Bellari Home Remodeling celebrated its 75th anniversary Sept. 24 with a flagpole dedication ceremony at its Branchburg headquarters.
Among those in attendance were co-owner Gary Shiman, gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli and members of the Bellari community. Both Shiman and Ciattarelli delivered remarks during the event.
After the ceremony, Shiman spoke in an interview about the personal significance of the dedication.
“I think it’s really important for anybody to understand, even for someone who’s not an immigrant like myself, just how lucky we are to live in a country that gives us great freedom to work hard, see what’s on our mind, and be able to provide for our families,” he said of the new flagpole.
Shiman, who was born and raised in London before moving to the United States at age 21, reflected on his journey.
“Very, very blessed again to have come from another country … Came here with basically £100 in my pocket. And to this day, to own and run a third-generation, 75-year-old business, I have a great sense of pride. I think I have a great sense of duty to make sure that the people that are employed by Bellari Home Remodeling also understand how important it is, how lucky they are. Sometimes we lose focus on just how special this country is.”
He added that the dedication was also meant as a reminder during divisive times.
“So a couple of months ago, I was sort of reflecting, what is going on in this country and the great division from both sides. And certainly recently, what happened to Charlie Kirk. And I felt, really a duty to, again, to remind ourselves as we come to work every day just how important it is to live in this free country and to be proud and to be able to really embrace everybody that is here from all cultures and all religions,” Shiman said.
Looking ahead, Shiman said Bellari is planning to expand. “I think we would go on to an expansion right now. I think it’s time that we bring our business model and philosophies and our culture to other counties that are maybe 40, 50 miles away … Stay tuned, but I think we’ll be coming to you in your neighborhoods of Morris County and Monmouth County.”
When speaking, Ciattarelli congratulated Bellari, answered questions of those in attendance, and emphasized his priorities for small businesses in New Jersey.
“What I want to do is make New Jersey a better place to do business for small business. The first $100,000 of business income would be tax free. The first $10,000 of payroll would be exempt from employer payroll taxes, and there would never be a tax on the gain on the sale of a family-owned or sole proprietorship. We want to do all that to spark entrepreneurship here in the state of New Jersey, and we can,” he said.
The dedication concluded with the raising of the new flag and the unveiling of a plaque that reads, “Celebrating a legacy of quality, service, and value in home remodeling.”
