He always had a strong sense
of responsibility and duty
to provide for his family.
Before success ever became something that he was thinking about
Survival was the priority and the necessity
for the majority of his early life.
My dad was, born here in Hackensack,
and he was one of six boys.
My grandfather's first job was a shoe shiner.
He shined shoes for a quarter a pair, mostly judges
and I guess some attorneys also.
Business individual who were coming in
and out of the courthouse for whatever reason.
This would create a hunger for him to one day become the man in the suit,
as opposed to the kid shining the shoes of the man in the suit.
He proceeded through the Hackensack school system,
doubled up on his studies, graduated a year early so that
he can get out there and work and help his parents pay their mortgage payments.
Then went on to be a
sheet metal worker working for a company that made ductwork and heating
and ventilating systems for homes and commercial buildings.
And that was prior to his war years.
He then, went into the war,
World War 2.
They put him in charge of making these
drop boxes that when they had to drop
goods, you know, off of a plane into an area
that they couldn't drive to, whether it was food or supplies,
they put them into these metal boxes, which got dropped out of a plane.
When my dad came home from the war,
he went back to his old boss,
and he was going to go back to work as a sheet metal worker.
There was a few large homebuilders that approached him
and talked him into
going into his own business, as opposed to working for a contractor.
He took them up on it and went into his own business,
and that was in 1945.
The business was a family business from day one,
which included, besides my my dad and his brothers,
my mother was very instrumental in building the business.
Besides raising three boys and keeping the house running,
she was also responsible for the bookkeeping
and accounting for my dad's sheetmetal business.
In the early days,
the foundation was laid both figuratively and literally.
My grandfather started out in the field building.
So when people think of Alfred Sanzari today,
they may think of the business man who was making deals
and acquisitions and signing leases with tenants, things like that.
He was very much a construction man.
After many years of building
homes, he started getting involved with larger projects
in the late 60s, early 70s,
and then the company just blossomed.
Pat was one
of the first individuals that my grandfather had hired.
He was very much responsible for
Alfred Sanzari Enterprises’s success,
right there next to Alfred Sanzari.
Pat started as a laborer. Through the years,
my dad trained him, and he eventually became our director of construction.
He just excelled from there.
He built Glenpointe, Court Plaza, where we are today.
Heights Plaza, all of our industrials.
He was hired at the age of 18, and he passed away a few years ago.
Pat was my grandfather's right hand man out in the field.
He worked for us for 52 or 53 years, which is just incredible.
The man gave his life to this company,
and that was because he looked at this company as his own.
In 1967 and
1972, my Uncle Ben and my father David would join the company as they began,
what would be lifelong careers, learning from my grandfather and Pat.
That hands on experience has helped them grow the business together ever since.
Today, my father serves as our president
and CEO, and my Uncle Ben as our Vice President.
My uncle has been instrumental in the success of our portfolio,
and continues to play an important role in the organization's success
as we mark our 75th anniversary.
I know that my grandfather would be incredibly proud to see that
Alfred Sanzari Enterprises, the company he dedicated his life to build,
has remained a family business and has stayed true
to the values and the principles on which he founded the organization.
One of the most important
things we need to recognize as an organization
celebrating our 75th year in operation are our employees.
My dad treated each and every employee
with respect and equally,
whether you were sweeping floors or you were,
you know, construction superintendent or a CFO.
He treated everybody equally, because he started at the bottom himself,
so he always respected each and every person that worked for him.
I cannot say enough good things
about the incredible people
that have come through this office,
that are currently at this company,
and those who are no longer with us.
Without them, there is no Alfred
Sanzari Enterprises.
We owe everything to them.
We are long term
players in this business,
unlike other companies that they build these projects,
fill them up, and then flip them to an investor.
We retain ownership of our properties.
It's just so incredible to see something
created out of nothing.
We've always known that whatever we built,
it's going to be either our problem
or our success for many years to come.
So if we're going to build it, we need to build it right.
I think my dad would be very pleased with
where the company has gone since he left us.
Visiting our properties,
whether it be Court Plaza, Glenpointe, our medical arts building,
till this day, it's just a very, very good feeling
to look at something that we built
many years ago and we still own it today.
Whenever I have that feeling,
I always go back to, you know, where it all started,
and that was my father.
He built this from absolutely zero.