Infocision moves workers to Austintown, Boardman

By Don Shilling

A city official is confident the city can lease the downtown space.

YOUNGSTOWN — A downtown call center is closing as its 165 workers are relocated to the suburbs.

Infocision Management Corp. is moving the workers to centers in Austintown and Boardman so operations in the Mahoning Valley can run more efficiently, said Gretchen Fri, manager of public relations for the Akron-based company.

The move is expected to be completed by the end of the month.

Infocision renovated the fourth floor of 20 Federal Place four years ago to create the downtown center, which handles inbound and outbound calls for commercial clients.

The move opens up 30,000 square feet of space for city officials to rent because the city owns the building, which used to serve as a Strouss store and then the headquarters of the former Phar-Mor.

David Bozanich, city finance director, said he is confident the city will lease the space because Infocision renovated the area in exchange for reduced rent. Included were carpeting and a new heating and cooling system.

With Infocision, the building was 80 percent occupied with about 400 workers.

Fri said Infocision remains committed to the Valley. The company employs just more than 1,000 people in Mahoning County and nearly 300 in New Castle, Pa.

“We will continue to grow in the Mahoning Valley. It just works better for us to move the employees to either of the other two locations,” she said.

Infocision last year completed a $5 million expansion of its Austintown center and built a new call center in Boardman.

Fri said both of those centers also handle commercial clients as the downtown center does.

shilling@vindy.com