CoCo Minneapolis and Project Skyway to open in Grain Exchange

Without further ado, we’re delighted to invite you to join us and Project Skyway in Minneapolis on the Trading Floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. This historic space was built in 1903 to house the economic engine that built this region. Now, it is being re-purposed to house our next economy!

Below the picture is the official press release about our new Minneapolis location. We also have a version for the news media.

We’ll be updating this site quite a bit over the coming weeks, especially as we have detailed space designs, images and video to post. Meanwhile, you can get some more information about our Minneapolis space here:

• Visit our Minneapolis location page
• Learn about our Individual and Group memberships
• Learn about our Meeting and Event spaces available for rent

Come see the space!
Over the coming weeks, you can visit the new CoCo. The floor itself is under construction, but we are able to show the space from the balcony. We will be on hand to discuss potential coworking, officing, meeting and event options. If you want to visit, just drop us an email to let us know when you’re coming. We’ll meet you in the lobby and bring you up! The dates are as follows:

• Friday, 5/27, 1 to 5 p.m.
• Every Wednesday, 6/1 thru 6/29, 1 to 5 p.m.

The historic Trading Floor of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange

CoCo is an alternative office space where freelance professionals, small businesses and corporate workgroups can work, meet and socialize in a creative setting. CoCo memberships include different work settings and meeting spaces, WiFi, printer/copier facilities and of course, lots of coffee. The result is a living community where entrepreneurs, knowledge workers, and innovators can share and work on their big ideas.

Project Skyway is Minnesota’s first tech accelerator program for motivated entrepreneurs. Twice a year, the program will help 10 early-stage tech companies to start smart by offering them seed money, resources and connections to entrepreneurs, mentors and investors.

“Creatively encouraging entrepreneurs is at the heart of our strategy for growing our region’s economy, and the CoCo/Project Skyway partnership is a prime example of the kind of creative thinking that will get the job done,” said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, whose office encouraged both groups to combine efforts in the Grain Exchange. “I’m pleased to welcome CoCo and Project Skyway to their new space in Minneapolis: entrepreneurs built our region in the 19th century, and their partnership will help a new generation of startups do the same in the 21st century.”

CoCo will take over the 16,000-square-foot trading floor of the Grain Exchange and will provide working and meeting space for Project Skyway’s twice-yearly classes of tech entrepreneurs. CoCo will also serve independent workers, small businesses and corporate work groups that are not associated with Project Skyway.

“We see CoCo as a diverse and creative community,” said CoCo co-founder Kyle Coolbroth. “We’re eager to host the energetic entrepreneurs from Project Skyway as well as other innovators from the region.”

CoCo will also host educational and social events for the region’s creative, technical and business communities. Later in the year, CoCo will begin to offer hosted and facilitated meetings geared toward innovation breakthroughs.

In addition to being Minnesota’s first tech accelerator, Project Skyway will also be the first accelerator program to locate within a coworking space. “The Grain Exchange is a historic location that served as the epicenter of trade for our region and helped build great Minnesota companies such as Cargill, Pillsbury and General Mills,” said Cem Erdem, founder of Project Skyway,and founder and CEO of the educational software company Augusoft. “We are now going to make it the hub for entrepreneurs to come together and exchange ideas and build the next-generation of great Minnesota companies. It is time to move from the Grain Exchange to the Brain Exchange.”

Additional facts:

• CoCo Minneapolis opens on July 5.
• Project Skyway is choosing 25 companies to go through a bootcamp weekend on June 10-12 that will be hosted by CoCo at its St. Paul location.
• Project Skyway will select 10 companies from these 25 to participate in its inaugural three-month class beginning in August at the new Minneapolis CoCo location.
• The Grain Exchange will be the second location for CoCo.
• CoCo opened its first location in Lowertown St. Paul in January 2010.
• CoCo bills itself as an alternative to working from home or the coffeeshop, attracting freelancers, entrepreneurs, consultants and home-office workers.
• CoCo is part of the global coworking movement. With more than 700 coworking spaces in the U.S., coworking is growing at more than 100% per year.