The County will provide a loan of $480,000 to defray relocation costs of Headquarters move to Independence, Ohio

CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish announces offer of relocation assistance to 7signal Solutions, Inc., an innovative software development company that provides Wi-Fi performance management solutions to medium and large enterprises, healthcare organizations, as well as colleges and universities.

By relocating its world headquarters from Akron, Ohio, to Independence, Ohio, 7signal seeks to attract and retain qualified employees to meet its employment needs and fuel company growth. Company management estimates the result of this growth will help create 48 jobs and $4.8 million in payroll in Cuyahoga County by the end of 2019.

“We’re all about jobs, and this move will bring 48 high paying jobs with prospects to grow even more. The County is extremely pleased to be a key player in assisting the relocation of such an innovative, global software development company into Cuyahoga County,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish. “This attraction of a global software development company to the region is an amazing opportunity for the County, bringing a minimum of 48 high-paying jobs, establishing a world headquarters presence and generating significant payroll and real estate taxes.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Development has negotiated a $480,000 Cuyahoga County Business Attraction Forgivable Loan for the company to relocate from Akron. The loan is a key component in mitigating components of the company’s moving and scale-up costs, which include company investment in new hardware and software platform upgrades, IT infrastructure, external outsourcing costs, and office space improvements. The County’s loan will be forgivable only upon the company’s creation of 48 jobs having average annual salaries of at least $100,000 and maintenance of those jobs within the County over 7 years. In addition to the County’s assistance, the company will receive a relocation and job creation grant from the City of Independence valued at up to $200,000.

“The 7signal negotiations reflect the County’s focus on attracting high growth companies in targeted industries like technology and healthcare to this community.” Said Ted Carter, the County’s Chief Development Officer. “An additional motivation for the County is that this company was established through a Finnish acquisition, which is a component of our long term focus on foreign direct investment as a key aspect of our growth strategy. Additionally, the 7signal team found the tech labor pool here to be very compelling. It should be noted that the company is a 2017 Smart Business Magazine tech award winner.” 

“The key to growth is great people,” stated Tom Barrett, President and CEO of 7signal.  “And when we move to Independence, we’ll be able to attract outstanding talent from both Akron and Cleveland. Cuyahoga County has been a tremendous partner through this process, and we appreciate both their support and belief in our company vision, which is to ensure amazing wireless experiences for organizations everywhere.”

7signal Solutions, Inc. – Key Facts

• Current headquarters in Akron, Ohio
• President and Chief Executive Officer– Thomas M. Barrett
• Finnish company founded in Helsinki Finland in 2006 by former Nokia Research and Development managers.  7signal relocated its headquarters from Helsinki to Akron in 2011.
• Software development company that creates products to help enterprise customers, hospitals, and universities better manage and evaluate the performance of their Wi-Fi networks.
• The company’s mission is to make innovative solutions to improve wireless experiences for organizations worldwide..
• 7signal helps customers achieve peak Wi-Fi performance service assurance in support of initiatives that help customers grow their business, increase operational efficiency and elevate productivity.
• 7signal is principally owned by Mutual Capital Partners, Allos Ventures Funds, JumpStart and CoreNetwork.