by Jim Fisher and Matt Harvey
STAFF WRITERS
QUIET DELL -- InfoCision Management Corp, an Akron, Ohio-based telemarketing firm, officially announced plans to build a new facility just off Interstate 79 in Quiet Dell Tuesday.
The company has been located in downtown Clarksburg since 1999, but will move its operations to the new $1.5 million facility sometime next summer, according to company officials.
Numerous state and county officials attended Tuesday's announcement.
"We're always pleased when a company chooses to locate here (in Harrison County), because that means we have provided the necessary infrastructure," said Harrison County Commission President Beth Taylor. "However, when a company chooses to stay and expand, that means we've provided the heart and soul, and that's the employees."
The project will cost $1.5 million. Gov. Bob Wise has given preliminary approval for a loan of $641,000 for the project.
InfoCision will have a five-year lease, with three five-year extensions, with property owner P&R Development, said Steve Brubaker, senior vice president of InfoCision.
Brubaker said the company always intended to find a permanent home in the Clarksburg area, but first needed to get "up and running," he said.
"You can't identify what your success will be in a community, so you just can't go in ... and build a new building," Brubaker said.
Once InfoCision management determined that a new location was necessary, they conducted an "exhaustive" search, Brubaker said. Potential sites throughout the county -- including Clarksburg -- were considered, he said.
Joe Gero, Harrison County Development Authority executive director, said the InfoCision decision is a big plus for the area.
"What becomes particularly significant is we're putting 400 sets of salaries into the community," he said.
InfoCision currently employs about 235 people. That number is expected to increase by 150-180 starting immediately, Brubaker said.
Staff writer Jim Fisher can be reached at 626-1446 or by e-mail at jfisher@exponent-telegram.com
