EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – True North LLC has experienced double-digit growth every year since CEO Chuck Bailey founded the company in 2012.
That growth created a need for Bailey to relocate his company from its location in Chester, W.Va. And he found the perfect spot across the Ohio River in East Liverpool.
What Bailey is accomplishing in the process of relocating is making large investments in East Liverpool, providing a boost to an area where empty buildings are too common.
When he started True North, Bailey was trying to offer bookkeeping and accounting services to small- and medium-size businesses across the country.
Now True North offers accounting, bookkeeping and revenue cycle management resources to businesses in 43 states, with nearly $1 billion in annual sales.
“But the reality is, we are a high-tech data company that brings high-tech services, data management and innovation to the fundamentals of bookkeeping and revenue cycle management that are outdated and in need of tremendous improvement,” Bailey said.
True North has spawned a variety of other businesses, including myFranchise Bookkeeper to help with financials for those who operate franchises, and myCommercial Real Estate Solutions to assist those who manage and lease properties.
Other offshoots provide services such as data hygiene, digital marketing and technical services for small businesses. Altogether, Drew Dawson, True North’s director of marketing, said there are eight brands within the company.
Resurgence in East Liverpool
With a decimated pottery industry, a lot of empty buildings and a population that has declined from more than 25,000 in 1955 to less than 10,000 today, East Liverpool has seen better days.
But Bailey is among those who believe a resurgence is on the way.
Part of making the city more vibrant is bringing jobs and new life to the buildings downtown.
Bailey started his business in an upstairs bedroom of his home, but for the past seven years the business has been located in a 10,000-square-foot turn-of-the-century home in Chester.
The company quickly outgrew its space. Bailey said there are more than 45 people working at the current location in a space designed for about 30.
To alleviate overcrowding, some employees were moved into a small location in East Liverpool. But Bailey is working to get everyone under the same roof again.
Bailey purchased a 31,000-square-foot building on East Fifth Street in March for $625,000. But before the company can relocate to the building, which formerly housed the Buckeye Online School for Success, renovations, which are underway, need to be completed.
“The architecture inside this building is absolutely amazing,” Bailey said. “But in the late 90s, the local bank decided to build a data center here, and they took a lot of that architecture and they modified it for their needs at the time.”
After 15 years, the bank sold the building to BOSS, which needed room for nearly 200 employees. But after the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees chose to continue working from home.
“The building was tremendously underutilized,” Bailey said. “We saw it as an opportunity to not only revitalize this building and give True North a new home, but also make the space more efficient for BOSS.”
In about two years, BOSS will move about a block away to the J.C. Thompson Building, which is also undergoing a renovation.
The J.C. Thompson Building sits on the Diamond and is originally home to the Crosser and Ogilvie store, according to the historical marker database. The renovation project received a combination of grants and tax credits, including $400,000 in historic tax credits and a $600,000 JobsOhio Vibrant Community Grant, part of the $2.1 million investment to bring the currently abandoned building back to life. That project is being led by Cozza Enterprises.
A $700,000 JobsOhio Vibrant Community Grant also was awarded for the renovation of the brick building that will house True North. Columbiana County commissioners contributed $500,000 toward the $2.3 million project through American Rescue Plan Act funds.
Bailey said he has taken on more than $1 million in person debt to make the project a reality. He relied on the capital stack, which is the layering of funding sources, but he said the stakeholder stack also has been important. City residents, City Council, the mayor, planning commission, the county, regional partners and state agencies have contributed, he said.
Unlike other proposals seeking ARPA funds, the True North project was self-sustaining, Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck said. It will not require the commissioners to provide additional funds in the future and will continue to benefit the community for years to come.
“We wanted to stretch that money as far as we can,” Halleck said.
Creating the Perfect Space
Bailey also knows how to stretch a dollar. Baker Bednar Snyder and Associates Inc. of Youngstown is the architect for the project, but Bailey has taken on general contractor duties himself so he can oversee every part of the project.
The reception desk that will soon greet those entering the building is unique, curved and a statement piece, but Bailey acquired it cheaply when retailer Rue21 auctioned away some corporate furniture during its bankruptcy.
The brick building features a grand staircase with wrought iron bars on the railings, which Bailey is opening up as much as possible between the upper floors. Although there is natural light through only the front of the building, Bailey’s plans are to get as much benefit from sunlight as possible with glass fronts to the offices.
There will be open spaces for collaboration between departments, as well as conference rooms and a 12-foot matrix TV system.
“In order to convert this building to something that would be great for our employees, we needed to open it back up,” Bailey said. “We need to allow the energy of our team and the energy of this building to flow freely between the floors of the building.”
A workout room, newly remodeled restrooms and a relaxing space to reenergize employees are already completed out of pocket. Another space will serve as a lactation room for employees.
A training facility will occupy much of the first floor. A café will serve employees on their breaks, and possibly customers and the public as well. Bailey is contracting to have someone operate the café, which he envisions serving coffee, sandwiches and wraps. An outdoor patio will be added for when the weather improves.
“We only have a handful of customers within 100 miles of the building, so the purpose of this building is to really provide a great place for our team to grow and have them be innovative, but also to attract great talent,” Bailey said.
Bailey expects to move into the building in April.
He has committed to hire at least 20 more employees as part of the Jobs Ohio Fiber Communities Program. Though many of the company’s employees could work remotely, Bailey said they have emphasized that they like having a workplace to go to and collaborate.
“I don’t want to mistake that this is a country club or like in the movies where Silicon Valley guys are playing Ping-Pong all day,” Bailey said. “Our people work, and they’re working really, really hard.”
Bailey said he hopes people who have moved away from East Liverpool and the small towns along the river will see quality jobs and a reason to move back. He recently hired two young men, recent Youngstown State University graduates who interned for True North, to work full time and is excited they both moved to East Liverpool.
“So you have two mid-20-year-old young professionals that could have gone to work anywhere in the country, but because of this project, they decided to stay here in eastern Ohio,” Bailey said. “And more importantly, they decided to come to downtown East Liverpool.”
As the downtown building projects are underway, Bailey sees other exciting activity happening, including new facades and for-rent signs on commercial buildings where no tenants have been for a long time.
John Mercer, a councilman who chairs the economic development committee, said developments like the True North project, the Thompson Building renovation and, hopefully soon, the Little Building are bringing new life to the downtown – growth that he calls incremental.
“We have a long history of reusing buildings in East Liverpool,” Mercer said. “Even if it is incremental growth, it is growth. And at this point, most of Fifth Street is lively with foot traffic.”
Pictured at top: Chuck Bailey, founder and CEO of True North, is seen inside the building that will become his company’s new home.