Diebold came to Canton in 1872 to make bank vaults. It set up R&D and other operations in southern Summit County, and (nope. It’s been up in Green even though it uses Green’s north canton mailing address) last spring began a search for a place in the region to consolidate and build its world headquarters. 

Now it’s signed a deal to buy 55 acre off I-77 near the Akron-Canton Airport.

Diebold’s Mike Jacobsen says Canton and others made their own bids for the headquarters. But they also supported the package put together by the southern Summit County city of Green to ensure Diebold stayed in the area.

He says that kind of regional cooperation is one reason why the company is staying.  “The way the jurisdictions approached us was very positive in fact that: ‘OK, we’d love to have you, but it’s more important that you’re in the area here.  That was a really telling piece for us as we went through this process.”

The new headquarters is expected to cost about 100 million dollars. Diebold is getting an incentive package that includes more than 50 million dollars in loans, grants and tax incentives from the state.

The deal won’t be finalized until environmental and land studies are done, and Green City Council, local schools and other governments sign off.