Published: March 02, 2007 11:30 pm      

CBM moving to Kernville location

After spending four decades in the same downtown Johnstown building, a rapidly expanding company is on the move.

And CBM Business Machines Inc., currently at 110 Clinton St., is heading to a city neighborhood where the demand for real estate is growing.

CBM administrators plan to construct an approximately 10,000-square-foot facility at Franklin and South streets in the city’s Kernville section. The company also may add five or six employees this year or next.

“We’re just growing in leaps and bounds, and we’ve outgrown our current building,” said Don Felix, CBM president and chief executive officer.

The move is made possible in part by city officials, who last year purchased more than 30,000 square feet of Kernville property.

Crews demolished blighted structures on the site, including the former Santo’s and Joe’s Restaurant and Lounge.

CBM executives are finalizing the purchase of about 16,000 square feet of that land, which now is controlled by Johnstown Redevelopment Authority.

“It does look to be a very nice building,” authority Director Ron Repak said. “It’s something the community can be proud of.”

Felix wanted CBM’s headquarters to stay in Johnstown.

“Downtown is our home, and we do a lot of business in the city,” he said.

But that business also is increasing quickly. CBM has six other western Pennsylvania offices, and Felix said that governmental contracts also have helped.

“Probably within the last five years, we’ve grown our business about 300 percent,” he said.

The office-equipment industry has changed dramatically. CBM at one time offered typewriters, mimeographs and rudimentary word processors.

Now the company has gone high-tech, with a wide variety of software and hardware as well as consulting and support services.

“It’s constantly changing. And that’s a good thing for us,” Felix said.

The new building will offer more space and allow CBM to consolidate by closing a Railroad Street warehouse.

“Instead of being on three floors and a warehouse down the street, it’ll be one floor with the warehouse attached,” he said, adding that the facility will provide extra room for future growth.

Felix said he would like to have the new headquarters complete by late fall.