Atlantic Westchester started as a mechanical construction firm in Bedford Hills, a town north of New York City, in the early 1960s. As the area boomed over the next decade, the firm thrived on all the new construction. Then came the downturn of the 1970s. Everyone stopped building, and Atlantic Westchester struggled. In 1979, Gene Hammer and a partner bought into the company. In 1986, Gene Hammer and his wife, Madeline, became the sole owners.
Their son Bud graduated from college at about that time. Like many young college graduates, he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do, but he knew he didn’t want to work for the family business. He tried several ventures, trying to find a way to make his marketing degree work for him. None of it made him happy, so he went to see an employment counselor.