HISTORY

Turtle & Hughes was incorporated on January 29, 1923 and continues to be privately held. In 1975, anemployee stock ownership plan (ESOP) was established, and today there are 225 employee shareholders owning 32.5% of the corporation's stock. Currently, 60% of the common stock is owned by women, and the company is certified as a women-owned business enterprise (WBE) by the states of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas. It is ranked among the top 50 women-owned business enterprises in the U.S. In 1993, the company began a major diversification effort into integrated supply, offering multiplecommodities to provide industrial plants with a low-cost, single source for a broad range of industrial MRO products to facilitate their vendor reduction programs. This diversification was accomplishedthrough an aggressive acquisition strategy, starting with Siliter/Klebes Supply Co. and Lindquist Industrial Supply Co., both in Connecticut. Then in 1995, Schlecter Industrial Supply was acquired inNew Jersey. In 1999, the company continued its expansion by acquiring Gulf Coast Supply in Texas.