Harder is a regional leader in both the Jan-San industry and Packaging products covering Wisconsin and Illinois. We have grown from humble beginnings as a paper distributor in Madison, WI in 1947 to an innovative growth company with locations in Madison and Appleton, WI and Rockford, IL.

Our growth has enabled us to partner with the leading manufacturers in our industry. Scott Paper, Bay West, Spartan Chemical, Hillyard, and 3M lead our janitorial division while companies such as Lantech, Bemis Clysar, AEP, Texwrap, Intertape, and Polyair provide us the quality products for our packaging division.

Our founder, Mr. Earl Harder used to speak of taking public transit to the outskirts of Madison with a dozen brooms and walking back to the warehouse selling businesses on the way. The present owner, Richard Zimmerman, who joined the company in 1977 fresh out of college has never forgotten the lessons passed on by Mr. Harder. We have grown in size to equal the truckload purchasing power of our national competitors but remain small enough to remember customer service is more than a necessity. We will not be undersold, but more importantly, we will not be outserviced.

We are also dedicated to providing education to the workforce. Many of our largest customers came from our reputation for training. We can provide training at any of our facilities or on site. Anyone can provide products but the true cost savings in many instances is from effective use of the product.

Lastly, our proudest accomplishment is our workforce. By treating everyone equally with respect, regardless of background or abilities, we have very low job turnover. It is not uncommon for us to receive a call commenting on how pleasant our customer service staff is or how helpful our delivery driver was. We look forward to providing you the same experience.