Hyland Software keeps expanding; new campus; workforce grew 30% in '08 to 851 jobs; adding 145 jobs in '09

1/7/2009 1

Northeast Ohio's largest software company just keeps growing. Hyland Software Inc. is buying most of Nordson Corp.'s 25-acre campus on Clemens Road in Westlake. The software company, based just down the street, bought Nordson's headquarters building and nearly 17 acres for $7.5 million. The sale closed Dec. 30.

Another purchase, of 3.25 acres of the Nordson property for $1.4 million, is imminent.

Nordson, a manufacturer, is keeping 5 acres and will use the second floor of the building until the company makes plans for new headquarters.

Last year, Hyland's work force grew by nearly 30 percent, reaching 851 employees and surpassing the company's projections.   More than 700 of those employees work at the Westlake headquarters, a 16-acre campus with a 138,000-square-foot building featuring a day-care center, a barbershop and a diner.

"We're growing rapidly, as you can see in the head count," said Chris Hyland, the company's chief financial officer.

Hyland said the company has not been hampered by the recession and has budgeted to hire 145 more people this year.

"We're not a big borrower," he said. "We're a profitable business. We do see some customers who have challenges, but our software helps them with those challenges."

Hyland develops and sells OnBase software packages, which allow companies to move and store documents and manage data electronically. The software is designed to help businesses cut the time and money they spend on processes such as sending and filing documents.

Many of Hyland's 7,500-plus customers are in health care, government, insurance, higher education and financial services.

The software company has seen double-digit revenue growth during the past few years, Hyland said. He declined to provide figures for 2008 but said the company's revenues probably grew again by double digits, "in the teens, probably, at minimum."

Buying Nordson's property gives Hyland plenty of room to support aggressive expansion plans.

Nordson will keep using the second floor of its 68,000-square-foot building while considering where to move. The manufacturer, which makes equipment to apply adhesives, sealants and coatings, has 4,100 worldwide employees - roughly 90 of whom work at the headquarters.

Some of these employees will shift to the second floor of the Westlake campus, while others will move to Nordson's offices in Amherst, said spokesman Jim Jaye. The company was left with too much room in Westlake after gradually moving laboratories to other locations, including Amherst.

But Jaye said the publicly traded company plans to stay in the Westlake area and could lease office space. Or the company could build a new home on its remaining 5 acres of the Clemens Road property.

Nordson expects to make a decision on its headquarters by mid-2010, Jaye said.

Hyland will keep its current headquarters and gradually fill in the Nordson building. The two buildings could hold 1,200 employees, Hyland estimated.

At the rate Hyland is growing, the company could reach that number in a few years.

"We could probably get about 3,000 people in Westlake," Hyland said, "if we built out the whole property."

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