Once upon a time there were two women who saw an opportunity and jumped in with both feet.  Through hard work, long hours, continuous learning, and family support, Kathie and Lisa grew that opportunity into a “real” company.   I was lucky enough to be in at the beginning to watch the transformation.  2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of SPACE, Inc., and we’ve come a long way, baby!

In 1995 SPACE opened its doors on a showroom that was cement floors, unfinished drywall, two computers, and a typewriter.  With only three of us on board, we all wore many hats.  Kathie was salesperson, spokesperson, and negotiator; Lisa was salesperson, designer, benefits manager; I was receptionist, order entry, accountant, warehouse manager.  The original office furniture consisted of card tables, cardboard files, and no walls. 

After a few months Lisa had designed a beautiful showroom and we actually had real offices.    Orders, delivery tickets, and invoices were typed up on the typewriter until we got Team Design.  Accounting was a manual exercise up to that point, too.   When we first had computers, they weren’t networked, so we shared documents by swapping floppy disks back and forth.

Within the first year, 2 more people were hired and SPACE was on its way.  In the second year, SPACE opened another location in Flint.  In subsequent years we expanded the office, added account managers, designers, support staff, and brought install in-house.  Part of the warehouse was closed in to add a sales/design area to the existing office.  That created a second floor that  was and is used as a conference room.   When the second tenant in the building vacated the premises, SPACE took over the whole facility, doubling the warehouse space and adding much-needed office space.

While all this was going on, SPACE became one of Michigan’s “50 Companies To Watch,” the staff grew to 30, and technology bloomed.  Due to the diligence and opportunistic eye of Stacy, our New Business Development guru, SPACE acquired a GSA contract and a BPA with the Department of Health and Human Services.  That put SPACE in the national arena.

At our team meeting in March, Kathie and Lisa were presented with a birthday cake and blew out the 15 candle to the applause of the staff.  We didn’t sing “Happy Birthday”, but we hope there are many more!