Industry News

Convergys Corp. is constructing a 170,000-sf call center in Bangalore, India. Housing employee testing areas, training rooms, a language laboratory, and a cafeteria, the facility will accommodate over 3,000 employees when it opens in May of 2003. Convergys, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, provides outsourced billing, human resources, and customer care services.

The New Jersey State Aquarium is planning to break ground on a $33.6-million expansion in late summer of 2003. Designed by Columbus, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates, the $33.6-million project will expand the Camden aquarium by 72,000 sf; retail, entertainment, and restaurants will also be constructed. Including surrounding development, the total project cost could reach $44-million. Steiner + Associates will be responsible for the operation of the expanded aquarium, which will include a new shark tank and hippopotamus area.

Virtua Memorial Hospital Burlington County has completed the $770,000 renovation of its low-risk cardiac catheterization laboratory, including the installation of new imaging technology.

Waveset Technologies, a supplier of secure identity management software, has relocated its headquarters from 10,000 sf to 16,000 sf in Austin. The move expands the firm’s space by over fifty percent and includes a visitor demonstration and training center.

The $4-million Central Texas Technology Center, now under construction in New Braunfels, Texas, is slated for completion in March 2004. The center will provide vocational and technical training programs including welding technologies, allied construction trades, industrial manufacturing, computer technology, automotive mechanics, and nursing. Funding for the center is being supplied by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, the Lower Colorado River Authority, and the New Braunfels and Sequin economic development corporations.