Company that Stores History is Looking to the Future

Waterbury Republican-American
Saturday, March 8, 1997
By Brenda Mark

Listen to A.J. Wasserstein describe his business:

WATERTOWN - In an age inundated with information, ArchivesOne keeps track of the past.

The Waterbury-based firm at 45 Brown Place stores records for businesses, corporations, lawyers, doctors, state agencies and others. Since it started out in 1991, the company has grown about 45 percent a year. Now it's bursting at the seams again and looking to the future.

Archives recently bought a Watertown building at 200 Commercial St. The building sits just off of Straits Turnpike near LaBonne's Epicure Market.

Archives paid $950,000 for the facility and believes it will help expand its business, said A.J. Wasserstein, Archives' president.

"We hustle. We don't wait for the phone to ring," he said when asked his secret to success.

Not only does Archives store records for customers, it also retrieves them quickly when needed.

To allow the firm to stay at the head of the pack, Wasserstein invested in a computerized tracking system 18 months ago, he said.

"Knowing where everything is at every step of the process is challenging," he said. "But it's important."

Drivers use hand-held computers at customer locations to scan in information from barcodes.

They provide customers with a receipt. Then they store records in the company's warehouse space for easy retrieval.

Although it owns and leases several other buildings, Archives' new Watertown facility gives the company 50 percent more capacity, Wasserstein said.

The building used to house the Diamond Ginger Ale company, a flooring distributor and most recently it was owned by the Connecticut Hospice, said Edward Godin Jr., sales associate for Drubner Industrials, which handled the sale.

"The building sold at a fairly low price in relationship to where the market is migrating," Godin said of the deal that closed Feb. 12.

With the new building, Archives now boasts 170,000 square feet of space.

American Bank provided financing for the new building, Wasserstein said.

"I think it's fantastic they're (American Bank) investing in the community, helping businesses prosper and create jobs," he said.

The new facility will help Archives add about five people to its staff in the coming two years, Wasserstein said.