By Matt Fredmonsky
Record-Courier staff writer
A new business technology and entrepreneur center proposed for a former railroad yard in Kent could create 350 to 400 new jobs, officials said this week.
Business leaders from the city, Kent State University and Kent Regional Business Alliance are working to leverage state and federal grants to construct the 43,000-square-foot anchor building of the Atlantic and Great Western Discovery Park near the intersection of Summit Street, Mogadore Road and Franklin Avenue. The KRBA-led project would total 23 acres with space for future business development including the technology incubator building.
Several city and university leaders said the projected number of new jobs is based on conservative estimates of the amount of space new businesses would occupy.
Jack Crews, CEO of the business alliance, said two organizations, the Burbick Foundation and Record Publishing Co., have committed funding for the planning phase of the estimated $11.5 million development.
"And we've got some others we're working with at this point in time," he said.
The KRBA also is negotiating with several private foundations interested in funding part of the overall project. Those as yet unnamed entities will weigh in after state, federal and other local funding amounts are determined. The city also could be asked to support a $1.5 million line of credit provided through a financial institution to a project partner by either paying the initial interest fees or providing collateral, Crews said.
University, city and local business professionals are now working to draft a grant request to the Ohio Department of Development Job Ready Sites Program. The fund has $48 million available for the 2008-2009 fiscal year, but caps grant awards at $5 million per project. The application is due May 15.
Kent City Council agreed this week to provide $15,000 in local grant seed money to help attract additional state and federal dollars for the project. The council also was asked to support using the concept of land banking, in a method similar to that used to facilitate the West River Neighborhood growth, in order to obtain the land needed for the business and technology incubator park.
Kent City Councilman Robin Turner said the project would help reduce the "brain-drain" effect experienced by communities where students receive their education but leave to start a new business elsewhere.
"The possibilities for the type of employment that we're looking at for members of this community and the university is another aspect of synergy this community really needs," Turner said.
The proposal gained positive remarks from many people in attendance at Wednesday's meeting. Those throwing their support behind the project included: Mark Coticchia, vice president for research and technology at Case Western Reserve University; Robin Patton, a spokeswoman for First Energy; Bill Hoover, director of the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce; Brian Bialik, vice president of Home Savings Bank in Kent; Greg Wilson, a KSU associate vice president for economic development and research and graduate studies; and Kent Mayor John Fender, who said he has not supported previous versions of the proposal.
Hoover said young entrepreneurs rarely can afford operating space.
"The ability for us, within the community, to provide a continuum of locations is what keeps those jobs within the city and helps those companies grow to a size that they eventually can afford to invest in that infrastructure and commit to that kind of project," Hoover said. "What we've seen in the past is emerging businesses that reach a certain critical mass and then have to move out of town because there's no place for them to go ... so they end up leasing space in Streetsboro, Tallmadge or somewhere out of the city."