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Entrepreneur, Environmentalist and Humanitarian Turns 90 - Kurt Landsberger

 

Pequannock, NJ – January 7 - Maddak Inc. founder and CEO Kurt Landsberger recently celebrated his ninetieth birthday at a dinner party surrounded by family. While starting and running one company might be more than enough for many people, and at ninety most of us are more apt to spend time relaxing and observing, Landsberger who splits his time between Florida and New Jersey continues to work three days a week at the two companies he founded and seems most content when engaged in learning and doing the things that give him joy and inspiration.
Growing up in Austria pre World War II Kurt Landsberger might have imagined a life of ease and leisure. After all, several close relatives owned successful businesses and Kurt was the destined heir to all. Life however had other plans and when circumstances of war forced his departure from his childhood home he knew he was lucky to escape persecution. After a year in England, where refugees were not permitted to work, Landsberger arrived in America in 1939, where new opportunities awaited and were often created by a man willing to pursue an ‘interesting idea.’
Maddak Inc., the largest United States manufacturer of aids for daily living (ADL’s) was founded by Landsberger in 1971 and inspired by a retail medical store he came upon while visiting Scandinavia. “Among other things, the store sold ADL’s, small, often inexpensive products that were designed to help injured or permanently disabled individuals lead more independent lives by making everyday tasks like dressing, personal care or housekeeping easier to accomplish.” With a little research Landsberger realized that direct access to these types of products by consumers was at the time an unrecognized market in the United States. “We concentrated on selling to dealers who were already serving the public with larger medical items and created a new market.” Maddak’s Ableware® product line continues to evolve with changing times and it was Landsberger who recently suggested ‘walker bags’ to accommodate carrying cell phones and other ‘everyday necessities.’
Often fondly referred to as ‘Mr. Maddak’ by his industry colleagues, Maddak was in fact Landsberger’s second start-up company to achieve success and longevity. Shortly after his arrival in the United States at the end of 1939, Landsberger did his duty as a U.S. citizen serving in the army, and after his tenure, returned to New Jersey where in 1946, he began selling aprons, tablecloths and other accessories produced by his wife and business partner Anny. When he discovered that the plastic coating on the fabrics that were used to make these items was chemically resistant, Landsberger turned his attentions and the focus of Bel-Art Products to the burgeoning laboratory market where he soon realized there was great potential for companies that were willing to ‘listen, work hard and develop innovative solutions.’
Bel-Art Products quickly became recognized as a pioneer in the use of plastics in the laboratory market and today Landsberger and his company continue to design and manufacture new products under the Scienceware® brand that solve the everyday challenges faced by scientists and researchers the world over.
In addition to building two businesses, Anny and Kurt Landsberger raised two children, David and Allen and later enjoyed the company of five grandchildren and a recently born great grandbaby. David grew up working in the business and is now President of Bel-Art Products and Allen a graphic designer has also contributed his talents to the companies over the years.
When not lending his years of expertise and insight to Maddak or Bel-Art Products, Landsberger, who lost his wife and great love Anny earlier this year continues to devote time to activities that he is passionate about including the work of The Landsberger Foundation which supports environmental causes, historic preservation and teaching chess to inner city children, indulging his passion for the arts and supporting local libraries. Landsberger was recently honored with the Passaic Basin Environmental Champion Award for his help in protecting and educating others about the environment and this important northern New Jersey ecosystem.
Over the years Landsberger has also found time to author six books on subjects as rich and varied as former world chess champion William Steinitz who happens to be his uncle (William Steinitz; Chess Champion) and his time in the United States Army serving as a translator at a German Prisoner of War Camp in Trinidad, Colorado (Prisoners of War.) Currently he is collecting and researching material for a new book telling the stories of many common, but heroic individuals who survived the holocaust but lost life as they knew it, including his stepfather and great uncle whose Austrian based businesses and property were confiscated by the German army.
And then of course there is his weekly column ‘Hilltop Views’ published in the Verona Observer and up to twenty other Essex County New Jersey newspapers, where Landsberger weighs in, muses and often educates his readers on any number of subjects that strike a chord. Longtime Maddak employee Kathleen Hanek says “Retirement anytime soon does not seem likely and for that, there are many whose lives will be richer. Happy Birthday, Mr. Landsberger!”

- Entrepreneur, Environmentalist and Humanitarian Turns 90