City trying to recover

ABB Inc.’s departure a significant loss for economy

Fewer than six months ago, Wickliffe lost its second largest employer in the city.

ABB Inc., a global leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids that employed more than 400 employees moved its operations to another city in Northeast Ohio.

The company relocated from 29801 Euclid Ave., which was the former Bailey Controls Co. building, to a new 145,000-square-foot building in Highland Hills.

In addition to leaving the facility that is more than 50 years old vacant, ABB’s departure resulted in a significant economic loss.

Losing the company cost the city about $900,000 in lost income and property taxes.

Lino’s, a bar and restaurant that is located across the street from the previous ABB location, was definitely impacted by the move.

“I didn’t think it was going to affect us as much as it did,” owner Lino Perossa said. “It actually affected us more than I anticipated. We always had about three to four guys here- never was a really big group at one time, but we had those small groups in here every day.”

Perossa said they also did well on Friday nights for Happy Hour because a lot of people would come after work.

“We would also get a lot of employees come in for lunch,” he said. “They would come in and eat lunch, then they would go play the golf game and they would end up staying for a while. All that really adds up. It’s about a 5 percent loss of our monthly gross income.”

Prior to opening Lino’s, Perossa was an engineer at Bailey Controls Co., the company that occupied the facility before ABB. He has seen many changes over the years.

Lino’s has been opened for 32 years at 29804 Euclid Ave.

While the future of the former ABB site is unclear at this time, Wickliffe Mayor John Barbish, Council and county officials have been working diligently to find solutions for the loss.

The Wickliffe Euclid Avenue Corridor Action Committee was one of the first initiatives formed to discuss economic development and revitalization. The group which is comprised of the mayor, schools superintendent, business owners, residents and council members was initially facilitated by Willoughby Western Lake County Chamber of Commerce President Karen Tercek and Lake County Commissioner Jerry Cirino. This was one effort to brainstorm ideas for the ABB site, find ways to attract new businesses and discuss strategies for beautifying the Euclid Avenue corridor.

After much deliberation, Council recently agreed to put a 3-mill fire and safety levy on the Nov. 6 ballot

“We went back and forth quite a bit debating whether we should do a roads levy or should we do capital improvements,” Barbish said.

“We know we wanted money for capital improvement like vehicles and for roads, but by doing this and supplying more money to the police and fire, it’s going to free up more money in the general fund to help with road projects. The 3-mill levy is expected to generate about $800,000 total, — ... the police department and the fire department use well over that every single year.”

While there is not a single solution for the loss of ABB, the city has many plans for economic development, revitalization of the Euclid Avenue corridor and attracting more families and business to Wickliffe.

“I didn’t think it was going to affect us as much as it did.” — Lino’s owner Lino Perossa