A growth spurt has Industrial Scientific Corp. looking for space for expansion in the Parkway West corridor.
Growing demand for its gas detection equipment and services is leading the Oakdale-based company on a two-pronged search for expanded space, starting with a short-term expansion to ease overcrowding at its Oakdale Road headquarters.
"We have two major efforts around our buildings and facilities happening in parallel," said spokesman Josh McElhattan.
"First, we are looking for about 25,000 square feet of office space to meet our needs, as we have grown steadily in manufacturing, services and engineering while seeing very rapid growth in our software development, data analytics and sales departments."
"Second, we are searching actively for land for new construction of a long-term solution that would start with a new building of up to 200,000 square feet in size. As a rapidly growing company, we are planning for expansion beyond that space as well," he said. "Our goal is a high-visibility, architecturally significant facility."
About 225 employees work at its Oakdale headquarters, up from 208 last year. It is projecting growth at a rate 33 percent, or about 70 employees, during the next several years. Worldwide employment stands at 865 employees.
The company has about 50,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space there, and an additional 25,000 square feet of laboratory and testing space at its older headquarters building on Steubenville Pike.
"We've had huge growth internationally as well as domestically, and we're currently bursting at the seams," McElhattan said. "We have planned for 20 percent growth in 2008 sales to $170 million. We are outpacing that expectation currently."
The company hired CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, a Downtown commercial real estate company, to help its search. It hopes to select its short-term office space and have employees working there by early fall. The company will likely take space in an existing building not too far from its current site, McElhattan said.
