Extreme Air in Boardman is now open for all kids

By Kalea Hall

khall@vindy.com

Boardman

Neon purple and lime green – two colors that seem to bring out the kid in everyone.

At the recently opened Extreme Air trampoline park in Boardman, it’s more than the bold colors that bring out the kid in its guests.

It’s the trampoline court, arcade, dodgeball, rock-climbing wall and stunt bag.

It’s getting propelled upward and effortless flying through the air with other “kids” to forget about all your worries.

Or, it’s diving into the air knowing a stunt bag will catch you after a few seconds.

“I couldn’t imagine opening up anything else,” said Matt MacGregor, part-owner of the business.

Matt; his brother, Jesse; his wife, Stacy; and friend Rich Kaszowski have been in business together since 2014 after they opened their first Extreme Air location in Niles in December 2014.

Matt and Rich wanted to go into business together for awhile before they opened Extreme Air. They kicked around a few ideas for businesses, including bars, but they really wanted a business that would bring family together and be a fun place for children.

One day in February 2014, Matt took his son to a trampoline park in Cleveland and realized the potential for a business.

Before opening the business, the owners took a business class at Youngstown State University and developed a plan.

After finding the trampolines, developing a layout for the park in Niles and getting it constructed, the owners moved on to the human-resources side of the business – the hard part.

Safety was key for the park. All employees have safety training, and there’s an equal amount working to the number of people jumping.

Some days there’s crying at Extreme Air, but only from those who don’t want to leave.

“They want to stay and play,” Matt said.

The first year at the Niles location went well and gave the owners the incentive to look for a new location in the Boardman area.

“We initially wanted to come out here because it’s more populated,” Matt said.

The location of choice was the Ice Zone on McClurg Road. The new Extreme Air is bigger than the Niles location. About $1.3 million was invested into the 26,000-square-foot arena. It comes with a main trampoline court, two dodgeball courts, two basketball dunk courts, a stunt bag that catches you when you jump about 11 feet, an air bag to jump into and a section to have birthday party celebrations and other events. A total of 70 are employed in Boardman.

The investment mostly goes back to the local community.

“This is our backyard,” Kaszowski said. “We all graduated from Warren. This is something that means a lot to us.”

The Boardman Extreme Air will have a grand opening celebration at 3 p.m. Thursday where every one will jump for free for the first hour.