Darana last week was finishing work at a 2 million-square-foot Amazon warehouse in Euclid, Ohio. The company works with several industries: distribution, warehousing, food-and-beverage, defense logistics, and others that move materials.
The company is a Native American -owned organization that places emphasis on giving people second chances, company CEO Darryl Cuttell said. It already has hired some Hamilton residents and plans to have about 40 employees in the city after the move and into the future.
Darana Hybrid expects to be operating in the approximately 170,000-square-foot former industrial facility it purchased for $500,000 at 903 Belle Avenue. It plans to invest at least $5 million in the building and some of the equipment that will be there.
“We’re renovating, bringing the building back to life, putting a roof on it as we speak,” Cuttell said.
“When we get done with it, it’s going to make a statement,” he said of the large building. “When we start on the outside, people are going to notice we’re there. The colors and everything, it’s going to pop, and the neighborhood, everyone will be proud.”
Also, “We have hired some local people who have come around,” he said. “Some guys ride their bicycles into work, and they’re helping us clean the building up. It’s quite exciting, to tell you the truth. Hopefully we can bring a lot to the community, and help some of these people out.”
“I hope we’ll hire a lot more that will travel with us,” he said. “We do a lot of work out of town — we work all across North America — so I’m hoping that we can bring people in to help change their lives. I know it’s been a depressed area, so if people want a change in their lives, we can help move them up the ladder, get them into some kind of a trade, electrical or mechanical.”
The company’s presence is good news for Hamilton’s most populous neighborhood because the large property it occupies is one of several that economic development officials hoped might be occupied to energize the neighborhood with jobs and more economic activity that can boost the Lindenwald business area and increase demand for area homes.
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Darana Hybrid now has a 400-person employee base that travels to work on projects across the country and in Canada.
Production of some of the company’s custom electrical and mechanical products will take place in Lindenwald.
The company, founded in 1998, has completed more than 800 construction contracts valued from $10,000 to $40 million.
Cuttell said he hopes Darana will win a job to outfit an Amazon facility near the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and the company will be able to bus people there from Hamilton.
Why Hamilton?
“VP of Operations Bart Tolleson, he’s from here. We’ve been friends for 30 years and Bart finally came over (to Darana) three or four years ago,” Cuttell said. “I was having issues in Memphis with the quality of people, and he said, ‘How about moving the headquarters to Hamilton?’”
The company has had its offices in the city-owned municipal building at 345 High St., and, “They’ve been excellent to work with,” Cuttell said.
“They’re just very good people. I like them,” Gunderson said.
He said returning the building to use is a positive for the community“anytime you can do a revitalization in areas of the city that once had light industrial and industrial.”
“This is a real good company that’ll be a great addition to the neighborhood,” he said. “They’ve already been engaged with the city and been a good corporate citizen, providing funds for a neighborhood cleanup and stuff like that.”
Darana is a certified minority business enterprise, owned and operated by Native Americans from the Tuscarora tribe. That tribe originally lived in North Carolina, but in the 1700s, most migrated to New York, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.
The company follows the Native American Code of Ethics, which includes being tolerant of “those who are lost on their path” and praying for them to find guidance. It also includes sharing good fortune with others and participating in charity.
About Darana Hybrid
• Installs conveyors and other small-package-handling systems in large warehouses
• Is renovating a 170,000-square-foot former industrial facility in Hamilton
• Will move its operations from Memphis in August
• Plans to invest at least $5 million in the Lindenwald building
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