idt -- expansion
Biz Buzz: IDT celebrates five years in Newark by seeking more space
nj.com
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Five years ago this month, an upstart telecommunications company moved into the vacant, 20-story Mutual Benefit Life Insurance building in what was then a worn-down area of downtown Newark.
The tower, long one of the most prominent on city's skyline, had sat mostly empty since 1966, when the former insurance giant began a wave of layoffs. The decision by IDT to move 1,000 of its employees from Hackensack to the northern end of Broad Street planted an important commercial anchor in an area already transforming.
The building is next to Riverfront Stadium, which the minor-league Newark Bears had moved into a year prior, and just a short stroll from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. "It was a bit seedy, but we could see the potential," recalls Jim Courter, chief executive of IDT, which provides long-distance phone service and prepaid calling cards.
The lure of Newark was affordable rents, proximity to New York City and a 12-minute ride to Newark's international airport, Courter says. Since coming to Newark, the number of employees here has grown to more than 1,700.
Courter would like to add more. He says he has been talking to Newark Mayor Sharpe James about buying the building across the street, where the city's housing authority is located. If the deal gets done, Courter says IDT would probably add another 400 to 500 jobs in the city. |
