Entrepreneurs Hope to Find Creative Haven in The Iceberg

A group of young entrepreneurs looking to support each other’s efforts and share resources has created a work space in downtown Fayetteville that’s designed to meet those needs.

Josh Clemence, who with Maurice Elliott co-founded the Northwest Arkansas Entrepreneurship Alliance in 2010, said that as they’ve seen the region’s entrepreneur community emerge, “the biggest question we were asked weekly was why can’t we have a facility that we can use every day, or how can we meet more regularly to support each other.”

The group that now boasts about 250 members found its answer in the coworking model that’s rapidly gaining attention worldwide.

Coworking is a concept that encompasses a flexible work environment offering a more professional setting than the coffee shops, libraries and other places where entrepreneurs, independent professionals and freelancers typically work.

“It’s something that’s really taken off in the last five years, although it’s been around a long time,” Clemence said. “Economic times being difficult and my generation being collaborative, it’s a natural solution.”

The alliance’s efforts will culminate Feb. 1 with the opening of The Iceberg, Clemence said.

“The Iceberg will provide for a high-energy hub of entrepreneurial camaraderie and knowledge sharing,” the alliance states on the website buildingicebergs.com.

Set in the basement of the Metro District Commercial Center at 509 W. Spring St., The Iceberg will initially take up 5,600 SF, with another 3,000 SF available for future expansion. Its amenities will include wireless and wired Internet access, presentation equipment and “office essentials such as a printer, scanner, fax and plenty of coffee.”

“Right now it’s just an open floor plan, strategically divided into four or five ‘environments,’ such as a coffee shop/lounge, workspace, conference room and resource library,” Clemence said. “It gives entrepreneurs the ability to work in whatever type environment suits them best.”

Tim Freeman, co-owner of a small startup company called Freeman+Zeck, has already purchased a membership at The Iceberg. He said he expects the four-person brand development agency to start out using the space about three days a week, but he’d like to eventually expand to full time.

Since the company formed in November 2010, the staff have worked out of their homes and area coffee shops, Freeman said.

The Iceberg will give them a place to meet with their clients, many of whom are from out of state.

“I think this one is a game-changer,” Freeman said. “I think in 20 years it will be seen as one of the most significant business developments in Northwest Arkansas ever.”

 

Global Trend

Emergent Research, a California-based research and consulting firm that focuses on small business, reports there are about 820 coworking facilities worldwide. About 350 of those are in the U.S.

After analyzing data last year for the First Global Coworking Survey conducted by Deskmag, an online magazine about coworking, Emergent found the average U.S. coworker “is young, male, well-educated, works in tech, lives close to his coworking facility and is quite satisfied with coworking.”

The survey drew responses from 661 participants in 24 countries and four continents.

Researchers were surprised to find that 8 percent of U.S. coworkers work for companies with more than 100 employees.

“This data reflects growing corporate awareness of coworking as a work option,” Emergent research assistant Carl King wrote in an article for Deskmag.

Emergent’s blog on coworking contains a May 24 post predicting the number of U.S. and global coworking facilities will substantially increase over the next five years, mainly due to “the recognition of coworking’s value as a driver of business acceleration, job creation and economic development.”

Carol Reeves, associate vice provost for entrepreneurship at the University of Arkansas, said the UA isn’t formally involved with The Iceberg, but the university’s office for research and economic development, where she works, wants to support its efforts and those of the alliance.

Her job entails encouraging the startup of businesses based on university research and promoting entrepreneurship and economic development statewide.

Reeves said she’s talked with some of her student groups about locating at The Iceberg when they get started.

“I think the whole culture in Northwest Arkansas around entrepreneurship has just gelled over the last few years, so I think it’s just a great time to start a business here,” she said. “We have a lot of young entrepreneurs just starting their careers, as well as professionals deciding to start a business.

“So I’m glad there’s something like The Iceberg around to give them a home to potentially get started.”

 

Launching The Iceberg

Clemence got the ball rolling for The Iceberg around September.

“I just got tired of hearing people talk and talk about it and not do anything about it,” he said. “I wrote a blog post on my blog and got a lot of support, so I took it to the alliance, which just got nonprofit status, and we started to put a plan together.”

About the same time, a project called Launching the ARK: Acceleration, Resources, Knowledge was awarded a $2.1 million federal grant to support information technology and job growth in Northwest Arkansas.

Project partners Winrock International, the UA and Northwest Arkansas Community College will host job accelerator “boot camps” designed to draw startup companies to the region.

“The ARK program worked out a two-year membership with The Iceberg with payment upfront,” Clemence said. “This agreement allowed for us to handle many of our startup costs.”

The alliance also found a landlord whose vision aligned with theirs, Clemence said, and in November, board members signed a two-year lease with building owner Brian Reindl.

Reindl, with his wife, Melissa, bought the building in 1999, paying $900,000 to the John Sugg Family Trust for the 73,000-SF mixed-use building and 1.91 acres. They gave the building a $2.5 million facelift in 2004.

On Nov. 29, Brian Reindl took out two building permits. One was valued at $8,000 for demolition and another at $642,000 for alterations.

The Iceberg got a major infusion of cash Jan. 17 with an anonymous donation of $10,000, Clemence said. It had previously received more than $55,000 in donations, memberships and the tenant agreement with the ARK, he said.

Multiple types of memberships are available. They start at $10 for a day pass, $100 a month for part-time access and $175 for round-the-clock access.

Clemence said The Iceberg currently has about 10 memberships that include members at each tier as well as organizational memberships. Its goal for the first year is to get 50 memberships across the spectrum of tiers.

It also has three sponsorship tiers of $5,000, $2,000 or $1,000, and will accept donations of any amount.

The projected “bare bones” operating overhead, including rent, is about $6,000 a month, he said.

“All staffing and work for The Iceberg is volunteer,” he said, “and every dollar donated, sponsored or gained through memberships is put back into the program in order to grow its resources and programs.”

A 2009 graduate of the UA’s Fay Jones School of Architecture, Clemence has used his training to design the space. He drew inspiration from other coworking centers around the country, especially Grind Spaces in New York.

Still, he said, The Iceberg will have its own identity.

“Each coworking space is a community,” Clemence said. “You have to foster that community. No two spaces are the same. It depends on the community.

“We’re also excited about its ability to shape itself as we grow this thing.”