Auburn Industrial Development Corp. honors long-time tenant Masterman's

The Auburn Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) honored Ben Masterman, founder of Masterman's, who passed away over a year ago. Masterman's is AIDC's largest and longest tenured tenant in the Rte. 12 park In the spring of 1961, a young man named Ben Masterman borrowed $200 from his cousin. He used that money, along with $300 of his own, to purchase a list of customer and supplier names from a man about to retire from selling first aid supplies locally. On May 8, 1961, Safety First Service Center was officially established. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Masterman drove a station wagon filled with first aid and safety supplies, delivering orders to local manufacturers. In the mid-1970s Ben started making calls from phone booths between face-to-face appointments to make the best use of his time. The business continued to grow at a steady pace. So in August 1981 that year the "big move" was made and the company took over 30,000 s/f in the Auburn Industrial Park. At the time of the move to Auburn, Masterman's employed about 25 people. Throughout the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s the company continued to grow, adding people, space and products. Today, Masterman's employs over 100 people and occupies over 100,000 s/f of office and warehouse space in the Auburn Industrial Park The Auburn Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) is an industrial and commercial real estate developer that owns and leases over 500,000 s/f of warehouse, R&D, and office space throughout the greater Auburn area.