Endicott-Johnson Corporation
Contents |
Overview
Likely no business had as much of a hand in influencing the Greater Binghamton community than the Endicott-Johnson Corporation. E-J (as it was known) rose from small factories in Binghamton to become one of the largest integrated manufacturers of shoes in the world.
Peak
E-J factories employed tens of thousands of people in the area through the late 1950s and the company had a strong tendency towards welfare capitalism - the practice that the company take care of their employees no matter the cost, from cradle to grave. This was known as the Square Deal. At it's height in the 1940's (especially during World War II), the Endicott Johnson Corporation employed in excess of 25,000 people in Binghamton alone and produced 52 million pairs of shoes annually. The company had Endicott-Johnson Shoe stores in 30 states.
During it's heyday, E-J built homes and hospitals and provided services of all sorts to employees. Many houses in Endicott and Johnson City are known as "E-J homes" and have a distinctive, simple architectural style.
E-J recruited significant amounts of immigrant labor, particularly Italian and Slavic descents, leading to a significant European cultural mix in the area. It has been recounted that as immigrants arrived in the area, the phrase "Which way EJ?" was popular to this group of people with limited English in order to direct them to the factories to seek employment.
Decline
The company faced significant hurdles as globalization made the manufacturing of lower-technology products such as shoes unprofitable in the United States. The company began a slow decline, starting in the 1950s, closed the health clinics it had offered in 1969, closed the last factory in the area in 1998, and was sold in 2004. By this time it was known as EJ Footwear Corp., primarily manufactured the Dickies-branded line of boots, and moved it's remaining headquarters operations to Franklin, Tennessee. Today the company survives in name only.
Legacy
The legacy of E-J is readily apparent throughout the area. The Village of Endicott was created by the E-J corporation in 1906 as a planned community. (Endicott was known as the "Magic City" - hence that words use in diferent places around Binghamton as well.) The Village of Johnson City was originally named Lestershire (after the company that founded it, the Lestershire Brothers Boot and Shoe Company), but was renamed to Johnson City in honor of George F. Johnson, one of the key owners of E-J.
One of the other prevailing legacies of the Endicott Johnson Corporation was it's influence of Thomas J. Watson, who became head of neighboring International Business Machines, which was also founded and based in Endicott. George F. Johnson's ideals and treatment of his employees - which stayed non-union - contributed to Watson's treatment of IBM employees which were well paid and offered significant health benefits when it was not the norm for corporations to do so.
Memorials and tributes to George F. Johnson can be found in many Monuments around the region:
- George F. Johnson Statue - in Johnson City off Main Street
- EJ Arches - one each at the entrance\exit of Johnson City and Endicott
- Johnson Memorial - in front of the Union-Endicott High School in Endicott
Additional Information
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