HJ Martin and Son

HJ Martin & Son

The company began in 1931,[3] with Henry John Martin and his wife Margaret selling flooring and tile out of the family's garage on the near west side of Green Bay.[2] In 1959, the Martins moved the company to its first commercial location in Green Bay. In 1948, their son Patrick Henry Martin, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and former First Lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, joined the business. In 1956, he and his wife, Mary Ellen, purchased the business from his father's estate, marking the second generation of family ownership in the business.[4] In 1959, Patrick Henry Martin moved the business to its current location in Wisconsin. He also changed the company name to H.J. Martin and Son.[3]

By the 1960, the company added commercial divisions from its original focus on flooring and tile. During this period in the company's history, the focus was on serving local retail stores through its commercial division and using its showroom to serve local homeowners.[5]

In 1978, and after graduating from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, third-generation owner Edward N. Martin became involved in the company. He was named president of the company in November 1978, later purchasing the company with his wife, Terri Martin, in 1996 after the death of Patrick Henry Martin.[5] Edward Martin focused on company growth and added new company divisions.[6] This opened up new opportunities to work with larger businesses, such as Green Bay-based retailer Shopko. Due to continued expansion and company growth, the company also created dedicated warehouse space in 1979.[7]

In 1985, the company completed its first project for the Green Bay Packers. H.J. Martin and Son provided the glass and glazing, flooring and drywall for the addition of skyboxes to Lambeau Field.[5]

Due to this growth during the 1990s, the company established a distribution center in its original warehouse space, which provided more than four times the previous storage and operation space. In 1998, the company also expanded its reach into national retail chains, adding Target Corporation as a customer.[7]

H.J. Martin and Son continued its expansion during the 2000s, including a dedicated glass and glazing facility across the street from its headquarters and a dedicated showroom in Neenah, Wisconsin.

The company remains a privately held business, and in 2009, David Martin joined the business after graduating from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He represents the fourth generation of the family to be directly involved in the business operations.[8] He was elected to the Retail Contractors Association Board of Directors in 2017.[9]

In 2012, H.J. Martin and Son added polished concrete to its services.[7] In 2015, the company expanded to include operable partitions.[10]

On January 1, 2016, the company acquired White Enterprises, which added Tate access flooring to the company's product line.[11] Access flooring is also known as raised flooring, and is used in certain business applications, such as for data centers.

Lambeau Field Atrium, Green Bay, Wisconsin

While H.J. Martin and Son initially established itself as a retail flooring and tile company to consumers in Northeast Wisconsin, the company also has developed itself as a supplier and contractor to the national retail industry.

The company continues to work regularly with national retail clients such as Best Buy, Target, JC Penney, Burlington Stores,[12] Walmart, Shopko, and Menards.[13][14][15] While the company focuses on retail clients, H.J. Martin and Son also works in a variety other industries. The company has also completed numerous projects with Festival Foods, a Wisconsin-based grocery store chain.[16] In 2015, HJ Martin and Son also worked on the first Wisconsin location of Nordstrom in Milwaukee.[16]

Additionally, H.J. Martin and Son maintains a long working relationship with the Green Bay Packers for improvements to Lambeau Field.[17] Notable projects include the Lambeau Field Atrium glass wall, the largest glass project H.J. Martin and Son has completed to date.[18]

The company received new recognition from the World Floor Covering Association in 2018, receiving third place in the Gold Standard Category for a company over $10 million.[19] The WFCA Gold Standard Award is judged based on four factors: Knowledge, Customer Service, Quality of Store Image and WFCA Code of Conduct adherence.[20]

In 2018, H.J. Martin and Son was ranked 48th in Glass magazine's listing of Top 50 contract glaziers, having first appeared in the ranking in 2015 and remaining in the top 50 ranking nationally since then.[21] The company ranked among the Top 50 contractors in Walls and Ceilings Magazine for the third consecutive year in 2018.[22]

In 2018, H.J. Martin and Son was ranked 169th in Engineering News Record's annual listing of specialty contractors for 2018.[23] This ranking is five spots over its 2017 position and 47 total since its 2016 ranking.[24] The publication also ranked H.J. Martin and Son 67th in its top Midwest Contractors listing, marking the fifth consecutive year it appeared in the annual listing.[25]

In 2017 and 2018, H.J. Martin and Son sustained its ranking of 20th on Engineering News-Record's list of Top 20 Contractors in Glazing and Curtainwall.[26][24][27] H.J. Martin and Son first made the ENR list of Top 20 firms in Glazing and Curtain Wall in 2014, ranking 14th nationally and first in Wisconsin.[28]

The company was ranked 30th on Floor Covering Weekly's annual listing of the nation's top 50 flooring retailers in 2017, 38th in 2016 and 31st in 2014.[29][30][31]

