March 6, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Interstate Office Products.

Think of it as a slice of Silicon Valley in the middle of downtown Sioux Falls.

The new headquarters for MarketBeat makes it clear right away this is no ordinary locally based media tech company.

There’s a stock ticker scrolling around the open office.

There’s a “garden room” that brings the outdoors in and even has a spot for the resident office dog.

There’s even a speak-easy for unwinding and entertaining.

But, primarily, the space still functions as an office for the team that has built a company that has ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing businesses for eight consecutive years.

“We wanted a space that would allow for our next 10 years of growth,” founder and CEO Matt Paulson said. “So it’s more room than we need today, but we’re thinking about MarketBeat 10 years from now. And along the way, we wanted to have the coolest office in town.”

The move into The Bancorp Building at the expanded Cherapa Place recently accomplished both those goals, MarketBeat leaders said.

“Because we grew so fast, our previous space had gotten so tight that for some people it was distracting,” chief financial officer Arin Gonseth said. “Now, between the additional room and individual offices, it allows for better focus.”

Creating the blend of homelike and business-friendly environment involved partnering with multiple businesses. Interstate Office Products worked with designers Aundrea Albertsen and Meloney Storgaard of Northern Plains Management & Design to fulfill the vision.

“The idea was to create a homey space that didn’t have a typical office vibe but was still a professional environment,” IOP interior designer/account manager Erica Whalen explained.

Working with IOP interior designer Tori Mandel, the team was able to deliver the vision.

“It was the perfect opportunity to bring in pieces that were commercial grade but still gave a residential look and feel,” Whalen said.

The decision to work with IOP was made in part because “we like how involved they are in the community,” Paulson said. “We appreciated the reputation they bring. They have a long track record of people who have done business with them and seem happy and are willing to share their stories, so we knew we’d get what we wanted.”

In the individual offices, IOP supplied Slim Leg height-adjustable desks featuring enclosed legs with a luxe finish on the underside, which provide a modern appearance while still allowing for flexibility.

The underside of the desks are finished in a luxe paint finish “that just elevates the furniture and enhances the overall look of the space, so it’s not a typical metal color,” Whalen said.

Whalen proposed Karman, Steelcase’s first all-mesh task chair, which brings 21st century design to the well-loved concept of mesh chairs and does so without sacrificing performance.

“Its sleek, high-end look elevates the desk area and really brings that modern residential feel to the office,” she said.

The offices “have a nice aesthetic, which is important visually because we have all-glass fronts, so we wanted something that would give the offices a clean look and be pleasing to the eye because you can see into each office,” Gonseth said. “I love it. The chair is comfortable, and the space is great.”

The open office spaces also are a step up for the 16-person team, which has about a dozen people based in Sioux Falls.

“We offer a flexible environment, but we wanted a space where employees would want to come even though they aren’t required to,” Gonseth said.

“At our old office, we had floating desks, so you couldn’t have personal belongings there. And here, we wanted to create a space they could make their own, with lockable storage and nice dividers that also function as pullout storage. There’s a lot of space to get your work done side by side without feeling like you’re on top of one another.”

IOP used a “flex frame” product to create the extra division and acoustical panels to serve as sound barriers.

“It’s functional space – you can hang coats or planters on it, display books or whatever knickknacks you want there, but they also divide the workstations,” Whalen said.

“We also recommended Steelcase’s high-density storage, a product that opens and creates a barrier between desks that signals heads-down time or closes to hide the belongings of the user and allow for collaboration.”

The storage units are a black finish with a pop of gold when they open that matches the task chairs, and then a hint of MarketBeat teal is used in the workstation dividers.

“Our whole approach was flexible,” Whalen said. “The storage can go on either side of the desks, which can be moved and reconfigured as needed. If they ever rebrand, the items with pops of color can easily be swapped out. We know they won’t necessarily be in this space forever, so we wanted to select products that could easily move and change with their company.”

The office includes multiple conference rooms, and IOP helped MarketBeat with furniture to create “a very elevated and contemporary look,” Whalen said. “Again, they didn’t want it to look like a typical office. We had fun with the large conference room and did a stunning stone tabletop complemented by chairs in a faux leather with luxe bases to match the table.”

The smaller conference room includes another stone-top table along with chairs wrapped in wood, “which brings more warmth into the smaller space,” Whalen said.

“The larger room has more of an executive look, and the smaller one provides a little more relaxed feel.”

A training room offers chairs that use two different fabrics to create a fun contrast and “are definitely not your typical training room chair,” she continued.

“They have a really sophisticated look but are comfortable. The chairs are paired with flip-top training tables with power, and all the furniture in the space is visually tied together with black bases. MarketBeat’s teal can be found on the modesty panels on the training tables.”

Each of the common spaces “is unique and serves a purpose,” Gonseth said. “The furniture really accommodates that and goes hand in hand with that purpose.”

The entire space is achieving MarketBeat’s vision, Paulson said.

“The idea was to make the office so cool that people want to come to work in person, and we’ve seen it already,” he said. “We have people who used to work at home now coming to the office more.”

Working with IOP and the design team ensured “that everything was intentional and nothing seemed like an afterthought,” he continued.

“Sometimes, it’s easy to pick things that look pretty and not always think about function, but IOP knows how to make choices you can sit at for eight hours and not hurt your back. And on the front end, I like being able to go to IOP’s showroom and see the furniture, sit on the furniture and have them turn what you want into a 3D rendering. With a lot of other places, that wasn’t an option.”

From “start to finish, they were great to work with,” Gonseth added. “They were responsive to our needs and followed through. We know the products they offer have a high reputation for quality and are going to last.”

To learn more about how IOP can support your workplace vision, visit i-o-p.com, or call 605-339-0300.