Combine an active interest in public works, a penchant for writing and four generations of a family willing to work in publishing and what do you get? A magazine, Water Engineering & Management, with 150 years of service to water/wastewater professionals (and 81 years under the Gillette family name).
The patriarch of the Gillette publishing legacy was H.P. Gillette. A mining engineering graduate of Columbia University in New York in the 1890s, he worked with his father (Theodore) after graduation establishing water systems for small communities.
During this time, Typhoid fever was a great killer and one of its principle causes was drinking contaminated water. Theodore Gillette had established a water treatment company in South Bellingham, Wash., producing solutions to help fight this disease.
Taking advantage of surveying skills learned in college, H.P. also became active in public works and authored several books on construction and the costs associated that were published by McGraw Publishing Co. He subsequently was hired as the editor for McGraw's Engineering-News and moved to New York.
In 1905, H.P. joined with the then marketing director of the McGraw Book division to establish Engineering and Contracting Publishing Company. The first publication they introduced was Engineering-Contracting magazine. H.P. became the first president and editor of the publication.
In 1922, H.P. bought Water Works magazine. Water Works was first published in 1882 in St. Louis, Mo. Its focus was on the water supply industry. One of its chief rivals was Municipal News, the precursor of Water Engineering & Management. Established in 1853, this newsletter was published by the now McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. H.P. Gillette merged these two publications in 1928 to form Municipal News and Water Works. The company's name also was changed to the Gillette Publishing Company. Fourteen months later, the publication was renamed Water Works & Sewerage.
Public Works
Also during this time, the company published newsletters/magazines on road construction, railroad construction and building construction. Combined with the water publication, they formed the basics of public works activities.
"The basis for choosing public works (to write about) was the fact that these areas of activities traced back to and before the Roman Empire and represented activities necessary to the continued existence of civilization," said H.S. Gillette, the current chairman of the board of Scranton Gillette Communications and the grandson of H.P. "These processes would be with us forever."
The magazines originally were moved to the Chicago area to be closer to the Midwest manufacturers of equipment and supplies, who also were potential advertisers. Since cars were not common, Chicago was thought to be the center of transportation and a more central location for travel than New York.
In 1936, E. Scranton Gillette, son of H.P. Gillette, became publisher. Later, in 1953, E.S. Gillette became president and the firm's name was changed to the Scranton Gillette Publishing Company.
Throughout this period and into today, the company's philosophy on publications has remained unchanged. "Editorially, we are trying to provide continuing education to the readers in the fields they are associated with," said H.S. Gillette.
The publications have had controlled circulation audits since 1922. "We decided to restrict the magazines to only recipients active in the field and seriously looking for practical information long ago," H.S. Gillette said.
Current Chairman
H.S. Gillette started as a salesman for Gillette Publishing in 1947. In 1960, two-thirds of Gillette Publishing Co. was sold to Ruben H. Donnelly, which then was merging with Dun & Bradstreet. H.S. Gillette left the company to continue his work with Rural and Urban Roads that was being published under the Donnelly/Dun & Bradstreet name. The two water magazines--Water & Sewerage Works (WEM) and the recently started Water & Wastes Digest--remained under Gillette Publishing.
In 1970 when his father took ill, H.S. Gillette left Dun & Bradstreet and merged several magazines he had acquired with those of Scranton Publishing Company. The merged magazines assumed the name of Scranton Gillette Communications (SGC) and moved their location from the city of Chicago to the suburb of Des Plaines (its current location).
After years in publishing, there are still challenges and opportunities. "The greatest challenge is to provide usable information to your recipients," H.S. Gillette said. "You need to keep track of the problems readers face and use all the methods of communication available to convey to them the latest solutions."
In 2001 H.S. Gillette became the third family member (as well as H.P. and E.S.) to celebrate his 80th birthday still working at the company. "These magazines have become an avocation as well as vocation," he said.
The fourth generation of Gillettes currently is working at the company.
Even though Scranton Gillette Communications has 11 magazines and 72 employees, it is still considered a small family-run company. "Being small there are fewer people not directly involved in the operation. Therefore, there are fewer outside interests to direct the attention of operations away from the company goals," H.S. Gillette said.
Unlike many large companies, these goals are not solely focused on immediate profits. Gillette thinks that smaller publishers can take better advantage of entrepreneurial opportunities.
"The water treatment market has expanded beyond just chlorine and copper sulfate. There are new methods such as ozone and reverse osmosis that are being utilized," H.S. Gillette said. "In the same way, publishing also has expanded. Scientific developments (computers, e-mail and the Internet) help give more immediate information to readers."
Tough economic times have not discouraged Scranton Gillette Communications from forging ahead and providing new products and services.
"The Chinese have a symbol that can mean both crisis or opportunity. It's what you make of it," H.S. Gillette said.
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