The history of The Madara Company reaches back to 1918 when J. Clarence Madara opened his small office in Philadelphia, representing the Prudential Life Insurance Company. From this modest beginning, he moved to the Wilson Building in Camden, NJ, and broadened his representation to several major all lines insurance carriers.
J.C.’s son, Samuel W. Madara joined the firm in 1947 and they incorporated in 1948 as J.C. Madara and Son, Inc. The office relocated to the Professional Building in Merchantville, Camden County, NJ, in 1951. Second son, William H. Madara joined the firm in 1956 prompting a corporate name change to J.C. Madara and Sons, Inc. The firm occupied a prominent spot in the center of this small town community for thirty-eight years.
In 1981, Sam’s son-in-law, Paul A. Coffee, Jr. (Scott) joined the firm and in 1985 Sam’s son David J. Madara came on board. Al L. Romano, now with the firm for over three decades, started in 1968. With the addition of other principles and a third generation, the name was changed once more in 1985 to The Madara Company Inc. In 1989, the firm moved its headquarters to the Laurel Corporate Center in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, NJ.
Over the decades the organization has grown through the acquisition of other local agencies. Many of the original loyal clients and their families remain satisfied clients today. Some long time and highly respected insurance firms such as the William Paul Agency, the William B. Kuhlwind Agency and the Echgelmeier & Simpkins Agency have joined our ranks.
Various members of the firm have been active in statewide professional insurance trade associations since the 1930’s. J. Clarence was President of the Independent Insurance Agents of NJ (IIANJ) in 1948-49. Sam served as President of the Camden County association, then went on to become the state association President in 1965-66. Sam was honored with the IIANJ Insurance Man of the Year award in 1966. Bill Madara and Al Romano have both served as Presidents of the Camden – Gloucester County agents association. Scott Coffee has served as President of the Burlington County association, as well as State Director for the statewide IIANJ. David has served as a Director and is current Vice President of the statewide Professional Insurance Agents of NJ (PIANJ). These associations have been an excellent resource to assure that The Madara Company and its staff stay on the cutting edge of insurance professionalism and knowledge. Amongst professional accomplishments, the firm has had five principals attain the highly respected professional designation of CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter).
The firm is proud to be one of the oldest independent agencies in continuous operation with family ownership in Southern New Jersey. Our heritage of professionalism continues, as we serve the unique and individual needs of each and every one of our nearly five thousand clients.
Holman Automotive
Steward C. Holman began Holman Automotive in Merchantville, NJ, in 1924 with one dealership – Rice and Holman Ford. Today, Holman Automotive is a mega-dealer with 19 car and truck dealerships, a sunroof installation company, 2 leasing companies, an international fleet leasing company, an engine/powertrain distributor and a truck upfitting company.
Through the Model T, Model A and first V-8 models introduced during the Depression years, Rice and Holman Ford grew, moving first to Pennsauken then, in 1987, to its present facility in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Mr. Holman’s success with Rice and Holman led Ford Motor Company to ask him to run the area Lincoln Mercury dealership. This operation, which started as Merlin Motors, grew as well and moved from Pennsauken to Camden and, finally to its current location in Maple Shade, NJ.
Other New Jersey franchises were opened through the years, including a second Lincoln Mercury dealership in Turnersville, an Infiniti dealership and a heavy truck center in Maple Shade and three Saturn dealerships – Mt. Laurel, Turnersville and English Creek.
The Holman organization expanded its dealership organization into South Florida in 1947 with the opening of Ft. Lauderdale Lincoln Mercury. In the ensuing years, other Florida Lincoln Mercury dealerships have followed including Hollywood, Miami, Margate, Pompano and Pembroke Pines. In addition, Holman has a BMW and a Rolls Royce dealership in Ft. Lauderdale.
In 1939, Mr. Holman began remanufacturing Ford engines and parts at the Rice and Holman dealership. In 1946, this operation was established as Reconditioned Motors and Parts (RMP), a Ford authorized remanufacturer, headquartered in Pennsauken, NJ. Today, RMP is a distributor of automotive powertrains with warehousing/distribution centers throughout the Northeast United States.
In 1948, Holman began a fleet leasing operation, ARI (Automotive Resources International), in the corner of the Rice and Holman showroom. Today, ARI is the largest privately held fleet leasing and management organization in the world, specializing in the leasing of automobile and truck fleets to large customers with complex fleet management needs. ARI’s 800 employees are headquartered in Mt. Laurel, with offices or strategic alliances serving companies around the world. ARI serves the specialized needs of its railroad-related fleet customers with a truck upfitting company in Kansas City, MO and Ft. Worth, TX called FBE (Fleet Body Equipment).
Holman Commercial Truck Center began in 1959. It moved to modern facilities in Maple Shade, NJ in 1996 and sells and services both Ford, Kenworth and Sterling trucks. In 1997, Holman acquired Sunroof of Florida, an installer of open-air automotive products. This was followed by the acquisition of Holman Ford, Glassboro, NJ and Holman Ford, Turnersville, NJ in 1998. The year 1999 was for new construction at Holman with the completion of Pines Lincoln Mercury in Pembroke Pines, Florida and Holman Motorcars, a Jaguar and Infiniti dealership in Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
Celebrating over 75 years of success and prosperity in the automotive business, Holman Automotive is still a family-run organization dedicated to providing customers with a Premier Automotive Experience. In fact, the Holman “Premier Customer Care” and “Partners In Excellence” programs guarantees customer satisfaction each and every time!
