Recordpub.com - Business moving to Ravenna Looks to offer 30 new jobs

By Colin McEwen

Record-Courier staff writer

Cherokee Glass announced Wednesday it is moving a few miles to the west from its current Charlestown location to North Freedom Street in Ravenna.

Bert Lee, president of the company, said the commercial glass business will move this week to the abandoned trucking terminal just north of the new Elks Club.

The company will bring with it 20 jobs with hopes of adding as many as 30 additional new jobs.

"We're investing in the building, investing in the area and we're investing in the idea of having a good workforce available," he said.

Lee said the business needs more space than the company's current location at 6969 S.R. 5 in Charlestown, where it has been located since 1997.

Another reason for the move, Lee said, is Ravenna's geographical location, sandwiched between Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown.

"We'll be right smack in the middle of all three," he said. "It's going to be a good thing for us and a good thing for the city."

The company exclusively installs commercial glass, doing work for businesses, organizations and school districts.

Lee said the business' volume has grown more than 50 percent in the last three years.

"We're going to be doing more and more work," he said. "Our hope is that we'll add a lot of local aluminum fabricators into the shop."

The modernized aluminum and blue reflective glass addition is expected to be complete within 60 days.

"We're going to take the building from looking like an abandoned bucket of nuts and bolts, and turn it into one of the nicest buildings in town," Lee said.

"A lot of people don't drive down Freedom Street on a daily basis. There will be a lot of people driving to take a look at this building when we're done."

Lee said he and his wife, Cheri who is the co-owner of Cherokee Glass, worked in glass business in Florida for 25 years, but moved to Northeastern Ohio to raise their children here.

Lee said the city of Ravenna "stepped forward in a big way," helping to provide conceptual ideas and assistance evaluating the abandoned building and the drainage on the lot.

Ravenna Mayor Kevin Poland said the company's move to the city is "absolutely dynamite."

"I'm really excited about what they are going to do with that building," he said. "It's always important to bring in new businesses, but just important to take care of the businesses and jobs that we already have."