BOYERS — The Butler County commissioners want to keep the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the county after moving out its office space in the Iron Mountain mine. County Commissioner Leslie Osche, board chairman, said the county Community Development Corporation would be working with OPM to find a site in the county for the relocation.

“We don't want to see OPM leave the county if we can help it,” Osche said.

She said the county also would be working with Congressman Mike Kelly's office on trying to keep the federal agency in the county.

According to OPM, the pending relocation from the underground storage facility off Branchton Road is necessitated by space needs.

OPM occupies more than 400,000 square feet via six leases.

Roughly 1,200 federal employees, 580 of whom are county residents, and 800 contractors work there.

OPM, in conjunction with the U.S. General Services Administration and industry experts, determined the optimum long-term housing solution was to construct an above-ground facility.

According to the OPM website, they are seeking a new site in Butler, Beaver or Lawrence counties to maintain the current workforce and minimize operational disruption.

The GSA will be working with development groups in the three counties to find a site.

As of this morning, OPM still had not yet addressed inquiries about the potential size of the new building and any other factors contributing to the relocation.

In March, Iron Mountain had roughly 2,000 clients at the Boyers site.

Iron Mountain declined to answer questions about whether it was seeking new tenants to replace OPM or confirm how many customers they have remaining.

“We wouldn't have any comment on this,” said Christian Potts, senior manager of Iron Mountain corporate communications.

The company is expanding the Boyers facility.