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ELKINS -- The Randolph County Development Authority approved the purchase of the former Reidbord Building located on Wilson Lane during a special meeting Thursday morning.
The RCDA Board of Directors agreed to buy the building from CGP Development for the price of $2.4 million.
"We are purchasing and closing on that property Tuesday," RCDA Executive Director Robbie Morris told The Inter-Mountain Thursday. "We passed some various resolutions related to some documents that we need to facilitate the closing of that property."
The building, which already has two occupants in four of the available suites, will soon house a new business coming to Elkins, 22nd Century Technologies Inc., a national cybersecurity firm.
22nd Century Technologies will take over the first suite, which formerly housed IBEX Global. The current tenants, Coordinated Council for Independent Living and CDP Development, will remain in their current location.
"This (purchase) is for the 22nd Century Technologies Project that was recently announced," Morris said. "We are really excited about this opportunity for Randolph County."
22nd Century Technologies will open a secured Managed Services Facility at the location, and is expected to hire up to 40 local employees in the next year and a half.
"They are a massive company with around 7,500 employees throughout their footprint," said Morris. "They do a variety of IT services, software development, cyber security, and other things of that nature for government entities.
"It's the first technology company of its type to be in Randolph County, doing the things that they do. It further diversifies our economy and provides a whole new sector for employees who have IT, computer science, software development, and those different kinds of technology degrees. All of them will now have jobs and opportunities right here in Randolph County."
Morris added that the company will also provide jobs for others in the community, saying that not all 22nd Century Technologies employment opportunities will require a college degree.
"They will have a variety of jobs from top to bottom," Morris said. "And that's really exciting as well, that there will be opportunities for a lot of different individuals."
During Thursday's meeting, the RCDA agreed to the signing of a lease agreement with 22nd Century Technologies.
"We executed a lease agreement so that kind of goes hand-in-hand, we are purchasing the building and then immediately leasing to 22nd Century Technologies," Morris said. "The lease will be in perpetuity until 22nd Century Technologies fulfills some requirements, and then they will purchase the building from us for the amount left on the loan."