From the Sea to the Road

**THOMPSON & JOHNSON EQUIPMENT CO., INC.** [www.thompsonandjohnson.com] (http://www.thompsonandjohnson.com) Thompson & Johnson Equipment Co., Inc. is a second-generation family-owned company serving the material-handling industry. Lines of equipment include Toyota, Crown, and Clark forklifts; Hawker industrial batteries and chargers; Advance sweepers and scrubbers; and Bobcat products. The company has four locations in New York State – Syracuse, Albany, Binghamton and Elmira – and 130 employees with an average tenure of 12 years. Thompson & Johnson has more than 1,000 customers in the warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing fields. The company was founded in 1954. Thompson & Johnson recognizes the importance of military service and complies with all federal and state regulations relating to military leaves of absence, encampment, and temporary military duty. ###A VETERAN SUCCESS | DOUG BARTON Doug Barton spent three years on active duty in the United States Navy and one year in the Navy Reserve before separating as a petty officer third class. In the sea service, he operated and maintained steam turbine evaporators and generators. His job title at Thompson & Johnson is road mechanic. He travels to customer locations to diagnose, repair, and perform planned maintenance work on material-handling equipment. He joined the company in 1978. He said that all the paperwork he did in the military has helped at Thompson & Johnson. “The skills learned in the military of using manuals and processing paperwork has helped me on the job,” he said. But his technical training also helped: “I would have to say that working on generators and cross-training with electric were experiences in the military that helped me find my first civilian opportunity.” He likes the personal nature of his current company. “Thompson & Johnson is a great place to work for veterans because they treat you like a person and not just a number,” he said. Barton recommends that veterans use all available resources. “The advice I would give to others who are leaving the military would be to use all service groups that help veterans find employment,” Barton said.