A Downtown Akron office building is getting an infusion of new energy from a fruit juice company.
That’s because Country Pure Foods — the Akron maker of more than 300 juice products — is moving all of its headquarters staff from its plant and office building on Waterloo Road in south Akron to downtown.
The move to the six-story former O’Neil’s department store building on Main Street, overlooking Lock 3 Park, will take place later this month.
“We looked at expanding on site on Waterloo Road, but that was a very expensive proposition” to build anew, Ray Lee, the company’s co-CEO said, as he toured the new space this week.
Ray said corporate staff members “have been on top of each others for years” on Waterloo Road.
The company sells nationwide to institutions such as schools, hospitals and prisons, under the Ardmore Farms and Juice4U brands. Its products are not available in grocery stores to the general market. Country Pure also manufactures and packages private-label juices and packages national brands.
The downtown space — on the fourth floor of the building — previously was used by longtime Akron law firm Roetzel & Andress.
The law firm — which occupied three floors in the building — consolidated its operations onto the fifth and sixth floors roughly a year ago, freeing up the space. About 130 Roetzel employees work in the building — about the same number that were there before the consolidation.
A research and development lab will be part of Country Pure’s operations in the building
“This was Roetzel’s exercise room,” Lee said, while standing in the R&D lab taking shape.
Nearby is the law firm’s former law library. It is being converted into Country Pure’s board room and two conference rooms.
Roetzel’s managing partner, Brian Moore, explained that the law library space was no longer needed as information is now available online. Library staffers now work out of a smaller space on the sixth floor, he said.
The Country Pure conference rooms will mean the end of the company having to rent hotel rooms for large meetings, Ray said.
Videoconferencing will be available, allowing corporate staff members to communicate with employees at its four plants in Akron, Connecticut, Florida and Texas.
Lee’s new office is in a corner overlooking Main Street and Lock 3. He can see the Cascade One Building, where he worked as an accountant years ago.
The right fit
Lee said in searching for space in which to expand, “We were looking for something that was convenient for our employees and the economics had to be right.”
Renovation of the space has been fairly simple, involving painting, new carpeting and installation of some walls.
Thomas Kolb, Country Pure’s chief financial officer, noted the building is about three and a half miles from the Waterloo Road plant.
The move involves roughly 30 workers — not a large amount of employees. But it’s a boost for the city’s center, coming after SummaCare, the Akron-based health plan, revealed last week that is moving its headquarters from downtown.
SummaCare, now at 10 N. Main St., plans to move its headquarters and 300 employees to the city’s east side, to the former Goodyear campus, now known as East End, beginning this summer.
Lee said that in addition to bringing workers downtown, the corporate offices will host frequent visitors from inside and outside the company “and they will be spending money downtown.”
Moore, with Roetzel & Andress, is happy Country Pure Foods made the decision to locate to the building.
“A vibrant downtown Akron is good for everyone in the region,” he said, echoing what downtown boosters have said for many years.
Lee said some Country Pure employees had expressed anxiousness about moving downtown.
But he said workers did a walk-through of the space “and were impressed with it, and they saw the restaurants nearby and the neighborhoods nearby and they became much more comfortable.”
The Waterloo facility isn’t within close walking distance of eateries, he noted.
Another plus to the downtown location: Employees also will get covered parking.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.