Room to work

COEUR d'ALENE - Today it looks like a dungeon full of clutter, but soon the basement of the Sherman Mall will be a new co-work space for technology-based startup companies.

About 100 people came Thursday morning to help members of the Innovation Collective clean the new co-work space, which will be designed to help startup tech companies find the resources they need to be successful. The space will be called "IC:Work."

"We have a good lease on the space, and we have a real good relationship with our landlord," said Nick Smoot, one of the founders of the Innovation Collective.

Smoot said volunteers hauled away dozens of truckloads of clutter Thursday and there are still tons of things people might want.

While there was no proverbial kitchen sink, there are at least four bathroom sinks in the basement. There are toilets, fluorescent lights, Christmas lights, file cabinets, a steel desk, an old couch, tons of scrap lumber and other building supplies.

"The landlord wanted it out of here, and we wanted the space, so we are just getting rid of it all," Smoot said. "It was a win all the way around."

Smoot said the group will be in the basement at 410 Sherman Ave. at 9 a.m. today and anyone who wants to take a look at the stuff is welcome - even if they just want to help haul it to the dump.

"If someone is looking for co-work space, they could come down here and we could work out some sweat equity," he said, adding he hopes to have the clutter cleared by this evening.

Once the space is cleaned out, the University of Idaho design students will come in and help with an interior design for the space, but Smoot said they have some plans already.

"It's kind of a windowless urban feel," he said. "It's New York, it's LA, it's SF lofts and now it's downtown Coeur d'Alene."

Smoot said there will be room for 40 or 50 people to work in the space, and small office areas will be built with re-purposed shipping pallets for walls.

"We also have fiber coming," he said, adding they will have some of the fastest Internet connections in Coeur d'Alene.

"This is a community space," said Ryan Arnold, another co-founder of the Innovation Collective.

Arnold said he looked at starting a co-work space in Coeur d'Alene about three years ago, but the timing wasn't right back then.

"Now I have come full-circle," he said. "We have really been pushing to get stuff done. It's a love that we have, and we needed a home."

Smoot said he has several entrepreneurs already wanting some space, but there is plenty of room for more. They will have shared spaces and private spaces available. Lease rates will be flexible enough to help companies get off the ground.

"We aren't doing this to make a profit," Smoot said. "We just want to cover our costs."

In fact, on Thursday, Smoot was helping connect a young entrepreneur with the experts he needs to get his company started.

"He is 3D-printing carbon fiber out of his garage right now. He even has his patents," Smoot said. "Those are the people who are already here in Coeur d'Alene, but we have never had a place to help organize them."

Smoot said his goal is to eventually move 2,000 people a year through the space.