MEMBER SPOTLIGHT


What’s the secret to Empire Radiator Service’s success? Mike Schelkun believes it’s having a vision and adapting to change, and gives full credit to his son Jim. “In our area, we are seeing other shops go out of business,” said Mike. “The only constant out there in life is change, and you need to look ahead to figure out, ‘What do I have to do to stay in business? What products and services can we drop that are no longer profitable?’ Because if we had stayed in the business of re-coring car radiators, we’d be dead. Jim has had the vision to look ahead and see services and ideas to add, so I look at him as the visionary.”


With the expansion of services, Empire Radiator Service outgrew its buildings. In October 2021, the Schelkuns moved into a 30,000-square foot building. Each department now has separate areas making room for radiator re-coring, a CNC plasma table, welding, DPF cleaning, and inventory storage.


“As far as capabilities, we can fabricate almost everything we need including radiator tanks, the side rails, the brackets to threaded fittings and bungs,” said


January/February 2022| THE COOLING JOURNAL | 19


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