Lake Erie Electric

Lake Erie Electric was founded in 1952 by Frank J. Nichols and based in Lorain, Ohio. John S. Corogin joined him shortly thereafter and together they formed the ownership and management team through the early years. In 1958, William M. Leblang was hired to open and manage an office in Cleveland, Ohio and became the third partner of the Company.

Lake Erie Electric continued to expand its presence in Northeast Ohio throughout the 1960’s. The office in Lorain continued to serve as the Company’s headquarters pursuing all types and sizes of electrical projects. With a larger industrial base available, the Cleveland Office began to focus on developing key relationships with the automotive and steel industry customers as well.

During the early 1970’s, the Company expanded geographically throughout the Midwest at the request of Ford Motor Company, its’ largest customer at the time. An office in Detroit, Michigan was opened in 1985 to participate in the automotive industry. The success of this office established the company as a local electrical contractor in Southeastern Michigan.

As change continued to take place within the industry, the Company made two key decisions that proved to be highly successful. In 1987 a Commercial Division was formed to expand its Cleveland presence in the large commercial market place, followed in 1988 with the consolidation on the Lorain and Cleveland Offices into its present headquarters in Westlake, Ohio.

Since that time, the Company continued its geographic expansion by opening an office in Dayton, Ohio in 1990 to serve Southwestern Ohio. To strengthen its presence in Northern Ohio, the Company acquired Charnan Electric of Mansfield in 1998 and Carpenter Electric of Toledo in 2001. To strengthen its presence in the Cleveland and Akron commercial markets, Hirsch Electric and Loomis Electric were acquired in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

The Company has had an Affiliated Company, Firelands Electric in Sandusky since 1999. In 2009, to consolidate its presence in the Lorain/Sandusky markets, Firelands Electric acquired the Lorain operations of the Company.