Several county businesses are on that edge, according to Greg Sherlock, vice-president of media and communications for the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce, which highlighted the businesses in their January review magazine.

Barnabus Innovations in Warren uses a process Sherlock called "quick time" virtual reality.

"They take pictures from all different angles of a product, for example a piece of furniture from Sheely’s furniture, and with this process, can give a 360 degree view of it for the business’ Web page," he said.

According to the review, whole inventories of stock can appear in the "flesh" to be viewed by potential customers.

Two other cutting-edge businesses that share a similar technology are Nick Strimbu Inc., a trucking firm, and Yankee Run Golf Course, both in Brookfield.

Both are using satellite tracking technology to keep a virtual eye on their wheels.

Strimbu has 15 brand new Freightliner Columbia tractors that enable the company to keep track of trucks 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.

According to the review, Yankee Run uses the same technology to track golf carts on the course.

Both the carts and the trucks are equipped to contact their home bases instantaneously for help and can receive mapping instructions to the 18th hole or a loading dock in Peoria.

Delphi Automotive Systems, which has all but one of their nine Ohio plants in Trumbull County, employs 7,200 people and specializes in electronic components, most of them used in vehicles.

One of the main focal points of the Ohio facilities’ -- with its relatively new Component and Systems Evaluation Test Center -- is testing components to get an accurate idea of their performance and to develop new ideas.

The components tested are terminals, connectors, cables, sensors, switches and electronic modules, and they are tested in a variety of ways, including temperature extremes, humidity, vibration, and mechanical shock.

"We now have at this one site more than 2,000 pieces of testing equipment that enable us to run more than 4,000 types of tests," Delphi assistant staff engineer Anthony Mickholtzick said.

Kent State University’s Trumbull Campus in Champion is doing their best to keep their students on tech edge with a new Technology Center and Workforce Development Center.

The center offers students a chance to learn about the latest technology and the second center teaches students how to use that knowledge in business and industry, according to the chamber’s review magazine.

For more information, check out the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber’s Web site at www. regionalchamber.com