MetaSpring didn't just move because its old space was too small and the start-up was growing too big. The Ann Arbor-based firm needed a space that represented its creative personality.
"We really wanted to define ourselves with our space," says John Paul Narowski, strategic marketing director for MetaSpring.
So the web-development-and-marketing firm moved out of its subleased corner of SpamStopsHere's office and set up shop in 2,000 square feet near Briarwood Mall. About one third of that building was office-space and the rest was warehouse. MetaSpring built the rest of it out in chic loft-style office space, decked out in bright colors and creative spaces.
That is expected to give the company space for is burgeoning growth. MetaSpring (Meta is programmer jargon for fancy code and spring is a reference to a river or brook) started with four people in 1999. Today it employs seven people, two interns and an independent contractor. Two employees and two interns were brought on within the last year.
"We have been expanding at a pretty consistent rate," Narowski says.
It plans to develop internal software this year that it expects to turn into software as a service product. That would allow the firm to diversify into both a consulting and subscription-as-a-service model. MetaSpring plans to use that as a launching pad for hiring 3-4 more people (programmers and designers) within the next year.
Source: John Paul Narowski, strategic marketing director for MetaSpring
Writer: Jon Zemke
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