Our History
From its modest beginnings in 1943, The Flolo Corporation has grown into a multi-faceted Electro-Mechanical repair facility, Power Transmission Distributor and Custom System Integration company.
Nils and Louise Flolo started Flolo Electric by repairing sump pumps and electric motors in their Franklin Park basement. By 1945, the Flolo Electric Company, as it was originally known, was licensed and began expanding to Field Service and Electrical Contracting and Installation. A few short years later the three Flolo sons, Arne, Norman and George began working for the company as they became old enough.
In 1950, the company relocated into its first industrial building in Franklin Park and increased its repair capacity. The following year, Flolo Electric became an authorized distributor for Master Electric Company, which soon became part of Reliance Electric. Flolo was now in the distribution business as well as the repair business.
Having outgrown this location, in 1962 Flolo moved to a new location on Franklin Avenue in what was then unincorporated Franklin Park. The building had three additions built on to increase warehouse and repair space and later became known as the Green Street facility when the land was annexed by Bensenville
In 1968 the Flolo Systems Group was formed as an engineering-based system integrator and custom control panel assembly group. Due to the growth of our repair and distribution groups, the Systems group was relocated into its own building a half block away, referred to as Podlin.
In 1974 Flolo added a branch location in North Chicago, IL which soon moved to Waukegan, IL and subsequently to a brand new building in Gurnee, IL.
In 1978, Flolo bought a service center in South Elgin, IL called Valley Electric and it become our 3rd branch location.
In the mid-1980s the company changed its name from Flolo Electric to The Flolo Corporation to better reflect the diversity of products and services offered by Flolo.
In 1990, Flolo opened a sales office in Calumet City to service the steel industry in NW Indiana. This was only a sales office because our market focus in this area did not have a need a for a will-call counter.
In 1998, Flolo bought a distributor in Northbrook, IL called TransTek Supply that focused on the HVAC aftermarkets. We then expanded this market focus of HVAC supply business to include our South Elgin location. In 2014, we combined the Northbrook facility with our Gurnee location.
In 2009, we were made aware that the Flolo “Green Street” facility would be taken by the State of Illinois under the governing law of eminent domain. With this knowledge, we began the search for a new location. After looking at over 40 facilities, we found, in 2016, the correct facility in West Chicago. We sold the Green Street location to the state in June of 2016. We closed on our new facility in August of 2016. During the second quarter of 2017, we combined our Green Street location, our Podlin location and our South Elgin location into our new facility on Harvester Road in West Chicago. The moving and process upgrades of the new facility were completed in May of 2017.
Normal operation began in West Chicago in June of 2017 and with our new capabilities, we are now well-positioned to provide the best service to all of our current and future customers.
