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The Mandel Brothers' Story

Our Cup Runneth Over.

The Mandel Brothers' Story

Our Cup Runneth Over.

Premier Industrial Corporation

A Legacy of Success

In 1940, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel invested $900 and bought the furniture, fixtures and inventory remnants of a small auto parts business from their uncle, Jacob Mandel, and started Premier Automotive Supply Company, which later became Premier Industrial Corporation as they diversified.

The three brothers began the company with the modest goal of making a better living for their families. They started by selling popular auto parts. In 1947, after service by two brothers in World War II, the Mandel brothers recognized that to succeed, they had to more fully satisfy the needs of their customers. They began asking their customers what parts were hard for them to find. This was the start of their “find a need and fill it” philosophy that would help propel the company’s growth for decades to come.

In 1960, Premier Industrial Corporation sold shares to the public and four years later, Premier was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Premier subsequently established earnings records in 34 of the following 36 years.

By the late 1960’s, Premier served over 100,000 customers in North America and Western Europe. In 1996, Premier merged with Farnell Electronics PLC, a British company, in a $3 billion transaction. The combined entity, Premier Farnell PLC, became one of the largest industrial and electronic component suppliers in the world. Morton Mandel served as Deputy Chairman from 1996 to 2002.

Parkwood, a Private Trust Company

As Premier’s success grew, so did the need for investment, tax and legal services. In the early 1960’s, the brothers created an informal group to manage the private investments of their families. Over time, this informal group took on greater responsibility, acting as a liaison between the Mandel family and their legal advisors, Jones Day, and their accounting and tax experts, Peat Marwick Mitchell (today KPMG). They also managed the investment process. In 1996, Parkwood was formed to more professionally provide these critical services to the Mandel family.

After the merger of Premier with Farnell Electronics, the Mandel brothers realized they needed a more comprehensive platform to provide the more complex services they now needed. It was determined that a new private trust company could provide the Mandel family members with the advantages of professional trust management. As a result, in 1998, Parkwood Trust Company, a wholly-owned private trust company, was formed in Wilmington, Delaware.

Today, Parkwood employs a staff of almost 70 in Cleveland and Delaware who are responsible for investment, accounting, tax, legal and estate planning services for Mandel family members and also for their charitable entities. The Parkwood team is comprised of a number of experts across a wide range of disciplines, many of whom have earned professional designations such as Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs).

Parkwood has adopted the same collegial management culture that enabled Premier Industrial Corporation to achieve superior results for more than 50 years.