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Winkle Electric turns 70
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Winkle Elec- tric Co. Inc.’s Hubbard Road location is far different from the now-demolished original location on South Avenue. The industry itself also has changed.
But what has not changed are the company’s principles as a highest-value provider of electrical supplies and its dedication to staying in the Youngstown area.
This year the company celebrates its 70th anniversary.
“We will continue to change with the trends in the industry,” said Rick Teaberry, director of the company. “We keep growing. This beast is hungry. It needs fed.”
Founded in 1944 by two brothers, Vic and Jack Winkle, the company first began as an electrical-apparatus service shop and manufacturer of induction-heating equipment for the aluminum extrusion industry.
The two brothers eventually would separate, and Jack would go on to form the JB Winkle Electric Co.
Joseph Hartman Jr. and Larry Teaberry Sr. started working for Vic Winkle and Winkle Electric Co. Inc. in the early 1950s and by 1961 bought the company after the death of Vic.
Following the retirement of Hartman in 1986, Larry took over the company until his sons, Rick and Larry Teaberry Jr. took it over in 1992.
“We definitely have advanced the corporation,” Rick said.
The company expanded in 2002 with an additional distribution center in Erie, Pa., and a sales office in Seneca, Pa.
The Youngstown building the company is in has been its home since 1973. Across the three Winkle operations there are approximately 75 employees with the majority of them in Youngstown.
There are five divisions in the company: the electrical supply division which houses an extensive inventory of supplies; high-tech automation with six product specialists for productivity and quality; integrated services division; an eco-solutions division with a specialized team to provide customers with energy-savings solutions; and a custom control division.
Listed as one of the top electrical distributors in the nation by Electrical Wholesaling Magazine, sales of electrical equipment is the bulk of the company’s business.
The smaller part involves building of blueprints for a range of industries all over the world.
“We always manufacture to a customer’s blueprint,” Rick said. “Whatever a customer can dream up, we can make.”
Through the years, the company never has thought about leaving the Valley. One reason is that it’s an Allen Bradley distributor — a product of Rockwell Automation — and this territory is protected.
“We are a viable [company] and we are committed to this Valley,” Teaberry said. “We want to be known as a progressive industry in the community.”