After 18 months of trying to work out a deal, the man behind Auto Parkit says he's moving on with plans to park his business at a different site in the city of Warren.

"We are coming here and we are going to create something great in the city of Warren," Christopher Alan said, founder and CEO of the California-based manufacturer.

Alan invested more than $1.5 million into the former Dephi plant on Dana Street before he says he and the owner of the property could not come to terms of agreement on a sale. 

The California-based manufacturer moved into the former General Electric building across the street instead. Alan purchased the building from GE, which dates back to at least 1908, and four acres across the street near the railway system. Alan says having access to the rail system is essentially in keeping shipping costs down.

The GE building gives Auto Parkit a place to begin operations with small fabrication, basic testing of individual components and some assembly of equipment. 

"We've already hired almost 20 people, it will be two dozen people here before the end of the year and then it will start increasing exponentially," he said.

Jobs in the way of suppliers could also bode well for Trumbull County. Alan says he's engaged with a number of local companies to make products for them that will be sold out of Auto Parkit's other locations including California.

Flex Strut, Bloom Industries, Star Fabrication, Northwest Hydraulic are among some of the suppliers he's brought on board.

The next steps in expanding Auto Parkit's Warren footprint include possibly building on the property on Dana Street across from the GE building and finding another property similar to the former Dephi plant that can house significant manufacturing operations.