Webber Group Inc history

The firm admitted Charles Paine as a partner in 1881 and changed its name to Paine, Webber & Company.

Nine branches sprang into existence during World War I, including PaineWebber’s first in New York City in 1916.

Paine, Webber & Company: A National Institution, Boston: Paine, Webber & Company, 1930.

Webber was founded in 1935 by Bangor businessman Alburney E. "Allie" Webber, owner of Webber Motor Company.

By 1940 the company employed just 14 people to serve 20 gasoline accounts and 250 fuel oil customers.

1948: Staples Oil Company is acquired.

Another significant development during the decade was the creation of Webber Tanks, a subsidiary that in 1949 built a 32-million-gallon-deep water terminal located in Bucksport, Maine.

In 1960 the company established its first non-petroleum business, launching Webber Supply Inc., a wholesale heating supply house.

In 1962 Mahaney joined Webber as the manager of the heating oil division and director of advertising and public relations.

When Davant assumed the post in 1964, PaineWebber had fewer than 40 branch offices, annual revenues of $30 million, and $1 million in capital.

He had a reputation as a prodigy and a forceful self-promoter—at the age of 25, he was running D. B. Marron & Company, his own investment banking firm, which merged with Mitchell Hutchins in 1965.

In 1967 it made the first acquisition in its history.

Expansion continued in 1968 when Webber acquired Brake Service & Parts Inc. to service its growing fleet of trucks and trailers.

1969: Larry Mahaney becomes president.

In 1971 Webber tried combining its gasoline operations with a car wash, a popular concept elsewhere in the country, opening the Union Street Car Wash.

Paine Webber finally went public in 1972 when it absorbed Abacus Fund, an investment company, and paid Abacus stockholders with Paine Webber shares.

The firm took a great leap in 1973 when it opened its first overseas offices, in London and Tokyo.

The first of these, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, increased the importance of institutional investors as a revenue source.

The second, the abolition of the brokers’ fixed-rate commission structure in May 1975, slashed profit margins by allowing fierce price competition among houses.

In March of 1978, Joe and Garry had a profound conversation while flying in Joe’s Cessna 210 back home to Lancaster, PA after meeting with a client in Memphis, TN. They were not happy with their jobs and the direction of the company they worked for.

Webber expanded its operations from Bangor into southern Maine and in 1980 became involved out of state for the first time, acquiring New York-based Parish Oil, which distributed Sunoco gasoline to upstate New York communities.

1982 Awarded first major greenfield food manufacturing facility design project by Stouffer Foods in Springville, UT to produce frozen entrees.

In 1983, the brothers founded Weber Group principally as a design firm.

Also in 1984, a reorganization of the company combined the three subsidiaries, Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis; Blyth Eastman Paine Webber; and Paine Webber Mitchell Hutchins, under one name, PaineWebber Incorporated.

1986 Awarded first major greenfield dairy processing facility design by Associated Milk Producers in Stephenville, TX to produce cheese and butter.

In the wake of the October, 1987 stock market crash, most major brokerage houses reported tiny profits or even losses for the fourth quarter of the year.

In 1988 the company launched its Presidential Protection Plan, which for an annual fee provided heating oil customers with routine and emergency service of their heating system.

As a result, PaineWebber posted a fourth-quarter 1990 after-tax charge of $71.1 million to increase reserves for merchant banking investments, and Marron decided to pull the plug on merchant banking altogether.

James Mullen was brought in as an executive vice-president in 1991, following an 18-year career in banking.

The largest single purchase in the company's history occurred in 1993 when Webber added six Agway oil subsidiaries.

Meanwhile, PaineWebber made its first major acquisition in a decade with the late 1994 purchase of the struggling Kidder, Peabody & Co. from General Electric Co. (GE) for $603 million in common and preferred stock, giving GE a stake in PaineWebber of about 25 percent.

The company was also an early proponent of the Internet, launching a web page in 1996.

In any case, PaineWebber was itself looking for takeover targets; Marron hired an investment bank in summer 1997 to search for an asset management firm, a brokerage, or a small investment bank to acquire.

1999: Former Webber manager files an age discrimination lawsuit, which is eventually settled.

The Paine Webber Building1285 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, New York 10019United StatesA.(212) 713–2000

Additional information surfaced in May 2001 when the case finally went to a jury trial.

2004 Joe Barker, President of WEBBER/SMITH Associates, Inc. retired.

2008 First Building Information Model (BIM) designed project – our standard design methodology ever since.

2010 Awarded first foreign greenfield dairy manufacturing facility project by Toni Dairy in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

2013 Moved to offices to current location – 20 Wright Avenue, Lititz, PA 17543.

2014 EA Design Concepts, Inc. was founded.

2017 Garry Smith, Founder & Chairman retires.