While Cuyahoga County communities have an agreement to not poach companies from each other, the county lured a company from Akron.

The county offered a forgivable $480,000 loan to 7signal Solutions Inc., a software development company that provides Wi-Fi performance management solutions to medium and large enterprises, healthcare organizations, as well as colleges and universities.

The company, which began as a startup in Akron in 2011, will relocate its world headquarters to Independence, which is providing a $200,000 relocation and job creation grant, the county said.

The company estimates its growth will help create 48 jobs and $4.8 million payroll by the end of 2019.

“We’re all about jobs, and this move will bring 48 high paying jobs with prospects to grow even more,” county Executive Armond Budish said in a press release. “The County is extremely pleased to be a key player in assisting the relocation of such an innovative, global software development company into Cuyahoga County.”

The Cuyahoga County Department of Development negotiated a $480,000 Cuyahoga County Business Attraction Forgivable Loan for the company to relocate.

The loan is a key component in mitigating components of the company’s moving and scale-up costs, which include company investment in new hardware and software platform upgrades, IT infrastructure, external outsourcing costs, and office space improvements, the county said.

The county’s loan will be forgivable only if the company creates 48 jobs having average annual salaries of at least $100,000 and the jobs remain more than seven years.

“The 7signal negotiations reflect the County’s focus on attracting high growth companies in targeted industries like technology and healthcare to this community,” Ted Carter, the county’s chief development officer said in a statement.

All 59 Cuyahoga County communities signed former County Executive Ed FitzGerald’s “Business Attraction and Anti-Poaching Protocol.” Launched in September 2011, the protocol asks communities to step up their economic development efforts, agree not to lure companies that have not expressed a desire to move, and give notice to a home community if an intra-county move is contemplated.

Read the full story at Cleveland.com.