A Finnish startup company that specializes in wireless technology for the health-care industry is locating its U.S. headquarters in Akron.
The company, 7signal, already has office space in the Akron Global Business Accelerator at Canal Place off South Main Street. It has been demonstrating its technology the past four months at Akron Children's and Akron General hospitals.
The company in the next couple of months expects to have six to 10 jobs here that will include a mix of local hires as well as people from Finland, and then add 10 to 20 jobs over the next two to three years, said Jukka-Pekka Sarkka, 7signal's chief executive officer. The company intends to grow in the region while also seeing the entire United States as its market.
The announcement came during a news conference Wednesday at Akron City Hall.
''I first came to Akron the first week in December last year, six months ago. Now we're here,'' Sarkka said. 7signal was founded in 2006 in Helsinki by former executives of the Finland-based mobile telephone giant Nokia.
''We have aligned ourselves with the hospitals to be able to create more opportunities for companies to come here. And obviously the primary goal is to add more employment opportunities, jobs, here for our citizens,'' Mayor Don Plusquellic said.
The company is coming to the Akron incubator as a result of the BioFinland Technology Bridge Program announced in April 2010 as part of a collaboration between Akron and Helsinki. The two cities have organized mutual trade missions, including a trip to Helsinki that included Plusquellic.
''This is the first of the companies that will be locating here as a result of that trip,'' Plusquellic said.
''I have to constantly remind people . . .It is the very reason we have been building these relationships,'' Plusquellic said. ''This is a competitive world that we live in. And jobs aren't all going to be developed here in Akron, even though 80-something percent of the businesses in our accelerator are home grown.''
7signal will become part of Akron's planned biomedical corridor.
Plusquellic noted the criticism he has received from some quarters, including local bloggers, about the overseas trade missions that have included him. He strongly defended the trips, saying their goals include recruiting businesses and jobs to Akron and growing them here, he said.
He described as ''total freaking idiots'' those people who criticize the small number of jobs some of the recruited businesses have.
''We start with a small company that starts an operation. Do they really think that we are going to bring 3,000 jobs here all in one fell swoop?'' Plusquellic said. ''Every job in today's economy is important to fight for.''
7signal's technology makes wireless communications connect easily and operate more reliably inside buildings such as hospitals. The technology works with existing wireless networks, meaning that hospitals will not have to replace their current hardware, Sarkka said.
That's important as doctors, nurses and other hospital staff rely more and more on such things as smartphones to receive information and to communicate with others, the hospital representatives at the news conference said. The 7signal technology allows them to monitor networks and ''tune'' it so that wireless devices don't drop their connections, they said.
Tom Ogg, chief information officer for Akron Children's Hospital, said hospitals need a clear view of what is happening within the wireless networks in their facilities.
''Like most other industries, and like all of us, we're all moving to mobile,'' Ogg said. ''The importance to the hospital, for mobile devices, and the ability to monitor them, continues to grow every year.''
Other technologies that Ogg said he has used don't provide what he calls ''an objective view'' of what is happening with the devices, he said.
Sarkka said the local business community and the hospitals made it possible for 7signal to locate here.
''The company originally had a strategy to come to the U.S., and we were looking for a couple of geographical areas,'' he said.
They liked the reception they received in Akron as well as the high quality of medical care and the related opportunities, Sarkka said.
''In six months from first visit to setting up a business in Akron. I think that's a true testimony to the community, how they are pulling together here,'' Sarkka said. ''Very important to a company like us.''
7signal hopes to aggressively grow, he said.
The 30 jobs in Akron that 7signal expects to have in two years likely will support an additional 90 to 100 jobs in the area, Sarkka said.
''It is really up to us to make this happen,'' Sarkka said. ''This will be the headquarters of 7signal.''
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
