Turbine Flats Project Provides Collaborative Atmosphere for Entrepreneurs

Several years ago, a group of startups renting an older building in Lincoln, Nebraska had to vacate when the roof started falling in.

But they wanted to continue the collaborative relationship they had developed naturally as young businesses facing similar struggles while working in close proximity.

They found an abandoned warehouse that could be renovated on Y Street near the eastern edge of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Matthew Wegener, President and CEO of ISoft Data Systems and his wife, Donna Gould, purchased the building in 2007. Members of the businesses who had been part of the collaborative group and other associates formed a nonprofit organization, the Turbine Flats Project, to guide their desire to create a supportive entrepreneurial environment.

Turbine Flats renovated 11,000 square feet of space that opened in January of 2008. Wegener’s ISoft Data Systems and two other businesses from the original group, Allied Strategy and Professional Environmental Solutions, moved in. Four months later the renovated space was full.

The building has a spare, architectural feel, with large windows that let in natural light. The office space has no interconnected suites with rooms where employees from a company can “hide” from the rest of the building, Wegener said. The hallways are wide.

“We call it forced collaboration,” Wegener said.

The layout includes shared conference rooms and areas stocked with sofas for casual conversations. The shared areas, along with utilities and high-speed Internet, are part of the rent, which covers most basics except for telephone service.

Besides the collaboration that arises naturally from stopping to talk in the hallway or chatting on a couch, Turbine Flats has monthly lunch meetings where tenants can discuss business issues and get feedback from the others.

Turbine Flats expansion rendering

One company might want to hear others’ experiences with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) providers, which some use over the building’s Internet to handle telephone needs. The group might discuss health insurance or retirement packages. These discussions and experience-based recommendations can save business owners time they might otherwise have spent researching and comparing options.

This peer-to-peer sharing is one of Turbine Flats’ benefits, Wegener said.

“It’s hard to put a value on it, because I didn’t introduce somebody to an investor or a key customer that’s tripled somebody’s growth,” he said. “That’s not what we are adding to each other. We are providing more of a familial-type infrastructure.”

The variety of businesses in Turbine Flats adds to its creative atmosphere, Wegener said. A fine furniture and cabinetry master craftsman uses the building’s workshop space while other current tenants are software developers, marketing and creative people, market researchers, environmental service providers and a lawyer.

“It’s not just people like you, it’s a diverse group that brings different ideas to the table,” he said.

In prospective tenants, Turbine Flats look for companies that generate more than 50 percent of their revenue from outside Lincoln, Wegener said. The organization wants to be known for its economic impact to Lincoln, he said. Tenants who don’t meet that priority criterion might provide a service that can benefit other tenants, like marketing or call center services.

Tenants somewhat self-select, he said.

“A lot of it is because we are not a top-down incubator. We’re an idea community. That in itself is a bit of a selection process. Because the environment here is a lot more casual than maybe a more conservative business would find attractive,” he said.

The casual atmosphere, however, is part of the draw for the tenants Turbine Flats attracts.

“Our employees are not just making salary decisions, they are making lifestyle decisions,” said Colby Thomson, CEO of Allied Strategy. Thomson is also co-founder of Turbine Flats and vice president of its board of directors. Employees his business wants to attract might also consider working for employers like Google that are known for offering fun and casual work environments, he said.

“They want to work someplace cool,” Thomson said.

Thomson said he appreciates the atmosphere himself when his late evening work is accompanied by music from one of the bands who practice in the building.

“Instead of feeling lonely or by myself out there, I just hear music reverberating through the walls,” he said.

And weekends or evenings it’s not uncommon to find tenants playing the music video game “Rock Band” together or breaking for hacky sack or frisbee.

Aaron Petersen, owner/creative director of PLAY Creative, “Where Ideas Take Flight!” Marketing and Design studio, said renting at Turbine Flats helps keep PLAY Creative’s overhead low. Turbine Flats also allowed PLAY Creative to build a workspace deck with a miniature jungle gym that fits the theme of the business name.

Petersen said they’ve been working to expand their out-of-state market and have received valuable feedback from other businesses in Turbine Flats with experience in out-of-state sales.

“It’s good. Everybody helps everybody,” Petersen said.

The currently renovated space is full, except for one spot Turbine Flats would like a coffee shop to occupy. Turbine Flats is putting together financing for a second phase build-out of 16,000 square feet.

Wegener said the businesses in the building have done well so far.

“Across the board our businesses in here have a collective revenue growth of over 100% and to date 100% survival rate,” he said.

Businesses in the building have created 13 new jobs since 2008, he said.