An engineering firm from Topeka became in March the first tenant at west Lawrence’s massive Wakarusa Corporate Centre.

Hoss & Brown Engineers Inc. moved its corporate headquarters to the business park near 18th Street and Wakarusa Drive, bringing about 10 jobs that pay an average of $50,000 a year. It had been in Topeka for 51 years.

“The main reason we’re moving is we have found it extremely difficult to hire the type of people we’re looking to hire here in Topeka,” said Pete Laughlin, Hoss & Brown president. “I’m not trying to say anything negative about Topeka, because it is a great place to live and raise a family, but it just doesn’t offer a lot to the 20-year-olds who are graduating from college.”

Lawrence’s college-town atmosphere and proximity to Kansas City should improve the company’s recruiting efforts, he said.

“We’ve had recruiting agencies say, ‘Lo and behold, you might be able to do a little better in Lawrence,’ and we’ve heard that a couple of times when we were interviewing people,” Laughlin said. “We had applicants tell us they wished we were in Lawrence.”

The company employs nine people. Laughlin said the company expected the office to grow to 15 or 17 employees within the next five years.

“We have some very good niche markets,” Laughlin said. “We can’t take care of all the demand we have right now because we don’t have enough people.”

The company, which also has a Kansas City office that employs 15 people, specializes in mechanical and electrical engineering for large projects such as schools, hospitals, retirement communities and office buildings.

Greg DiVilbiss, a partner with the development company that owns Wakarusa Corporate Centre, said the engineering company would fit well with the high-tech and life sciences firms the development is trying to attract.

“We want to be the home to the high-paying jobs Lawrence is looking for, so this fits in well with that,” DiVilbiss said.

The company will occupy only 3,400 square feet of the 55,000-square-foot building at the site.

In the wake of a poor economy and corporate scandals, DiVilbiss said he was thrilled the development landed its first tenant.