OverDrive formally opened their the new 95,000-square-foot headquarters facility (aka “Blue Sky Campus”) last week in Garfield Heights, Ohio (just outside of Cleveland).
From the Cleveland Business Journal:
The building, which dwarfs the company’s old facility in Valley View, gives OverDrive room to house 300 people. And it will need it, Mr. Potash said while addressing a crowd gathered for the building’s grand opening last Wednesday, April 10.
“We plan to have about 40 or 50 new hires this year (OverDrive currently employs 200 people, up from 130 last year), and as you see we’ve built a foundation for growth,” he said, just before announcing donations that will help fund educational programs organized by the Cleveland Public Library and Cuyahoga County Public Library.
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Health nuts might be more interested in the indoor basketball court and the yoga area set up in the company’s warehouse, which is attached to a locker room. Outside, there’s a par 3 golf hole and a walking path that wraps around much of the 18-acre property.
OverDrive received several incentives to encourage the company to build the campus: The state of Ohio gave the company a 50% Job Creation Tax Credit valued at $484,000, and it provided a $50,000 Rapid Outreach grant, as well as additional financing for road improvements. Cuyahoga County offered a $1 million loan, and the city of Garfield Heights gave OverDrive a 10-year, 100% property tax abatement that applies to the value of improvements the company made on the property.
OverDrive’s blog post points out that the building is a LEED-certified green building and also contains digital test labs and partner training rooms. It also includes additional details about the donations OverDrive gave to Cleveland Public Library’s “I’m Ready to Read” Campaign and Cuyahoga County Public Library’s STEP (Supporting Tutors Engaging Pupils) Program.
Photo Tour
Here are 14 images that provide a look around the new facility. You’ll see the locker room, basketball court, and outdoor patio, and more.
Learn More
Both infoDOCKET and Library Journal posted about the facility on March 7, 2012 the day OverDrive broke ground on the new facility. The posts include links to several primary documents re: public funding and incentives noted above.
One of the documents (dated March, 2012), is a resolution from the Cuyahoga County government that provides a formal approval of a $1 million loan). It says that OverDrive is a “digital security firm”.
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