AKRON, Ohio — Nearly a year after unveiling the much-awaited 12-foot-tall, bronze tire-worker statue in downtown Akron, the city has named Chemstress Consultant Co. the statue’s presenting sponsor.
Chemstress, founded by Robert Handelman, has been in Akron for 55 years, and credits as its first contracted customer the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which is still a Chemstress customer, the city said in a release.
Handelman, who died March 8, supported creation of the statue to honor Akron’s early workforce. He had announced to Chemstress employees that the company would be the presenting sponsor of the statue.
“The leaders of the rubber companies are justifiably routinely honored. However, it is the people who worked in the rubber industry that enabled it to become successful,” he said in his announcement. “Chemstress, as we all know, is a service organization whose contributions to the well-being of society are provided by the Chemstress people who work here. Chemstress is humbled, grateful and pleased to be the presenting sponsor for that wonderful sculpture at the roundabout intersection of Mill Street and Main Street.”
Mayor Dan Horrigan said he was saddened to learn of Handelman’s passing.
"Bob was a passionate advocate for Akron,” Horrigan said. “He was an extremely generous, kind and forward-thinking man, and I know he will be missed by not only his friends and family, but our community at large.”
Handelman founded Chemstress Consultant Co. in 1965 at 25 years old. He headed the company as CEO and salesperson until his retirement as chairperson in 2021. The company is now run by his daughter, CEO Julie Wesel.
“My dad quietly committed himself to make the world a better place,” Wesel said. “You can see this commitment in the engineering company he built and the completed impactful projects, and his dedication to the Chemstress people. In addition, he assisted many, including his family and friends, improving their worlds through kind words or deeds and endless energy.”
The statue was created by figurative sculptor Alan Cottrill, an Ohio artist, and is displayed in the center of Akron’s reconstructed South Main Street in a roundabout. Cottrill designed rubber-worker statue to sit atop a tiered, granite base, shaped like Summit County and city of Akron.
The city installed a commemorative plaque in front of the statue, acknowledging Chemstress as the presenting sponsor.
The rubber-worker statue is the centerpiece of a project that transformed 1.4 miles of Main Street through the heart of downtown, reconstructing and improving streets, sidewalks and utilities, and adding a green corridor.
As downtown was under construction, the city secured donations and has collected $330,000 for creation and installation of the rubber-worker statue, the city said.
The statue is adjacent to a tribute area displaying audio and visual stories of rubber workers and their families. The area features a walkway created with engraved, commemorative bricks purchased by community members.