A number years ago, a friend of mine who had been in the advertising business most of his life decided to hang it all up and try something new. He started an advertising consultancy. I remember the occassion quite vividly, because I was one of his first customers. He had sent out a letter to owners of small advertising agencies across America. It started quite simply. "Are You Lonely?" "It was an appeal to a creative class of people who wanted and needed to come together, learn, share knowledge and collaborate with people that shared common beliefs/values."
Needlessly to say, it resonated with me and I signed up. It was a good thing I did. Over the next 20 years Jacobson Rost, the agency my father ("Jake") founded, grew to become one of the top consumer advertising agencies in the Midwest…with a large roster of clients including Sargento, Culvers, Kimberly Clark, Trek Bicycles, Leinenkugels Beer and more! Two years ago, I sold Jacobson Rost and started the Jake's Cafe Creative Community.
Jake's Cafe is a best place for creative entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level. Its the perfect venue to meet with like-minded entrepreneurs on a daily basis. To share ideas, connections and contacts is just the beginning. The opportunity to actually connect with others in the cafe and collaborate on larger projects is where it gets interesting. All you have to do is talk with anyone in the cafe who has had the opportunity to work with other members and you'll understand why. Stop in some time. Meet a few our members. And even take a tour.There's a lot for you in store at Jake's and a lot of great people who will help you get there.
Who would have thought that in just over two years, such a new concept as the Jake’s Cafe Creative Community would now be home to over thirty businesses! While Jake’s continues to grow, it should come as no surprise that similar right brained creative communities have now been established around the country. We’re truly at the forefront of a burgeoning creative economy. Many of America's advances will come through the multi-disciplinary collaboration of creative thinkers found in communities such as ours. It's already happening at Jake's! Ask Johnsonville, American Orthodontics, Bemis, Plymouth Foam, and the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation to name a few.
I knew at some point, many of our members would come together, share/refer clients and work together to either solve tough problems or merely look for more efficient ways to help their customers. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon, nor did I realize how many of our members would actually buy services from one another! In any event, it’s working beyond expectations and we’re continuing to do great work in a great way.
As our community continues to grow and capture the imagination of local and regional businesses as a problem-solving destination, some of our tenants may eventually outgrow the cafe and have no other choice than to look for larger quarters. While it’s always tough to lose a good friend/member, it’s also quite gratifying to know that the Jake’s family may have had a little bit to do with their success. It’s all part of the plan.
Come for a visit. Then stay!
If you’ve been thinking about a space at Jake’s and you feel that you might benefit from what our creative community provides....don’t wait too long.
And just as space is becoming scarce, we have some exciting plans on the horizon to improve our creative campus and service offerings. We’ve just completed a new recording/sound studio and we’re currently remodeling our outdoor patio to conduct business outdoors (and for our regular community gatherings). In the planning stages, is a major kitchen remodeling just adjacent to our main conference room/theatre. So? The time to join is now!
Come to an inspiring place with good natured, talented people committed to excellence in everything they do. A place where people can choose to work independently or collaborate with others to solve problems requiring a variety of creative disciplines. This is what Jake’s Cafe is all about, and why in just over 18 months we’ve attracted over 30 businesses with nearly 60 people into Jake’s Cafe Creative Community.
In just two years, Jake’s Cafe has gained state-wide recognition as a full-service creative environment with everything you need to do business at a highly professional level; cool office space, conference rooms, theatres, production space, kitchens and more. Here inventors, writers, designers, web designers, photographers, marketers, patent writers, financial planners, forensic accountants, micro-finance experts, film-makers and even speech pathologists come together to help area businesses solve problems in a great way. What we now need are software developers, game developers, industrial designers, landscape architects, interior designers, and even painters!
If you think you might be interested in joining our creative community, please feel free to contact either Steve Mech or Tryg Jacobson for a tour and an invitation to our Thirsty Thursday get-together....and of course, a cup of coffee.
A Collaborative Community For Sheboygan’s Creative Thinkers in all Professions. Join Us! 529 Ontario Avenue / Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081 Phone 1-920-694-1741 or e-mail tryg@jakescafe.net.
Without doubt, there is tie between innovation and creative-class individuals.
Brad Feld describes the creative class as entrepreneurs,
engineers, professors, and artists who create “meaningful new forms.” They are
the right-brainers, the people with a reputation for making something out of
nothing… which is to same that creative class individuals include people from
all walks and occupations. It has more to do with the way they think than what
they do.
At Jake’s Café, we have a forensic accountant that is every bit as creative as the graphic designer across the hall, the fashion designer upstairs. That’s exciting, because it opens up a wonderful horizontal exchange of ideas that make us all smarter and wiser.
Creative people want and need to live in nice places. Like Sheboygan County, which is why one of the first projects we launched was “The Promise of Sheboygan County”, a creative collaboration the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation. Creative people also want to work in inspiring environs, enjoy a culture with tolerance for new ideas weirdness and most of all want to be around other creative class individuals. Who wouldn’t? Right? We’ll, there are some people who talk about it, and others that actually do something about it. These are the people who come to Jake’s Cafe. They walk the talk.
And this is what’s really cool. We’re creating a virtuous cycle where the more creative people that come together under Jake’s, the more attractive Jake’s becomes to other creative people, which in turn makes Jake’s even more valuable and attractive to our members. Communities that hit a critical creative mass enjoy a competitive advantage over those that don’t. They feed upon one another as much as they compliment and complete one another. With over 30 members and growing, we’ve hit an important critical mass. Wonderful things are beginning to happen here.
Whether you’d like to join Jake’s or just be a beneficiary of the thought leadership of those who play, create and solve problems, we welcome you to our community! We welcome you to Jake’s Cafe!
The Promise of Sheboygan County from Leclerc Brothers Motion Pictures on Vimeo.
Welcome to a place where the horizons are as expansive as the possibilities. Where ambition can find fertile ground to expand and flourish, and entrepreneurial spirits can realize dreams. A place where one can raise a family. Grow a business. Spend a lifetime. A place that holds a promise: to be more – to live more – to simply do more.
For more information on the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation please visit http://www.sheboygancountyedc.com/
