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Ashland Diesel turns 20

ASHLAND - Twenty years ago today, William W. "Bill" Wydra Sr. became the owner of an engine shop in Ashland, and through the ups and downs in the economy, Ashland Diesel Engines Inc. is still doing well.

Located on Lehigh Street, the company mainly works on large trucks from front to back, not just engines, which it did almost exclusively when it bgan. The one-stop shop idea is an adjustment that Wydra made to accommodate the changing conditions in how trucking companies changed in maintaining their fleets.

Fifteen years before becoming owner, Wydra, 60, worked as a mechanic and was shop foreman at Cummins Diesel, Ashland. The parent company in Bristol decided to close the engine shop in June 1991. After negotiations with Cummins, Wydra and a partner bought the business. After about three weeks of preparations, Ashland Diesel officially opened its doors.

"I'm not a businessman. I'm just a man with a business," Wydra said. "In 1991, I bought ADE in hopes of retaining jobs in the coal region, and in the end it worked out for a lot of people due to the success of ADE.

"Company representatives came in one day and said they were pulling the plug on it. I had a job in the Harrisburg shop to run it, but they gave us the opportunity to buy it, so my partner and I did," Wydra said. "We had 12 people here at the time, which we called the 'Dirty Dozen.' Three of them, including myself, are still here."

The staff eventually increased to 30 people, but the economy had an effect on the business. However, things have been improving recently. Currently, there are 17 full-time employees.

"We just deal with the ups and downs of business. It certainly hasn't been a gravy train by all means," said Wydra. "We are showing some light now. We just hired a new parts manager, and we're looking for another technician because our work load is increasing and is steady. We've picked up a lot of new clients at Highridge (Business Park), and they're good customers. We're not just an engine shop anymore. We have CAT, Cummins and Freightliner, and we do everything from bumper to bumper," said Wydra.

In addition to Ashland Diesel, Wydra and his son, William W. Wydra Jr., got Ashland Technologies Inc. off the ground.

"We had the Ash-Tech business here for the longest time. Billy moved that down to Hegins because we didn't have enough space here," said Wydra. "When he left, we just filled in the void with our operation."

Improvements in engine design have had an effect on how often work needs to be done, along with keeping up to date with working with high-tech electronics.

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