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 Edward J. Lewis, (E.J.) did not come to Youngstown to enter the real estate business. His entry to the Mahoning Valley was in the beer coil cleaning business. In the 1930’s, beer was not pasteurized. Fermentation occurred in the lines leading from the keg, often stored in basements, to the fountain located on the bar. As a young man in New Jersey, E.J. developed a business relationship with some inventors who designed a coil cleaning machine. He led the sales effort to distribute the machine throughout New York State and the eastern seaboard, and the machine sold quite well. Later E.J. had an idea! Why not just sell the service of cleaning the beer coils. Of course the New York market was saturated with various establishments that already owned their coil cleaning machinery. So, E.J. picked the city that had one of the highest per capita barrooms in the United States. If that city had been Los Angeles, Denver, Miami or Phoenix, that is where we would be having our Fiftieth Anniversary party. But it was Youngstown, Ohio, because at that time big steel was king. There were three shifts round-the-clock at the mills; a person finishing his midnight turn at the mill would go to a pub at 6:00 A.M. and want a steak and a beer before going to bed. The business did well. Eventually there were several trucks and a staff to clean coils. E.J. had become Youngstown’s beer “rotor rooter” man! (E.J. also made many contacts in the business community.) After World War II, the G.I. bill provided returning veterans the opportunity to go to college instead of their family tavern businesses. These veterans would become E.J.’s future customers. He sold the beer coil cleaning business and in 1948 established Edward J. Lewis Real Estate. Interestingly a few years after he sold the beer coil cleaning business, pasteurization was added to beer, and the coil cleaning service was no longer needed. A market developed to sell taverns, and E.J. was well positioned. As the adages go . . . “Timing is everything,” as is “Location, Location, Location.” After graduating from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a Mechanical Engineer, Dan Lewis wanted to reinvent the world or, short of that, at least design cars. Nevertheless, after college, Dan entered the engineering field. He was then drafted and because of his engineering training, was assigned a position with a new technology that could launch fictitious missiles at targets around the world. “Early Modern War Games.” In the meantime Edward J. Lewis Real Estate was provided the assignment to appraise the market value of the Riverbend Urban Renewal Project for the Federal Government located on what is now Crescent Street in Youngstown. It was a massive undertaking for a small company and the business needed Dan’s assistance. With three months left on his two year enlistment, Dan was granted an early release from the military to assist his father’s company with the appraisal process. He figured the real estate business could not be as bad as the military so he accepted the early honorable discharge. Dan now found something that he really liked to do. Eventually he would concentrate on the focus of the company away from its residential real estate roots and into the commercial and industrial field. His engineering background helped, but it was his love of life, family and community that differentiated him. |
Youngstown Warren
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