Cherokee's New Facility Offers More Space and a "Pretty Face"

Cherokee Glass, a glazing contractor and fabricator serving Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio, is still settling into its new facility in Ravenna, Ohio, but already has plans for further changes.

Bert Lee, president of Cherokee Glass in Ravenna, Ohio, explains that the company is working to remodel an older building, previously used as a transfer terminal for the trucking industry, and the facility will in short order serve as a showcase of the company's products and services.

This former transfer terminal for the trucking industry is about to be revamped as the new showcase home of Cherokee Glass.

"We're moving into a building that has been ignored and needs a lot of work, mainly cosmetic, on the outside," Lee says. "The building just does not show very well, but when we're done [in 60 to 90 days] it's going to be a four-sided glass and composite building."

The additions will use only the products offered by Cherokee Glass.

In addition to providing a pretty façade, the new facility more than doubles the amount of space available to the company.

"Our old facility is about 4,000 square feet, our new facility is about 10,000 square feet," Lee says.

With the additional space the company will be adding "mainly fabrication help," according to Lee. As in many regions, finding qualified labor can be difficult, but Lee says Cherokee focuses on "growing" its workers. "Yeah, it's tough to get quality people, the quality people that are out there are typically happy where they're at," he says, "so we grow our people and we bring them in with potential."

A booming business in government work, including schools and hospitals, motivated and provided the means for the company's expansion.

"We've been fortunate with our workload, the amount of work that we have and have coming up," Lee says, adding, "it's been a consistent sort of thing that we think is going to continue."

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