New co-working sites aim to foster innovation

New co-working centers in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are being developed to provide climates well suited for innovation

A open house is planned  for The Vault, a new co-working site on the sixth floor of the Guaranty Bank & Trust Building, during  the August 6 Downtown Farmers Market. It will be a shared work environment in a portion of the space that currently houses Corridor CoWorks, the first co-working site that opened in Cedar Rapids in early 2009.

The Vault will be a joint venture between Corridor CoWorks owner Theresa Bornbach, Andy Stoll of Cedar Rapids and Amanda Styron of Cedar Rapids. Bornbach said little demand for open cubicle space in the Corridor CoWorks, but Stoll and Styron have  the connections and ideas to create an entrepreneurial community in the space.

"I couldn't have asked for better partners to get this moving," said Bornbach, who had to divert her attention from marketing Corridor CoWorks shortly after it opened to a different business that administered flood recovery grants.

Iowa City Area Development plans toopen  a new co-working facility, CoLab,  in Iowa City operation in about two months, according to Joe Raso, president of the economic development group. He said the facility will be unique in combining both staff offices of the economic development agency and work space for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

The ICAD staff on site will be able to help entrepreneurs make connections and get access to resources they need to plan, grow and expand their businesses, Raso said. Final plans for the coworking site will be announced after final financing details are worked through, Raso said.

Co-working is a work style that brings together individuals from different businesses, occupations and backgrounds in a shared work space.

The Iowa City and Cedar Rapids co-working sites will cooperate to allow their members to use each others' facilities, according to Raso, Stoll and Bornbach.

"We want people to cross-pollinate and learn about the business environment in both locations," Bornbach said.

Corridor CoWorks will continue to operate in a portion of its current space on the sixth floor of the Guaranty Bank & Trust building that will not be used by The Vault. Bornbach opened a second co-working center, The Business Exchange Center, early this year in the Witwer building. She said most of the demand for space at Corridor CoWorks until now has been for more traditional office space.

"Everybody wants a door and a window," she said, explaining that most members simply like the convenience of being able to lock the door behind the when they leave and not have to take their laptop computer and other equipment with them.

The Vault will try to be more attuned to the needs of members who  use open space. One security method planned is to provide lockable file drawers that can be rolled into a secure room for storage when the member leaves.

There's  nothing new about allowing members of other coworking sites to use cubicle space at a coworking facility, Bornbach said. Corridor CoWorks already belongs to CoworkingVisa,  a collaborative project to provide space for visiting members of other co-working facilities around the country.

"We have had a couple people come from Des Moines and a couple of people from Chicago," Bornbach said. "When they see our site, they say it's top notch, which makes us feel good."

The arrangement is fairly informal, Bornbach said. "We don't give them free coffee or provide them with parking," Bornbach said. "They're just taking up the chairs nobody is using anyway."

Eventually, Bornbach said it's possible some kind of  fee structure may develop for the program in which visiting coworkers could receive more services.

Stoll and Styron are the founders of SeedHere, a startup which recently sponsored the Cowtown to Boomtown conference in Iowa City in Cedar Rapids. SeedHere is dedicated to fostering an innovation economy in the region, and bringing people together in the coworking facility is part of the same goal.

"Innovation doesn't occur in a vacuum," Stoll said.

Stoll and Styron approach the task of building a creative network with a good background. They were among the founders of a Iowa City community-building organization, The James Gang, and have participated and spoken at many creative economy events. Styron worked on the staff of Richard Florida, whose book "Rise of the Creative Class," became essential reading for economic development and city leaders hoping to make their communities competitive in the global economy.

Stoll widened his understanding of social networks during more than four years of intensive global travel between 2006 and 2011. He returned to Cedar Rapids, he said, because he could see in it all the elements needed to build a creative economy.

Raso, of ICAD, said he expects the coworking facilities to create synergies rather than competing . He said ICAD doesn't expect its CoLab to be exclusively for startups, but for all kinds of small businesses that could benefit.

ICAD has hosted about nine one-day events called jellies that bring together creative entrepreneurs for one day to share ideas and work on projects. ICAD spokesman Eric Hanson said through group has learned some things from the jellies about what works and what doesn't, but adds co-working sites tend to "develop their own unique culture."

The project has taken longer than expected to reach fruition, Hanson said, partly because of the difficulty of finding a suitable site and developing a business plan around it. He said ICAD has been advised to plan for rapid growth, and it's possible two sites will eventually be needed.