The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lubrizol Corp. marks its 90th anniversary
Company is worldwide
Many Lake County residents might not grasp the significance of Graphite Oil Products Co. being founded 90 years ago in Cleveland.
But when they learn that Graphite Oil Products became the company everyone knows today as Lubrizol Corp., that historical fact hits a lot closer to home. Lubrizol, the Wickliffe-based manufacturer of specialty chemicals, officially marked its 90th anniversary on July 28.
Worldwide, Lubrizol employs about 8,700 workers, with a decent portion of them here in Lake County. Along with its Wickliffe world headquarters and technical center, the company also operates a plant in Painesville Township. Altogether, about 2,000 people work at the two sites.
Lubrizol always has been considered as a top-notch employer in Lake County, said Matt Battiato, director of the county’s Job and Family Services office.
“They have very competitive wages and benefits and treat their employees really well,” he said.
Lake County would not be what it is today without Lubrizol as a part of the community, said county Commissioner Jerry Cirino.
“Lubrizol has been a critical part of the Lake County
landscape for a very long time and has not only provided jobs for our citizens; they have paid taxes, done business with many local suppliers and have been outstanding contributors to a wide variety of community initiatives,” Cirino said.
The company known today as Lubrizol planted its roots on Lake County on Aug. 29, 1931, when Lubri-Graph Corp. moved to Wickliffe. Lubri-Graph was the name of the first product marketed in 1929 by Graphite Oil Products, according to a history timeline on Lubrizol’s website. In that same year, Graphite decided to also rename its company Lubri-Graph.
Five years later, the company adopted another new name —Lubri-Zol Corp. — after sales of its Lubri-Zol special motor lubricant skyrocketed. The hyphen and capital “Z” were dropped in the 1940s, and from then on, the company identified itself as Lubrizol.
While Lubrizol has been a mainstay in Wickliffe since 1931, it didn’t establish a presence in Painesville Township until 1956. Today, the plant on Freedom Road is a part of Lubrizol’s Additives Business. Its products include specialized additive systems for lubricating oils used in gasoline and diesel engines, automatic transmissions, gear drives, marine engines, tractors and metalworking.
Lubrizol’s Painesville Township plant also was the site of a major upgrade in 2017 that included the opening of a 180,000-square-foot warehouse and installation of drumming technology.
“Half of the products we sell as Lubrizol additives contain at least one ingredient produced in Painesville Township, so we’re always looking at what we can do to enhance operations there,” Eric R. Schnur, Lubrizol’s president, CEO and chairman of the board, said in a previous News-Herald story. “The footprint of our site there is significantly improved by all the upgrades. We removed some of the congestion at the plant and became more efficient in delivering products to customers.”
Lubrizol’s Wickliffe site, located on Lakeland Boulevard, not only includes its world headquarters, but also a technical center dedicated to research and development and testing.
Activities at the technical center focus on “designing, developing and testing technology to meet new and anticipated industry performance requirements for lubricants and fuel additives as well as fundamental research and development for next-generation specialty chemicals aligned with our businesses.”
When it comes to personnel, Lubrizol’s Wickliffe campus consists of about 1,150 employees and 425 contractors. At the company’s Painesville Township plant, there are about 340 employees and 120 contractors.
As a business, Lubrizol’s reach extends around the globe. Lubrizol owns and operates manufacturing facilities in 17 countries, as well as sales and technical offices around the world. The company also sells products in more than 100 countries.
Lubrizol, which reported 2017 revenues of $6.3 billion, made worldwide headlines in 2011 when it was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company owned by famous investor and businessman Warren Buffett.
For all that Lubrizol has achieved as a worldwide manufacturer, the company also considers it a high priority to give back to the communities in which it does business.
Lubrizol employees participate in company-supported volunteerism, nonprofit board leadership and make monetary and in-kind donations to various charitable initiatives. In 2018, one in four of the company’s Northeast Ohio employees participated in Building Bonds, Lubrizol’s annual day of service.
As part of a commitment to education, the company sponsors a Lake County STEM Teacher of the Year Award, which has honored 69 teachers during the past 24 years for efforts in progressing science, technology, engineering and math.
In 2017, Lubrizol provided a leadership gift for the Miracle League Inclusive Playground in Eastlake, a safe, enjoyable and barriers-free play area for children of all abilities.
“Lubrizol’s founders firmly believed in the importance of being a good neighbor and in supporting the communities where our employees live and work, whether that is in Lake County, Northeast Ohio or at any of Lubrizol’s global locations,” Schnur said.