Turning Technologies can't wait for Taft space

The company will use 3,000 square feet of space at a nearby building.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A technology company that will be the Taft Technology Center's main tenant is growing so fast it can't wait for the building to be constructed.
Turning Technologies, located in the Youngstown Business Incubator on West Federal Street, needs space right now. The Taft center's completion date is March 15, 2008.
So a downtown property redevelopment agency agreed Tuesday to spend up to 30,000 to improve 3,000 square feet on the ground floor of the former Semple Building for Turning Technologies.
The former Semple Building is on West Federal Street, just east of Home Savings and Loan. Just east of Semple is the Taft center site and then the incubator. The Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. is overseeing the construction of the Taft center and owns the former Semple Building, which has been vacant for the past few years.
Shipping department grows
Turning Technologies will relocate a department that ships hand-held electronic keypads to Semple, a move that will free up 1,000 square feet of space at the incubator.
"We're growing and we have a lot of product to ship," said Tony DeAscentis, Turning Technologies' vice president of marketing.
The shipping department "is eating up a huge amount of space," said Jim Cossler, the incubator's director. "We need to get their shipping department to Semple as soon as possible and turn the space here into office space. ... In the short-term, this move will accommodate the rapid growth of Turning Technologies."
The company has reconfigured its storage area at the incubator at least four times and simply doesn't have any more room there, DeAscentis said.
The minor improvement work at Semple will take no more than 90 days to finish, said Reid Dulberger, the CIC's acting president. The CIC won't charge rent to Turning Technologies, he said.
Turning Technologies, a high-tech firm that employs 100 people and continues to grow, occupies about 8,000 square feet of the 25,000-square-foot incubator, Cossler said.
Turning Technologies will use 14,000 square feet of space at the Taft center, when it is done. The building is expected to be about 30,000 square feet.
Decision coming soon
As for the Taft Technology Center, Dulberger said CIC staff will have a recommendation to the agency's board by the end of this week on which companies will design and build the structure. The CIC's executive committee is expected to act on the recommendation early next week, Dulberger said.
The apparent low base proposal, opened by CIC staff last week, of 3,738,733 came from Mike Coates Construction Co. of Niles and Ricciuti Balog & amp; Partners of Youngstown. Five other proposals were also opened last week.
Also, the CIC is expected to finalize a deal by next month with the Sweet Jenny Land Co. for the John R. Davis building, Dulberger said. The vacant building is on West Federal Street, just east of the Downtown Draught House.
skolnick@vindy.com