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Reprinted from:
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Rockpointe and West Deer court Management Science
By Ron DaParma

At the Rockpointe Business Airpark in West Deer Township, work is well under way on a 42,000-square-foot building that will house Management Science Associates Inc.'s new computer disaster recovery center.

The facility, which will provide emergency backup protection for companies' computer databases, represents a substantial investment by the Pittsburgh-based company at Rockpointe.

However, developers of the 270-acre park business park, as well as community officials in West Deer, are hoping for more good news from the fast-growing firm in the near future.

Namely, they still hope to convince the company that the northern Allegheny County complex is just the right place for MSA to build a new headquarters.

"We are pleased to have MSA's first, 42,000 square-foot-building and are continuing in negotiations for additional buildings for MSA at the site," said David McMaster, vice president and general counsel for Rockpointe. He declined to elaborate further.

However, officials in West Deer said Management Science representatives have shown them preliminary plans for at least two additional buildings. One would be about the same size as the building already under construction. But the other would be one a much larger facility, a four-story, 166,000 square-foot structure, that apparently could house the company's offices.

But MSA, for its part, says its not ready to announce any move of its headquarters or other operations.

The company, which develops and provides computer-based analytic services and software information-based systems for a variety of companies, in the past has acknowledged it has become increasingly cramped for space at its existing headquarters facility, the Eichlay Building, in the Point Breeze section of Pittsburgh.

However, Rich Heaton, a company spokesman, said MSA recently extended its lease at its existing site. He also noted the company occupies additional leased space in the Four Allegheny Center Building, the former IBM Building, on Pittsburgh's North Side. About 190 of its 800 employees are based there.

In addition, it also has a number of employees based at another facility, located on Kenneth Drive in Gibsonia.

"There is really nothing new," Heaton said. "We have made it no secret we have been looking around for more space, but relocation is only one possible solution."

In addition to Rockpointe, Heaton said the company also has had discussions with officials in the city of Pittsburgh, as well as the state and Allegheny County, as it has weighed its space options.

"But we are not committed to anything new at this time," Heaton added.

Nonetheless, officials in West Deer and at Rockpointe still have hope of landing a further commitment from the company.

In that regard, township officials recently approved a conditional use for Rockpointe that changes the zoning from strictly industrial to a business and technology park, according to Gary Bogan, zoning officer. That change will permit office buildings at the complex.

"This has nothing to do specifically with Management Science Associates, but it could have an effect on what MSA does," Bogan said.

Bronco Brnardic, a member of the West Deer Planning Commission, said he expects some additional word from the company soon.

"They gave us an initial rendering of what the larger building would look like and discussed the number of employees, but nothing has been approved in the way of a site plan," Brnardic said in a recent interview. "But we hope to hear something by the end of the year."

One of the potential benefits Rockpointe has to offer companies locating there is its designation as a state Keystone Opportunity Zone. In fact, when MSA first announced plans for its computer disaster recovery center last year, it said one of the reasons it was attracted to Rockpointe was the state program, which grants an exemption from state and local taxes for up to 12 years.