In honor of national Entrepreneur Day, we are spotlighting the story of our firm’s founder, Robert E. Warner, whose legacy lives on today in the values and spirit of our team.
Robert E. Warner was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in architectural engineering in 1932 — right at the time of the Great Depression. At the time, people weren’t worried about careers, but simply how they were going to put food on the table. Because Bob Warner had a degree, he qualified for his first job as a social caseworker. His job was screening people who applied for food, clothing, and relief.
Three years later in 1935, he found a job in his own profession of engineering. He was hired as a draftsman at the W.B. Pollock Co. in Youngstown, Ohio. The firm designed and built blast furnace, ladle handling and other steel making and processing equipment. Mr. Warner decided to leave W.B. Pollock in 1945 to work in Lorain at National Tube as an assistant project engineer on the coke plant expansion.
When the project was complete, Bob Warner decided to start building from the ground up one of the most successful engineering firms in the Midwest. In 1951, Warner Engineering Company was founded with offices on the 4th floor of the Broadway Building in downtown Lorain, Ohio – a building that was a key hub for business in a bustling center of industry. For about a year, he was the firm’s only employee. 10 years later, his staff had grown to 30 employees. Despite living with painful physical disabilities due to arthritis, employees said he was nevertheless a very personable – a trait no doubt facilitating his achievement of great success in business and respect throughout his community.
As a former project engineer at National Tube (U.S. Steel’s Lorain Works), Bob Warner had no problem landing contracts for major projects at steel-making plants throughout the Midwest. The firm’s first job was for the W.B. Pollock Company, one of Bob Warner’s previous employers. What started as a three-month project turned into three years of work for the firm. Warner Engineering’s second job was for the Fairless Works of U.S. Steel in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. In no time at all, projects were taking the firm’s engineers to Indiana, Michigan and other places around the country.
Bob Warner always had a finger on the pulse of the engineering trends of his day and he could always predict upcoming trends. Accordingly, throughout the 50s and 60s, the firm added additional engineering disciplines to better serve our clients needs, and with that, expanded its client base across additional market sectors.
In 1972, Bob Warner turned over the reigns to long-time friend and partner, Jack Ochse.
Today, we are a team of 210+ strong (and growing!) recognized as a leading consulting engineering firm with client relationships that span decades and a portfolio that spans the country.
The success of R.E. Warner & Associates, Inc. across generations is rooted in the commitment to excellence and dedication to service that Bob instilled in his associates from the start over 70 years ago. We are proud to carry on his legacy today.
Read more about our firm's history
here.