Students from Millikin University's Innovation Lab are engaging in a project that could help small businesses in the local community. The students are studying the possibility of creating a co-working space in Decatur, Ill., which would provide a flexible area for entrepreneurs and business owners to work together.
The students held a conceptual open house at the Barnes Citizen Building in downtown Decatur on Monday, Dec. 5. The open house featured an image of what the concept could look like if developed, allowing visitors to compare a large open space of what previously was a bank on the first floor with a more traditional office setting on the fourth floor of the building.
Co-working spaces are more than just common office spaces, they can be instruments of change bringing diverse community resources together to invigorate and engage an entrepreneurial ecosystem. The open house gave the public the opportunity to contribute to a growing conversation and imagination process about a local co-working space for everyone from small entrepreneurs to large corporate innovation groups.
"The first floor has an openness for customers coming in off the street," said Aric Hopp, a senior entrepreneurship major from Lincoln, Ill. "The fourth floor has an amazing view looking out."
Co-working spaces have been most successful in urban centers, surrounded by other stores, restaurants and offices, said Julie Shields, director of Millikin's Center for Entrepreneurship.
Click here to read more about the project in an article from the Herald & Review.
