Business View Magazine - May 2024

highly engineered products with limited distribution, creating unique value for customers. However, the quality of its products and partnerships isn’t the only thing helping H&C differentiate itself. The company also leans on the quality of its employee-owners as well. Almost all of H&C’s employees have hands-on experience with the products they sell, so based-on their experience, they are more able to problem- solve for customers, saving them time and money. According to Waltzer, when there is a problem, “our people go in, and generally speaking, they’ve seen that problem before and they already have some solutions, then they work jointly with the customer to make sure that solution is right for them.” So relative to other companies in its industry, H&C employees have a much higher level of job-specific, hands-on expertise, that the company consistently hones, refines, and updates. Partnerships with key vendors and suppliers are critical to H&C’s success, as it allows for the protection and expansion of operations. A turning point came in the mid-2000s when the company became an approved partner of Kennametal and Widia, a world-leading manufacturer of metal- cutting tools. “That’s been vital for us because these are highly engineered products,”Waltzer explains, emphasizing that this partnership has allowed H&C to offer VALUATION SERVICES INCLUDE: • ESOP & ERISA Advisory • Estate & Gift Tax Reporting • Fund Assurance Reviews • Hedge Fund & Private Equity Fair Value • Corporate Planning And much more Since our founding in 1988, we have grown into one of the nation’s leading and most respected ESOP advisory firms. With over 90 professionals, our ESOP advisory team assists clients as they create employee ownership transactions. Experience Excellence • www.empireval.com New York 212.714.0122 Rochester 585.475.9260 Long Island 631.719.3456 Boston 617.535.7785 West Hartford 860.233.6552 San Francisco 415.659.1860 CONTACT: Terence L. Griswold, ASA Senior Managing Director Rochester: 585.475.9260 tgriswold@empireval.com 102 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 05