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Guest Post from our Edgewood practicum team

The Edgewood team and Conley

Here's a summary of their analysis:
With a company who views its core value as community involvement, it was difficult to look at this company and show what it is all about. 100state is a small start up business located right of Madison’s Capital square. They add value to the Madison community by providing a co- working space, mentorship, and a collaborative community to add passion and support to the members. 100state supports entrepreneurial endeavors that are aligned with their key principles. 100state wants to grow as a business and become the premiere co-working space in Madison. 100state collaborated with a team of Edgewood College students to help 100state continue their ongoing journey. After all, 100state is only about 4 months old.

The team developed a plan to gather valuable data and make the necessary recommendations based on this data. The team of Edgewood College students conducted a market research project, including a survey, observations, and personal interviews with members of 100state. Each portion of the research added valuable data to help 100state better their experience along with each of their members’ experiences. The research draws attention to the people who are already members of the 100state team. 100state has around 64 members and has continued to grow steadily throughout the last couple of months. The teams’ first order of business was to create a survey for the members. Fifty percent of the members responded to the survey, which the team considered a success. The members really do care about their experiences at 100state and showed that by filling out the survey.

The team’s main finding for 100state can be used to market their company even better than before. There were 33 out of 64 members who filled out the survey. The research draws attention to 18 out of the 33 members own a business. This is important because 100state can use the number of members that own a business to market to a diverse set of groups by explaining that they not only have young entrepreneurs trying to make a name for themselves, but also more experienced business people running everyday operations.

Another finding from the survey and interviews is that members of 100state suggested that there should be a way to know what other members are doing and be a part of 100state even when they cannot use the space on a regular basis. Based on this, the team recommend that 100state create an online forum for people who would like to contribute ideas, get feedback, and add value to the Madison community. To do this, a suggestion for 100state is to have a small fee for non-members to be a part of the process, and have it free for members already to be a part of.

 In conclusion, 100state is a growing non-profit that has many opportunities to expand their company and improve their members’ experiences. 100state is a passionate company that is adding value to the Madison community through their hard work and mentorship.

A 100state Friday Night

It's wonderful to see the 100state community buzzing on a Friday evening. We have a great combination tonight of people who got 100state started, member regulars and even a few special guests.

Aaron Larner, a rockstar programmer and co-founder of 900dpi, is back in town from Austin for the week- and he was just commenting how he can feel a noticeable difference in the air in Madison. How he can feel things starting to acquire a critical mass in our local creative-entrepreneurial scene. And how he misses that, even in a city like Austin.

I agree with him. Every day now I feel an acceleration of the projects and businesses around, and notice more established stakeholders in Madison being willing to support our small-but-growing place in the local community.

That's what's going to help us have a global impact. So, here's to you, Madison- and everyone who's helped 100state become the beehive of activity it is on a Friday night. Have a wonderful weekend.

Cheers,

Mike