Plans for OverDrive's "Blue Sky Campus" include more than five acres of green space it will use for outdoor meetings, a small pond, and a walking path.
Clik here to view.
View full sizeThis is an artist's rendering of OverDrive Inc.'s global headquarters being built in Garfield Heights. The e-book and audiobook distributor expects to finish construction by September and move in by the end of the year.GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- OverDrive Inc., a fast-growing distributor of e-books and audiobooks, has started building its global headquarters in Garfield Heights.
The Valley View company -- which picked Garfield Heights over competing sites in Ohio and Florida -- will invest more than $10 million to construct a single-story, 95,000-square-foot building that will accommodate more than 300 employees with room to grow.
The new building will sit on a 12-acre site visible from Interstate 480. Construction is expected to be completed by September.
"It's probably the biggest business that we've had come in in many, many years," said Garfield Heights Mayor Vic Collova.
"It's going to be big, both economically and in terms of PR for the city. This is the first phase of what will bring more businesses to the city."
The Ohio Department of Development is contributing $200,000 toward the cost of building a new road, and the City of Garfield Heights gave the company a 10-year, 100-percent tax abatement on the value of the improvements to the site, said Noreen Kupan, Garfield Heights' economic development director.
Other incentives include: a $50,000 grant from the state Controlling Board; a loan of up to $1 million from Cuyahoga County; and a 50-percent job creation tax credit for seven years from the State of Ohio, which requires the company to stay at the site for 10 years.
The company now employs 160, but said it expects to have about 200 workers by the time it moves into its new home by the end of 2012.
"We expect to add 25-40 jobs/year for the next few years," at an average hourly rate of $26.50, not including benefits, said spokesman Michael Lovett, via email. "We employ computer engineers, software developers, librarians, lawyers."
OverDrive's growth is driven by the exploding demand of e-books, audiobooks, music and videos from schools, retailers and libraries -- including the Cuyahoga County Public Library, the Cleveland Public Library and the Akron-Summit County Public Library.
"OverDrive is a global distributor providing software and services that enable libraries, schools, and colleges to offer eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video to their patrons on a variety of devices, including PC, Mac, iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble Nook, etc.," Lovett said.
The 25-year-old company said it has facilitated more than 80 million library book checkouts and that its digital catalog carries more than 700,000 titles in 50-plus languages.
"OverDrive's new tech campus will help accelerate the adoption of eBooks, audiobooks, music and video currently served through our 18,000 school, library and retail channel partners," said Lori Soukup, OverDrive's chief operating officer, in a statement.
On Monday, the company announced that it had acquired Australian e-book company Booki.sh, in a deal that it said would eventually enable users to read e-books without downloading software or an app.
Economic Development Director Kupan called the company's relocation "huge" for the city, and said it perfectly complements the city's other major construction project -- a new branch of the county library being built this year.
"Governor Strickland played a big part in keeping them in Ohio," instead of letting the company leave for Florida, Collova said.
"They came to us and asked if we had a location that might fit their needs, and we said we'd put a good offer on the table to get them," he said.
Besides Valley View, "I don't know who else (in Northeast Ohio) was in the running."
Plans for OverDrive's "Blue Sky Campus" include more than five acres of green space it will use for outdoor meetings, a small pond, and a walking path.
The LEED (certified energy-efficient) building will house digital test labs and training centers for its training sessions for schools and libraries, two indoor basketball courts and a fitness center.
Follow me on twitter: @janetcho