Incentives OKd for call center

COLUMBUS — State officials on Monday paved the way for a call center to open a new 250-employee location in Youngstown.

DRD Inc., which does business as Power Direct, has been eyeing 15,000 square feet of space in the former Phar-Mor Centre and a location in Florida for the new operation.

Dan Delfino, the company’s president and chief executive officer, told members of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority in Columbus that he planned to move forward with the Youngstown project if incentives were approved.

The authority followed suit Monday, signing off on a six-year, 25 percent tax credit. In return, the company will commit to creating 250 new full-time jobs within the next three years. The positions would carry an average wage of $12 an hour, plus $1.76 per hour in benefits. The company would have to maintain operations in the city for at least 12 years.

For more, see Tuesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com