Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. is progressing with the approvals and support it needs to build a $37 million Center for Advanced Energy Technology in the city, on Mull Avenue near White Pond Drive.

That's going to mean some business for a local architectural firm, as well as one of the region's largest builders. And the project probably will help fill some hotel rooms in the area once the center is up and running.

FirstEnergy said it has selected Akron's Braun & Steidl Architects to design the 88,000-square-foot, single-story facility. It will be built by Fairlawn-based Welty Building Co., which has done work for FirstEnergy's West Akron Campus on adjacent White Pond Drive.

To move forward, the company needs approval from the city for a conditional-use permit to build the facility in a residentially zoned area. That said, the area is already full of businesses. In addition to FirstEnergy's campus, nearby is the city-owned White Pond Office Park, where the Sikich LLP accounting firm established its new office one year ago.

FirstEnergy got the first approval it needs on Jan. 19, when the Akron Planning Commission approved the company's request for a zoning variance, said FirstEnergy spokesman Doug Colafella.

Now it needs approval from City Council and the administration. Ellen Lander Nischt, the spokeswoman for Mayor Dan Horrigan, said legislation enabling the authorization is to be submitted to City Council on Monday, Jan. 29, with a public hearing set for Monday, Feb. 12. If council follows Horrigan's lead, approval seems likely.

"We are very supportive of this project and believe it will have a positive impact on both the neighborhood and the region in terms of economic development," Lander Nischt said in an email.

Once the company has its permit, things should proceed swiftly, according to FirstEnergy.

"We're anticipating a Feb. 26 approval, ahead of a March groundbreaking," Colafella said.

Assuming that happens, the facility should have a roof on it by December and will be occupied early in 2019, he said.

The company's need for the facility is growing, in part because its electrical grid is becoming "smarter," with more pieces of equipment able to talk to one another remotely, said FirstEnergy director of assets Dana Parshall. That also increased the need for cybersecurity, he said.

"Us installing new tech out in the field has really caused us to focus more on cybersecurity," Parshall said.

For instance, a year ago the company had fewer than 50 of its substations communicating with remote technicians and engineers. Today, it has about 200 of them connected, and the number continues to grow, Parshall said.

That's a trend that seems destined to continue, if not accelerate, as both FirstEnergy and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio recently have said that they want to see Ohio's electric grid become smarter and embrace more new technologies.

At the new tech center, FirstEnergy will conduct baseline testing of new equipment and prepare it for the field, develop cybersecurity tools and construct mock substations and other equipment for training its field technicians and other personnel, Parshall said.

The site is also going to be something that pulls in out-of-town employees. While about 20 FirstEnergy personnel will work there full-time, the facility is expected to have about 50 employees training there at any given time. They'll come from all over FirstEnergy's service area, which includes much of Northeast Ohio and parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Most people will be in town for about a week during their training programs, Parshall said.

Akron deputy mayor for economic development Sam DeShazior said he likes that the project brings or secures high-tech jobs in the city.

"The CAET center will fill an opportunity for market development in the future of advanced energy training and technology. It will bring professionals from around the nation to Akron to be trained in service dependability, which will improve service for electricity customers in Akron and across the nation," DeShazior said in an email provided by Lander Nischt.

As for funding the center, FirstEnergy likely will have little trouble. For one thing, the center is part of its profitable, regulated distribution utility, not its deregulated generation arm, FirstEnergy Solutions, which is widely believed to be headed toward bankruptcy as it fails to compete with new natural gas generation.

On top of that, FirstEnergy just received a $2.5 billion equity investment from a group of investment funds that support its strategy of growing its regulated business. And some of that investment can be used for general corporate expenses such as the tech center.