Internet setup is selling point for tech park

Developers think reliable Internet and electricity service, along with low land costs, will draw companies.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
BOARDMAN -- Construction is under way on a technology park off Western Reserve Road that developers hope will attract more than a dozen companies and up to 300 jobs.
Crossroads Tech Park will have high-speed Internet connections and duplicate utility connections that companies now can find only in tech parks in larger cities, said Daniel Zarlenga, park developer.
The park is trying to attract insurance claim-processing centers, bank data-processing centers, software development companies, credit-card clearing facilities and other companies that need broadband Internet service because they handle large amounts of data.
Benefits of site
The advantage to locating in Boardman will be lower lease costs because this area has lower land costs than larger metropolitan areas, Zarlenga said.
By joining together in a park, businesses also would have lower Internet access fees than they would pay for individual high-speed lines, said David Syphard, project manager for the park's technical design.
Zarlenga is a Canfield businessman who is acting secretary of C-Z Construction and Development Co., which is developing the park. His father, Carmen Zarlenga Jr., is president of C-Z.
Daniel Zarlenga and Syphard are partners in Syzar Net, a Poland computer-consulting company that intends to move to the park.
They wouldn't disclose the investment being made in the park but said no public funds or tax abatements are being used.
Space available
The park just west of Interstate 680 has 13 lots but could be expanded to 18 with the purchase of additional land, Syphard said.
Between 100 and 300 jobs are expected to be created by companies in the park, depending on what work they are doing, he said.
Backup data centers, for example, wouldn't employ as many people as other types of companies, such as call centers, but they would be higher-paying jobs, he said. Telecommunications and other companies are looking for new sites for backup centers because they have realized after the Sept. 11 attacks that they shouldn't be located near the main data centers, he said.
Zarlenga said the installation of storm and sanitary sewers began about two months ago, although a groundbreaking ceremony is planned for Tuesday. The park will be ready for occupancy in about four months, he said.
Zarlenga expects companies to begin locating there in the spring, and he hopes to have the park full in two to three years.
Steady Net access
Syphard said the park will be attractive to companies that need constant Internet access because utilities, such as electric and natural gas, will enter the park from two points.
"It would take a significant problem to knock the entire park out; about all of Boardman would have to have a power outage," he said.
Also, SONET technology will be used for Internet access to provide connections that are working 99.999 percent of the time. SONET rings are designed to provide multiple paths for information to travel in case there is a problem with one part of the fiber-optic loop.
Syphard said the SONET ring in the park, which will be encased in concrete, will have two connections to a larger SONET ring that is operated in the area by SBC Ameritech.
shilling@vindy.com