![](media/image1.png){width="1.979861111111111in"
height="1.0083333333333333in"} ***News Release***

New York District Office

Release Date: February 20, 2007 Contact: John Miller (212) 264-7770

Release Number: 07-12 e-mail: john.miller@sba.gov

***Sullivan County a Major Distribution Hub Thanks to***

***Local Small Business...Who Knew?***

**South Fallsburg, NY**--- In 1929, the days when ice blocks were cut
from local lakes and sold for use in ice boxes\-\-- for you kids out
there, the predecessor to modern day refrigeration equipment\-\-- Ben
Altman founded Fallsburg Ice Cream Parlor and sold those ice blocks as
well as ice cream products.

Living above his business, located appropriately enough on Lake Street,
Ben decided in 1930 to get out of the ice business and get into the
distribution of candy, cigarettes and tobacco-related products.
Accompanying that change in his business model he changed the company's
name to Mountain Candy & Cigar Company. Ben operated his business
successfully and made a comfortable living for his family until his
passing in 1952, at which time his brother and sister-in-law continued
to run the family business until 1962.

In was in that year that Ben's son Stephen, who had worked in the
business from the age of eight and upon completing his college
education, joined the business full-time. Over the next 31 years,
Stephen oversaw the company's growth from a relatively small family
operation to a full-scale wholesale distribution business specializing
in tobacco, confectionery, grocery, frozen, refrigerated, food service,
coffee, sundry, automotive, and health and beauty products.

With a customer base grown from 200 accounts in 1962 to over 1,500
accounts in 1994, the company also underwent another name change to
Mountain/Service Distributors, or MSD. The accounts are primarily
grocery stores and gas/convenience stores and range from throughout the
Hudson Valley to New York City, Northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The company employs upwards of 65 people including management
administration, warehouse personnel, truck drivers and a full time staff
of service representatives whose sole responsibility is to maintain and
upkeep assorted equipment which is on loan or lease to its customers in
connection with the food service portion of the business.

The small building where Ben made his home has undergone radical
transformation over the years to keep up with company's growth. Most
recently the three-bay loading dock, warehouse and office has morphed
into a monster of 80,000 square feet on four acres including warehouses,
offices, eight loading docks and a parking lot to accommodate 38
vehicles. The recent land acquisition, construction and leasehold
improvements were possible thanks to a loan program offered by the U.S.
Small Business Administration. That SBA 504 loan for \$928,000 actually
involves two other lending partners in addition to the SBA\-\-- a
private lender which in this case

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was Ellenville (now Provident) Bank, and what is known as a certified
development company, which was the Empire State Certified Development
Company.

When Altman is not busy growing his business, he devotes a lot of spare
time to serving as president of his local synagogue and organizing the
annual fundraiser in Manhattan for the American Jewish Committee, which
last year raised over a quarter million dollars.

Chances are, if you've purchased just about anything from a convenience
store within a 100 mile radius of South Fallsburg including Slush
Puppies, a can of peas, a bottle of aspirin or diapers, it came from MSD
and that major distribution center, Sullivan County.

*by John J. Miller*

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*All of the SBA's programs and services are provided to the public on a
non-discriminatory basis. For more information about the SBA please
visit [www.sba.gov/ny/ny](http://www.sba.gov/ny/ny).*