BROWNSTOWN — During a regular meeting of the Jackson County Council on Wednesday at the Jackson County Courthouse, a memorandum of understanding between the council and the Jackson County Chamber in regard to a potential Spark Jackson County co-working space was ironed out.

Under the memorandum, the council has a voting position on the Jackson County Chamber board of directors, which will govern the co-working space project.

The council approved the idea for a co-working space, contingent on the chamber allowing the council to have that voting position on the chamber board.

The idea for a co-working space was proposed to the council by Dan Robison, executive director of the Jackson County Chamber, who said he cannot speak for the chamber board but gave the council his reassurance the council will have a voting position on it.

“My ask today, and I ask it boldly to you, is that you allocate $1 million dollars of county ARPA funds to develop the infrastructure needed to fuel entrepreneurship and innovation in Jackson County,” Robison said. “Our plan is to establish a high-functioning co-working space in Seymour; a place for Jackson County residents to share resources and ideas; to connect with available business development tools and launch new healthy businesses to approve our overall quality of life and business landscape.”

The American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, is a result of federal legislation designed to aid the country’s response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Robison said the idea for a co-working space came to him after he noticed there was no guidance for Maverick Challenge winners and runners-up to proceed with their business ideas after being awarded prize money. Robison also said the space would be helpful for remote workers.

“Back in 2020 when [COVID-19] broke out, all these workers got sent home to work and they loved it,” Robison said. “But two months in, they hate their house, they hate their carpet, they hate their kids … At the same time, the people they hated back in their office; they kind of miss them now because we’re all built for community.”

Robison said he estimates there are more than 1,000 remote workers in Jackson County, given the 2020 census revealed there were at least 787 self-identified remote workers in the county at that time.

The model for the co-working space is an establishment in Bloomington named The Middle, Robison said.

“It’s an open co-working space; there’s open tables and desks in an open area, but around the perimeter of the building there are private offices where once a business has gotten to the point where they need a private office space, they can lease those private office spaces,” Robison said. “So, we’re walking around looking at different ones and they’re different sizes. We get back to the back corner and there’s the biggest office space in the whole place … The person giving the tour said ‘this team is developing an app,’ and we can’t even go into their space because it’s high security.”

The man who launched the business operating out of that room was a janitor at Indiana University who came up with an idea for an app and got a membership to The Middle to have a space to work on it, Robison said. After working for a year and a half developing the app, his team realized they did not have the know-how to market it. The team partnered with a marketing team also doing business at The Middle, and a year later the app went to market. The company is now worth $15 million dollars.

“This all happened because they had to place to have community, share resources and support one another,” Robison said. “The building’s important, but it’s what happens in the building that makes the magic happen.”

Robison also proposed lining the co-working space project along with two other projects the county has identified as priorities for ARPA funds: a vote center and a central dispatch center.

The approach would be for the chamber foundation to purchase a property with two buildings and four parcels at Second and Broadway streets in Seymour and transfer the east parcel of the property to the county for the purposes of a vote center and a potential dispatch center and house the co-working space in the west parcel, Robison said. The estimated cost to purchase and build out the west side of the property is about $1.2 million dollars.

Additionally, the Jackson County Chamber would relocate to the property to provide guidance to entrepreneurs.

Councilman Brian Thompson commended Robison on the idea, as did Councilwoman Amanda Lowery.

“Honestly, this is the best presentation I’ve seen for use of ARPA money that’s come before us from an investment standpoint,” Lowery said.

Per a release by the Jackson County Chamber, the co-working space will be named SPARK Place in reference to the chamber’s SPARK initiative, which launched last fall and focuses on developing a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs and innovators that connects business entrepreneurs with resources, training, community and existing business services.