Mary Elizabeth Warner of Tewksbury, QuickChek’s Corporate Real Estate Counsel, has been named one of the “Best Fifty Women in Business” in 2014 by the NJBIZ business weekly journal. The awards program honors New Jersey’s most dynamic women in businesses that have made headlines in their field. The winners were selected based on their holding significant authority for decision making in their company, their dedication to business growth, professional and personal accomplishments, community involvement, and advocacy for women.
As Corporate Real Estate Counsel, Warner works closely with QuickChek’s real estate, finance and construction departments to support the company in meeting its growth objectives. She has been instrumental in working with banks to introduce financing tools to aid the Whitehouse Station, NJ-based convenience store chain’s transactions and expansion efforts.
The privately-held company, a market leader in food services, has enjoyed steady growth, adding 26 new stores since Warner joined the company as their first in-house real estate attorney in March 2007. QuickChek now has 137 retail locations throughout New Jersey and New York’s Hudson Valley. The number of stores selling gas has increased from seven to 44.
Warner also works closely with QuickChek’s real estate department, developers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in pursuing redevelopment opportunities. On Jan. 21, QuickChek opened a redevelopment site in South Bound Brook, a modern and expansive 4,543 square-foot store that created 35 new jobs and is expected to generate approximately $1 million in tax revenue.
“I am very excited to receive this award, it’s an honor to be in such prestigious company,” said Warner, who resides in Tewksbury with her husband and three children. She is a graduate of the College of William & Mary Law School and Wellesley College and has a Certificate of Special Business and Public Policy from Harvard University.
“Mary Elizabeth is key member of our team who has helped us achieve good, steady growth as we continue to build a great retail chain,” said QuickChek CEO Dean Durling. “It is a pleasure to see her recognized for her efforts, not only for what she does for us, but for her dedication and contributions to the community as well.”
“When we were looking to develop a great real estate team in 2007, we set out to find the best attorney in the state who would add value to our company, legally, politically, developmentally, and socially,” said QuickChek Vice President of Real Estate Bob Vallario. “Mary Elizabeth embodies all of these qualities.”
Warner was recently recognized by the Boy Scouts of America for her numerous community achievements. She was named to the Mary Crowley Medical Research Center Institutional Review Board in Dallas, TX; serves on the board of the Connie Dwyer Breast Center which delivers medical services to underserved women at St. Michael’s Hospital in Newark; and was appointed by the Hunterdon County Board of Freeholders to elect the Board of Trustees for Raritan Valley Community College. She served on Governor Christie’s transition team in 2009 and on the boards of Family Services of Morris County and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
Warner will be honored during an awards ceremony on March 24, at The Palace at Somerset Park in Somerset.
