It is always good news for the Mid-Ohio Valley when an area business achieves so much success that it becomes time for expanding and relocating into a larger space.
That's just what happened with Cool Containers, LLC of Marietta, which will move from its shared space with Farrar Scientific on Ohio 7 to the Reno Business Park, also on Ohio 7, by mid-2013.
Cool Containers manufactures the PharmaPort360, a unique and versatile cargo container capable of high-density storage with stringent temperature control for high-value pharmaceuticals.
"This will give us the ability to get a little breathing room," said Carl Hauptmann, Cool Containers' director of operations.
"It's going to nearly triple our space," he added, from 3,600 square feet to approximately 14,000 square feet.
The space at Farrar Scientific "is not very big, has two buildings, and is not handy or effective," said Scott Farrar, chief technical officer for Cool Containers.
Fact Box
At a glance
What: Cool Containers, LLC.
Where: Moving from a building shared with Farrar Scientific on Ohio 7 in Marietta to the Reno Business Park, 27823 State Route 7.
Construction dates: To begin next week; completion projected for June 2013.
Number of employees: 16.
New size: Approximately 14,000 square feet.
"With the nature of (a cargo container), it consumes a fair amount of real estate. It's a big footprint," he said.
The decision to relocate and configure a space that was ideal for the company's manufacturing flow was "a couple of years in the planning," Hauptmann said.
A management team from Cool Containers looked at several area locations before deciding to make the move to the Reno Business Park, said Farrar.
One consideration was a site that was in close proximity to Farrar Scientific where all Cool Containers' engineering support is housed. That was achieved with the short distance between the Reno Business Park and the company's current location-both on Ohio 7.
Two key elements already in place at the Reno Business Park made good business sense for Cool Containers, said Rick Coley, vice president and general manager at Promanco, Inc., a Marietta-based property management and real estate development firm.
"It's an existing building that was ready to go," Coley said. "When they made the move, they needed to be able to do it as quickly as possible."
With 600,000 square feet of space available at the business park, "Cool Containers can keep rolling back through the building and take up space as needed," said Coley.
At its start up, "Cool Containers was here in the Farrar Scientific building mainly because we had no other choice," Farrar said. "We couldn't buy or lease new space until we had more business."
With business momentum on the rise and plans to introduce two new products, slated to go into production in fall 2013, the timing was right.
The two new products will offer different-size containers and temperature ranges for the transportation of pharmaceuticals, said Hauptmann.
With the relocation and expansion to the Reno Business Park, Cool Containers must go through a complete Federal Aviation Administration approval process again.
The additional space will provide room for cargo container units to be returned to the facility for required annual service checks.
Cool Containers currently employees some 16 employees, in a combination of technological and manufacturing positions, Hauptmann said.
There are no plans to employ additional workers at the Reno Business Park location.
"As demand increases, we will increase staff," said Hauptmann.
