Empire State Associates History

Empire State Associates, Inc.
163 Saratoga Avenue
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
Phone: 518-602-0271
Fax: 518-602-0277
email Empire State Associates

All About ESA

     The agency was started in the 1940's by Eric Wellisch. He lived in New York City and traveled to Upstate New York weekly. He often flew to Buffalo or Rochester , then rented a car to make his sales calls. Greg Magratten joined Eric in the 1950's and the agency became the Wellisch Magratten Associates. In 1974, Dale Norris bought Eric's share of the agency and the new partners operated as Magratten Norris Associates. Dale Norris had been working as a territory manager in upstate New York prior to this new business relationship. In 1979, Jim Martin associated with the agency and we became known as Magratten Norris Martin Associates. Jim Martin came from the wholesale business. Jim had started his own agency in 1973 and brought to our association several product lines, including Cherne and Fernco.   Greg Magratten retired after 1986 when Bill Frenzel purchased Greg's business share and became Dale's partner. Bill Frenzel brought experience to the agency from his several years in the plumbing wholesale business. For a short period, the agency was called Magratten Norris Martin and Frenzel. In 1987, we changed our name to Empire State Associates.
     We presently employee ten people. Dale's son, Bill Norris, joined the agency in 1992 and became a partner in January 2006. Bill Norris has managed a sales territory in eastern New York since 1999.  Ed Brown agreed to join our agency in October 2004. Within a week, his National Guard unit was called to a one year tour of duty. Ed served as a Sergeant in the US Army overseas. ESA is proud of Ed's service to our country. Ed Brown joined ESA in January 2006 as a salesperson. His efforts are directed within our heating division. Ed is trained in both plumbing and heating. He has a certificate for HVAC Universal and is also certified with a Silver Certificate for Oil Heating. Ed has completed many AC and heating classes. Adam Frenzel joined the company in April 2006. He is a recent graduate of SUNY Oswego with a degree in Business Administration. He is currently training in the Clifton Park sales office and will be working out of the Syracuse office after his training completes.
     Scott Phinney, our office manager, began working for ESA in 1993. His previous experience included several years of working in the wholesale plumbing business. Prior to joining our agency, Scott was employed as a territory sales manager for a national manufacturer in Upstate New York. Muffy Eggleston and Jon Schuler comprise our inside sales and customer service staff. Carolyn Norris works part time as our bookkeeper and full time as our employee relations person.

Click here to read our article from ASA News.