companies. In 1972, a
competitor named Megargee
Brothers went out of
business and Pennsylvania
Paper and Supply was well
positioned to absorb the
vacuum left in the
marketplace. More people
were hired, product lines
were added, and the steady
growth continued. In 1978,
the same year Jacob Fink
passed away, a furniture
maker in the adjacent
building named Stacor
Corporation needed to
downsize, and their building
was purchased. This added
another 125,000 square feet,
so offices and a showroom
area were built. It also
resulted in a surplus of
space, and this presented
the opportunity to enter the
warehousing and storage
industry, which eventually
morphed into an affiliate
company named FlexStore that
survives to this day.
The early 1980's brought the
company's first experience
with computer technology, as
we had relied on #2 pencils
exclusively to this point. A
room full of equipment was
installed that had much less
electronic storage capacity
than a typical cell phone
does today, and it was
nearly impossible to get
through a day without the
system crashing. Despite
this initial high expense
for limited benefit, the
company pressed on and
stayed in the front of the
wave of technology sweeping
the business world, with the
help of Douglas Fink, who
joined the company in 1985.
Numerous and ongoing
investments in information
technology were made, and
these developments
ultimately had the company
utilizing the best in state
of the art distribution and
financial management
software.
In the early 1990's, two
longtime competitors, D&L
Supply and Paper Sales
Company, saw their owners
about to retire, and the
company completed an
acquisition of both at the
end of 1993, the same year
Douglas Fink succeeded
Jerry as President. This
nearly doubled the company's
volume, and solidified its
leadership position in the
marketplace which continues
today.
The dawn of the 21st century
brought many more challenges
and opportunities, which the
management team responded to
by adding services to the
line of products that by now
numbered in the tens of
thousands. Sovereign Commercial Services was born
in 2003, and very quickly
became the standard to which
all other facilities
services companies are held
up to, while at the same
time growing in just a few
short years into the largest
and best commercial cleaning
company in Northeastern
Pennsylvania.
In addition to providing
services, the company filled
a strong educational need by
building the Facility
Management Resource Center
in 2006. This allowed the
company's Certified
Consultants to train our
clients' staff in the proper
products, procedures,
safety, and legal compliance
issues which have made the
janitorial/sanitary supply
industry so complex today.
It also is outfitted with an
equipment training area, to
instruct users correctly and
keep them up to date with
the latest industry
innovations. These classes
are also conducted on site
at our customers' locations
in many circumstances.
2008 brought the first
edition of our comprehensive
Facility Management Resource
Book, the best place to
locate information and
products for just about
everything you need to
operate a building. This
data was mirrored on
the company's new website
which also expanded our
reach to the national
marketplace, and allowed for
the first time the ability
to attract and serve clients
from across North America.
In retrospect, even though
the company has grown larger
and more diversified through
the years, we retain and
increase our market position
by keeping in touch with and
maintaining an intimate
understanding of the needs
of our clients, who in many
cases become our friends.
We also codified the core
values that kept us so
valuable to our customers
and adaptable to changing
times. We
meticulously teach them to
each new generation of team
members: |
