“(Being downtown) fits very much with the culture of our company … Just to be consistent with the kind of talent that we’re trying to attract and the kind of culture that we’re trying to build, it makes sense to be in a downtown area, downtown Dayton, in a building like this,” said Upsourced Accounting owner Ryan Baker.
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Baker and Ryan Watson, who went to high school in Beavercreek together, also went to Ohio State University before opening their tech-focused accounting firm in Columbus. The firm now works with small businesses nationwide and hopes to work for downtown Dayton and other area companies.
Jennings was the company’s first Dayton-area employee, followed by a second that started work Monday. By the end of the year, Baker anticipates the office to have five employees and about 20 in five years.
Another startup in the space Gemini Studios, only employs owner Se’Aunna Watson Cunningham now, but she said she also plans to hire more photographers and filmakers to work in her space.
Benefits of the program include 15 hours of free marketing from Catapult Creative or Creative Fuse, 10 hours of free legal services from Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling, a stipend to help with startup costs and an initial six month lease that can be renewed in yearly increments.
"Doing the short- term lease , it definitely was beneficial to me because I got to see that my business can profit and I know now that I can expand ," Watson said.
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The program is designed to offer small businesses and startups an opportunity to find affordable office space while they grow, but it will also help aid downtown’s office vacancy issues.
Nearly 26 percent of office space is vacant downtown, according to research firm Colliers International. Only six other cities studied by the group had vacancy rates higher than 20 percent.
“One thousand to 2,000 square feet is not going to fix all of our vacant square footage overnight or anything, but it’s starting to make an impact and it’s an opportunity to show that you can have cool, updated, unique space in one of the towers,” said Jen Cadieux, business development manager of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
Film and television production and management company Physis Films also opened in the new space.
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