In 2018, readers of the Daily Reporter, a Wisconsin trade magazine focused on building, construction, real estate and transportation in the state, voted H.J. Martin as the top choice in five industry categories: Best Carpenter, Best Commercial Cleaning/Restoration Company, Best Commercial Tile Company, Best Commercial Windows Company and Best Drywall Company in Wisconsin.[32] In 2017, the company was selected as the state's Best Flooring/Tile Company and Best Drywall Company.[33] The trade magazine also noted that HJ Martin and Son participated in 14 of the projects receiving awards in 2017.[34] In 2016, the Daily Reporter noted that H.J. Martin and Son participated in eight of the "Top Projects of 2016." [35] In 2015, H.J. Martin and Son was named a Newsmaker of the Year by the Daily Reporter.[36]

The company was also named as the 2015 Retailer Award for the Midwest by Floor Trends Magazine.[37]

For the 11th consecutive year that awards have been given, H.J. Martin and Son earned a 2018 Build Wisconsin Award from AGC of Wisconsin for its work on the Mulva Family Fitness and Sports Center on the campus of St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. The firm was honored for its finishes work as a specialty contractor.[38] The previous year, H.J. Martin and Son earned two 2017 Build Wisconsin award for its work on Grande Cheese headquarters in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and the Festival Foods corporate office in De Pere, Wisconsin.[39] H.J. Martin and Son has earned 22 AGC awards since 2003, including for its work as a specialty contractor on the Schreiber Foods Home Office and Global Technology Center in Green Bay as well as two additional awards for Specialty Contractor-Exterior Finishes for the corporate headquarters of the International Dairy Company and Specialty Contractor-Interior Finishes for the Fox Valley Hematology & Oncology Center.[40][41]

H.J. Martin and Son received the 2018 Starnet Gold in Education award for its work on the renovated and expanded four-story, 100,000-sq. ft. Fletcher Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. This renovation also expanded the existing residence hall with a new 16,000-sq. ft. addition.[42] The previous year the company won the Gold Starnet Environmental Stewardship Award for its efforts in reducing energy consumption with the purchase and installation of new IT equipment at its corporate headquarters and the installation of LED lighting in its showrooms and warehouse space.[43] In 2016, H.J. Martin and Son received a Silver Starnet Environmental Stewardship Award for its work with Carpet Recovery America, a non-profit organization focused on providing recycling and re-use of post-consumer carpet and for its efforts in donating used cell phones.[44] Prior to this, H.J. Martin and Son had received a bronze 2015 Starnet Environmental Stewardship Award and the bronze award in the Education category.[45][46]

Houzz, an online platform for home remodeling and design, has awarded H.J. Martin and Son the Best Customer Service Award annually since 2014.[47]

H.J. Martin and Son is a member of the United States Green Building Council[48] and the National Tile Contractors Association.[49]

International Children's Fund flooring installation

In 2018, the company was recognized by Disabled American Veterans Wisconsin as the Medium Employer of the Year for its work in recruiting and hiring veterans, in retaining and training veterans and its emphasis on veterans initiatives. H.J. Martin and Son's veterans programs include Building for the Bravest, which builds custom-designed smart homes for injured American service members, and the Jerry Home Project, which helped a disabled Vietnam veteran replace his house after its roof had collapsed.[50]

H.J. Martin and Son in 2017 sponsored the Edward & Terri Martin Family Atrium as part of the new Bellin Health Titletown Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Clinic, which is located in the Green Bay Packers Titletown District. In addition to providing charitable underwriting for this project, four divisions of HJ Martin and Son also worked on its construction: Walls & Ceilings, Glass & Glazing, Doors & Hardware and Commercial Flooring.[51][52]

The company was recognized by Northeast Wisconsin Technical College as the 2017 Alumni Employer of the Year.[53]

In 2016, H.J. Martin and Son began working with Cellcom's Green Gifts Program. The company donated 118 used cell phones plus cases and accessories to the program, which are then recycled with the proceeds used to fund local grants for environmentally sustainable projects in the community.[54]`

H.J. Martin and Son started collaborating with educators at West De Pere High School to offer educational opportunities for high schoolers interested in exploring the flooring trades.[55]

In 2015, the home of David Martin was used by local interior designers as the showcase home in the Designers for Hope event to benefit House of Hope.[56] The company also provided materials and labor for the renovation of a new multi-purpose space, Backstage at the Meyer, which is part of Green Bay's historic Meyer Theatre.[57]

The company was the 2015 title sponsor for Touchdowns for Hope, a charity that supports House of Hope, a Green Bay-based shelter for homeless, pregnant and parenting women between the ages of 18 and 24 (parenting youth), and their children.[58] HJ Martin was also a lead sponsor of the 2015 Hard Hats & Heels event,[59] benefiting the Greater Green Bay and Greater Fox Cities Area Habitat for Humanity affiliates and featuring Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson as the keynote speaker.[60]

H.J. Martin and Son works with the Packers Heritage Trail; in 2013, the company sponsored a bronze sculpture of Green Bay Packer Paul Hornung, which was installed in the Packers Heritage Trail Plaza.[61]

H.J. Martin and Son has also been involved with the International Children's Fund, an organization focused on the needs of children in Africa. H.J. Martin and Son has donated two containers of flooring products – 13,480 square feet—to ICF's construction projects in Liberia and Sierra Leone.[62]