From The Intelligencer: BENWOOD — The community gathered Friday to officially welcome The Mull Group back to Benwood, as the company headquarters returned to its former location in the city.
The Mull Group operates facilities across the Ohio Valley, but the headquarters for many years was located on the 10th floor of The Mull Center in downtown Wheeling. The company rents space to a number of other businesses in that Main Street landmark, which is for sale.
Another piece of property owned by the company is located at the corner of Eighth and McMechen streets in Benwood — the previous location of its offices and now the new location of its headquarters.
“We were in Benwood in the ’80s and into the late ’90s,” said Jim Mull, executive vice president of The Mull Group.
“We continued to own the building — it’s not been sold. It was rented out. We just thought it was time to come back. This seems to be a better place for us for the type of business that we do.”
The Mull Group owns much of the adjacent industrial property across the street at the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel mill site and continues parts of its manufacturing operations there.
On Friday, the company celebrated its return to Benwood with a company picnic and community open house. The Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce also helped celebrate with an official ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.
“We’re celebrating with employees and the surrounding neighborhood to kick off re-entry back into Benwood,” Jim Mull said, noting that employees from the shops and the company’s four locations, as well as their family members, local officials, business partners and neighbors in Benwood all came out to join them. “We invited everybody to come down and have a good time.”
James Mull, president and CEO of The Mull Group, said the company had been looking to relocate its headquarters for about seven months, and its Benwood office building was identified as being a location that provides them with the best opportunity for growth into the coming decades.
“We’ve been excited, the community has been excited – it’s been a great move,” James Mull said, noting that the offices began relocating from downtown Wheeling to the new space in May. “Everyone has been extremely welcoming to us and our team.”
The Mull Group started in 1961, specializing in the manufacturing of mill and machine equipment. The company operates a brass and bronze foundry and also does a lot of work with steel for the manufacturing of machine parts and assemblies for a wide range of customers.
James Mull’s father, Quay Mull, led the company for decades before his death this past December. The return to Benwood was a bittersweet yet welcome homecoming of sorts.
“This was my dad’s office right here,” James Mull said as today’s team collectively envisions the company’s future in a space that served as an important part of its past. “It’s a very tight-knit family.”
The Mull Group has about 116 employees across the company with locations in Benwood, Warwood, South Wheeling and Martins Ferry. The company also has real estate in Scio, Bellaire and other smaller communities in the Ohio Valley. It serves customers throughout the country and internationally, as well.
Friday’s celebration marked the opening of a new chapter for the company with plans of growing the business well into the future in the coming decades, the Mulls said.
“We’ve moved our whole operation here,” James Mull said, noting that the offices in The Mull Center in Wheeling are now in Benwood, and the downtown Wheeling building remains up for sale.
The Mulls said they were surprised by Friday’s turnout, and scores of supporters came to wish them well.
David McLaughlin, director of operations and development for the city of Benwood, said it was a great day for the city with The Mull Group coming “home,” in a way.
“We’ve worked with them a lot over the years with the facility that’s been located in Benwood,” McLaughlin said. “Now it’s good to have the upper management right here in the city bringing their employees down here, making the area look nicer – they’re going to redo their building on the outside as they have already done on the inside.”
Many community leaders were on hand to welcome The Mull Group back to Benwood on a hot Friday afternoon.
“This is a great thing,” said Benwood Police Chief Frank Longwell, who serves as co-chairman for the Benwood Economic Development Committee.
Longwell noted that The Mull Group has been a great contributor to the economic drive of Benwood with its facilities that continue to operate next door at the former steel mill.
“I cut the first ribbon back in 1985 when they bought the thing – the mill was closed, and we thought we were going to have a dinosaur, but they bought it,” Longwell said. “We got business after business after business. They headquartered here, then they moved to the Mull Center in Wheeling, but now decided to come back home where they started.”
The city’s connection with The Mull Group has always been strong, Longwell noted.
“We’re happy to have them,” he said. “We’ve worked with them for years and have always had a good working relationship with them. We love industry in Benwood, and we’re tickled to have them back. I just can’t express enough how happy we are.”