Maritz history

According to Ester Horstmann, hired in 1920, working for E. Maritz Jewelry Manufacturing Company required an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit not unlike the dedication required by today’s entrepreneurs.

Over the course of the next 20 years, Maritz established himself as one of the country's leading wholesale jewelers, a reputation that was galvanized in 1921 when he became a major importer of Swiss watch movements.

The years of robust growth and expansion ended in 1929, a year that spelled disaster for the nation and tragedy for the Maritz family.

After WWII, the incentives business that had saved the company during the depression went on to pay huge dividends over future decades, including the sale of $2.5M in incentives merchandise to Chevrolet in 1948.

The company moved into a new headquarters facility in 1950 and began building a network of outposts geared toward serving its corporate clientele.

An in-house creative department was established in 1959, giving the company the capability to produce its own prize book, media, and awards.

In 1961, the company adopted the name Maritz Inc. and began developing plans for a new headquarters office in St Louis County, Missouri, a home the company would occupy into the 21st century.

Experient (formerly Conferon, founded in 1970) joins the Maritz family, bringing decades of experience in the Association and Trade Show markets, complementing Maritz Travel’s expertise in the corporate meetings and incentives market.

In 1973, another core business was added to the company's fold with the acquisition of a small research firm.

William Maritz cited a 1986 buy-sell agreement that valued the 20 percent stake at $39.4 million, a figure Jean Maritz Hobler deemed too low.

In the fall of 1992, Maritz Inc. signed an agreement with Ford Motor Co. to help the car manufacturer boost productivity and cut costs, a deal believed to be worth $100 million over a three-year period.

The company's wilting profitability regained its vitality by 1993, but before the telling financial results could be tabulated another form of strife beset the organization.

When business had grown sluggish during the first years of the decade, the company remained optimistic, setting a goal of $2 billion in revenue and $58 million in earnings by 1997.

2000: Heybridge, an electronic-commerce subsidiary, is formed.

Tracie Gildehaus senior director of insights and innovation at The Maritz Institute, a division of Maritz, founded in 2009 to leverage human behavioral research—conceived of and organized the event for the ultimate purpose of contributing to the booming innovation scene in St Louis.