By SHAWN PIATEK
If any company should know where its satellite offices would best be located, ESRI Corp. would certainly be among at the top of the list.
The Redlands, Calif.-based company, a maker of geographic information systems, or GIS, software recently relocated its Johnstown satellite office to Richland Township to accommodate growth.
GIS technology integrates hardware, software and data for capturing, managing, analyzing and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information. It is used by a variety of organizations for many applications such as targeting market demographics and even finding the best location for an office.
In December, the company relocated its employees from Commerce Centre in Johnstown’s Cambria City neighborhood to the Richland Square office complex on Eisenhower Boulevard. The new office offers 10,000 square feet of space, five times more than its former location, and will allow ESRI to add a training facility.
“We have 14 people now, and we’re looking to hire a few more,” said Dan Slavick, technical manager at the office. “We maximized our space down there, so everything with this expansion hinged on the space getting finished here.”
The training center will be used to aid clients in learning how to best use ESRI’s software. It is being added at the Johnstown region to assist clients located between offices in Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio, including several local companies.
Also, unlike the company’s other nearby offices, the Johnstown location focuses more on defense clients.
“Johnstown is a great fit because much of the defense industry is based on the East Coast,” Slavick said. “We can be anywhere in a matter of hours and it saves a lot of time and money for our people not having to travel from California.”
Slavick said the company is looking to grow slowly and steadily in the region and is currently targeting a staff level of about 25.
He said the new space offers plenty of room for additional growth, with the potential to accommodate up to 40 workers.
