Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution, LLC



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ABOUT US

In the summer of 1975, Ray Dionne and his wife’s uncle, Jack Thomas agreed to follow through on Jack’s long held belief that Syracuse could use a good, service- oriented public warehouse company. At the time Ray was National Government Sales Manager for Motorola Communications and was being considered for a transfer and promotion to Chicago. With two young daughters and roots in Syracuse, Ray declined the opportunity and chose to strike out on his own. With Ray’s background in sales and a degree from Syracuse University, along with Jack’s 30 year background in the trucking business,
Pioneer was born in January of 1976. With money borrowed from Ray’s brother and with Jack’s guidance, the adventure began in a 10,000 square foot building in Syracuse NY.

Within the next 2 years, Pioneer had leased 3 more buildings in Liverpool to accommodate the storage of bottles and cans from Miller and Anheuser Busch breweries. In addition, several buildings were leased on and off in the CNY area to service Allied Chemical, Bristol Myers and others. Over the years the list of Pioneer’s clients reads like a Who’s Who in business….General Motors/Chrysler/Remington Arms/Zenith TV/Sears/GE Appliances//LA Weight Loss/Rite Aid/Wal Mart/Abbot Pharmaceutical /Carrier Corp/Southern Wine and Spirits along with many other well known companies.

In 1983 Jack announced his desire to retire so they approached a client, Tom Belge, with the offer of joining the firm. Ironically, similar to Ray’s history, Tom was offered the opportunity for a promotion to Assistant VP and a move to Chicago by his employer and Pioneer customer, Market Facts Inc. But, like Ray, family and CNY roots prevented Tom from moving his family to Chicago. He accepted the offer and, as the saying goes, the rest is history. Tom started his career with Pioneer in January 1984 working his way from warehouseman, laborer and then Sales and into VP of Operations. On January 31st, 2002 Tom bought the company.

In 2009 Pioneer became a family business with the addition of Tom’s daughter; Lisa Conway. Lisa, along with her twin brothers Jeffery and Jeremy, started working for Pioneer at age 15. After graduating from Potsdam University in 2005 with a Business and Finance degree, she worked for Wells Fargo for 4½ years where she became an assistant branch manager. The boys had their own agendas; one being an Electrical Engineer, while the other is in Criminal Justice. When approached with the opportunity to manage her own branch in Buffalo NY, Lisa decided that the time was right to stay at home and come to work for Dad. She has become a valuable asset with her youth, finance experience, exuberance and desire to help Pioneer move into the next generation.

Today, Pioneer occupies 390,000 square feet with customers such as Wegmans Foods, Southern Wine and Spirits, Hospira Pharmaceuticals, Sysco Foods, Verizon, Amerada Hess, Intersurgical, Associated Spring and Wal Mart .com. Pioneer has evolved from early simple pallet- in and pallet- out to more sophisticated pick and pack, assembly, fulfillment, NYS Liquor License, EDI, cross dock and other services.

The secret to Pioneer’s success is simple. We have a strong philosophy that taking care of our employees is number 1. They are in the forefront of the business, interacting with the customers on a daily basis. This attribute has a great impact on how the company is perceived and succeeds. Pioneer has a “Customer Appreciation Party” every year revolving around Syracuse University basketball season, thanking them, along with vendors and employees for their dedication and loyalty in helping Pioneer to succeed in today’s business climate. We sincerely hope that we can add your name to our list of clients for the next 35 years.