Stop & Stor Administration Director Wins Louis R. Miller Leadership Award

Denise Henick, director of administration for New York self-storage operator Stop & Stor, has won a Louis R. Miller Leadership Award in the “Established Businessperson” category. Named in honor of a West Brighton, N.Y., businessman and community leader, the award is presented by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and “Staten Island Advance” (SIA) newspaper, and sponsored by Richmond County Savings Bank, a division of New York Community Bank.

Award recipients are recognized as effective business leaders and for outstanding contributions to their communities. The honor is given in four businessperson categories: Emerging, Established, Master and Not-for-Profit. Henick and the other winners will be recognized during a Feb. 15 breakfast. They’ll also be featured in article in the SIA.

Henick oversees the Stop & Stor corporate office and manages employees at the operator’s 17 locations. She was nominated for the award by Marlene Markoe-Boyd, a past award recipient. “Denise represents all Lou Miller was—a good business person with a strong sense of community,” she said. “I think Lou Miller would have been proud to know her.”

In addition, Henick is chairwoman of the Stop & Stor Charitable Fund, which has awarded $2.8 million to more than 100 organizations since 2002. She also spearheaded the Breast Cancer Walk for Stop & Stor on Staten Island, N.Y., and hosted an annual company-wide eyeglass drive for New Eyes for the Needy. She’s a member of the Executive Women's Council for the Staten Island Economic Development Corp., and was a 2017 recipient of its “Executive Woman of the Year Award.” She’s also a member of Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.

Henick has also helped to make Stop & Stor a “second-chance employer,” Markoe-Boyd said. "If she sees that a person has made a turn for the better in their life and presents themselves with a promise to be responsible, she knows that Stop & Stor will have a grateful employee who is dedicated to their work."

A Staten Island resident, Henick enjoys “being part of a growing, successful company that cares about its customers, employees and the community,” she told the source.

Born in a village in Russia, Miller and his family immigrated to the United States in 1913. He began working in a bakery as a teenager, later entering the insurance field and moving on to banking. During his life, he supported several organizations including the Jewish Community Center, Meals on Wheels, Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, and the YMCA. He died in 1994 at age 93.

Founded in 1980 by the Henick and Morty Simon families, Stop & Stor operates facilities in Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, N.Y.