The site of many of the city’s new commercial ideas, East Market Street is now home to an innovative work environment tailored to self-employed young professionals. Located amid the street’s galleries, boutiques and restaurants, JumpDesk (636 E. Market, www.jumpdesk.com) is the brainchild of sisters Rebecca and Jennifer Simpson and Cincinnati-based entrepreneur Chad Worz. The converted former apartment offers the benefits of a large office — fax machine, copier, a conference room, wireless internet, technological support — for the smallest businesses, those with one employee. For $200 a month, JumpDesk tenants get a desk in a shared office (usually three desks to a room) and access to the amenities. Corrugated steel panels divide the spaces and give the rooms a contemporary, urban look.
The owners, however, believe that the space will offer more than office equipment and a place to park your laptop. "We knew a lot of people who worked from home who were looking for a more collaborative environment," says Rebecca Simpson, 29, who also runs a small public-relations firm. "Working at home can be isolating, and a lot of our tenants have clients downtown," she says. JumpDesk users, she believes, will swap information and contacts and be able to trade ideas. Several current tenants work in overlapping fields, including advertising and design.
In addition to the professional atmosphere of the shared second-floor office, the Simpsons are opening a coffee and wine bar on the ground-floor space, which will be open to the public and offer tenants a place to take a break or have informal meetings with clients. Jenicca’s, as the cafe will be called ("both our names smooshed together," Rebecca says), will also have art and music after hours to cater to downtown residents and nightlife seekers.
— Alan G. Brake
