The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Truline Industries returns to Lake County
Wickliffe, Port Authority instrumental in manufacturer's move
You can always come home again.
For Truline Industries, a precision machine shop manufacturing parts for the aerospace industry, the circle is now complete, as the company has returned to Wickliffe where it was founded by Frank M. Durkalski in the ‘50s as Baker Engineering.
Since the mid-‘80s, Truline was located in Chester Township. As the business grew, leaders decided to begin looking for a new plant, “outgrowing” the Geauga Countybased building.
Truline officially moved back to Lake County earlier this year, into its new $11 million, 75,000-squarefoot headquarters at 1400 Silver St.
Special Projects Manager Aaron Durkalski noted the structure is triple the size of the old building.
“That was the primary reason for the move,” he said. “We ran out of space.”
Euclid was also considered for the relocation, but Durkalski emphasized the company received “a little bit better offer” from Wickliffe.
“Returning to the city was also a passion of my dad’s to be back in his hometown and where he grew up and being able to give back and invest in the community,” he said. “We see a lot of great things here, and we want to continue to help it grow.”
Timothy A. Cahill, CFO and deputy director for public finance for the Lake County Ohio Port and Economic Development Authority described the project as a great opportunity.
“And the city of Wickliffe really stepped up and helped provide the land, but public property can’t be conveyed to a private company without some assistance from a port authority,” he said.
To Truline’s benefit, the city was going to provide the property to another company the Port was working with, but that business ultimately chose to remain at its existing location.
“I was familiar with the property because we were putting together an enterprise zone agreement for them for tax abatement,” Cahill said.
“Durkalski Land Management owns the land, which is leased back to the Port which owns the project,” he added. “We lease it (the project) to Durkalski which leases it to Truline.
“There were a lot of interesting twists and turns, especially with the site, with the city having owned it,” Cahill said. “A dedicated road had to be changed and there were a lot of easements with property owners, and wetlands to get through, but at the end of the day (Truline CEO, Servant) Court Durkalski put a great team together to work through this thing.”
Currently, Truline is going through a hiring phase seeking to fill 12 positions.
“Business is going very well, people want to travel,” Durkalski added, noting the company’s been fortunate in experiencing minimal roadblocks through its transition, especially amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
“Of course, it’s been challenging, but we’ve been able to move rather quickly, too,” he said. “COVID-19 actually helped and hindered us, as we lost some employees, but overall we’re in a good place.
“And the entire process was fast, taking about one year for the construction on the new building to be complete.
“This new chapter in our history is something we’re all proud to be a part of.”