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May 10, 2007

InfoCision move to mean additional employees

By John K. Manna

Longtime New Castle residents know it as the Troutman building, but soon it will be renamed Pier I Complex.

The name change signifies the renovations being made to the former department store that will be the new location for InfoCision Management Corp. by December.

The company, which employs about 240 people at its call center in Cascade Galleria, plans to add another 140 employees at its new site. The building at East Washington Street and Croton Avenue will be able to accommodate 500 employees.

Executives of InfoCision, a teleservice company, joined state and local officials downtown yesterday at Riverwalk Park, in the shadow of the Troutman building, to formally announce the company's relocation and expansion plans.

"We're going to start hiring now,"ù Steve Brubaker, InfoCision's vice president for corporate affairs, said yesterday. "It will give the company the opportunity to train,"he added, so "when we move in early December we will have our team ready to go."

The renovation project will total $4.9 million, according to developer Tom George, who owns the building with Robert Bruce. They also own Cascade Galleria.

George said Pier I Limited Partnership, made up of Bruce, himself and the New Castle Area Transit Authority, will be the owners of the renovated structure. The authority will own 20 percent of the partnership, which will lease space to InfoCision.

Leonard Lastoria, transit authority general manager, said the agency has applied for an $800,000 federal grant for the project. He said this is an example of the federal government allowing transit agencies to partner with private business.

George said the grant would go toward a day-care center that will be used by both InfoCision employees and transit riders to Pittsburgh. The day-care center is expected to be ready by the end of March, George said.

Some of the project cost will be met with state funds. Jack Machek, regional director for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, announced that Gov. Ed Rendell has committed a $500,000 state grant for the project.

George said he is negotiating with the state for another $400,000, which would be in the form of a loan.

"It's a slow process,"ù George said of putting such a project together. "But it happens."ù

The building has 36,000 square feet of usable space. InfoCision will occupy 28,000 square feet and the day-care center will have 6,000 square feet, leaving 2,000 square feet for which, George said, “we have several options.”

In addition to the office space, Brubaker said, InfoCision will have a fitness center and a wellness center with an in-house physician for its employees.

"We are very pleased to be in this community,"ù Brubaker said, adding that Mayor Wayne Alexander met with him about a year ago regarding the project.

Brubaker also gave credit to former city business administrator John DiMuccio.

"John is really the reason we're in New Castle."

Lastoria said bids will be received at the authority's meeting this month to demolish the former Cinema Theater, which is owned by the authority. The cleared land will provide added parking for InfoCision, but the mayor said the site is being marketed for a college.

As for the space in Cascade Galleria when InfoCision vacates, George said, "We have some tenants that are looking at that."

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