Ameripath to expand out of area with move to a bigger building

The expansion will provide for the creation of four or five jobs.

BOARDMAN — A Boardman medical laboratory is building a larger office as it expands into western Pennsylvania and other parts of Ohio.

Ameripath, a Florida-based pathology company, plans to move into a 16,000-square-foot office at 590 E. Western Reserve Road by Thanksgiving. The company now is located in a 6,000-square-foot office at 8302 Southern Blvd.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday, but construction already is under way.

Jim Decenso, general manager of the local office, said he plans to add four or five workers within the next year. The office has the full-time equivalent of 20 employees.

Ameripath also employs 15 pathologists who are contracted out to area hospitals.

The local office now primarily works in the Mahoning Valley, but company officials see opportunities in nearby areas, Decenso said. The new building also will make it easier to accommodate the latest technology in its field, he said.

Ameripath specializes in analyzing tissues for cancer and other diseases.

The company entered the local market in 1998 with the purchase of Mahoning Medical Labs.

Western Reserve Park

The Ameripath building will nearly complete the Western Reserve Park development, said Joe Sylvester Jr., chief executive of Sylvester Construction in Boardman. There is room for one more building along Western Reserve Road.

The development is owned by Sylvester & Vernal Development Co., which is a partnership between the Sylvester family and Rick Vernal, owner of R.T. Vernal Paving and Excavating of North Lima. The 20-acre development features 16 companies, ranging from a dance studio to light industrial firms.

Thursday, August 3, 2006