WCCC 2011 Startup of the Year nominee form

Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce
2011 Business Excellence Award
Presented by:

Nominee Application
I. You have been nominated to compete as the 2011 Wakulla County Start - Up Business of the
Year:

Official name of your business: The Works Coworking Cafe

Name and title of the person submitting this information: Chuck Robinson, Owner

Mailing address: 27F Azalea Dr, Crawfordville, FL, 32327

Phone: 850-253-7253 Fax: Email Address:chuck@theworkscafe.com

Number of employees in your business: Full-time Part-time3

Description of the products and/or services your business provides:

The Works serves gourmet coffees, teas and espresso-based drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos. We
also have baked goods catered by Sopchoppy’s very own Scratch Cakes. But The Works isn’t your usual
café. We are also a coworking space. We provide eight shared offices (we call them Think Pods) and a
conference room along with free high speed wifi internet access and print, copy and fax services in order
to create a productive environment for the independent entrepreneur and small businessperson who is
looking for an alternative to the home office or a traditional leased office.

Names and titles of the individuals who own or bear principal responsibilities for operating your
business: Chuck Robinson, Owner

Return completed application to Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce, Attn: Awards Committee,
Post Office Box 598, Crawfordville, FL 32326, or by fax 926-2050, or by e-mail
wakullacochamber@embarqmail.com. Deadline for applications is Friday, APRIL 15, 2011.

II. Award Criteria: The following criteria will be used to select the winner. Please provide
information and examples of how you believe your business best demonstrates excellence for
each criterion.

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1. Growth, Stability and Staying Power: Explain the history and evolution of your business.

The notion of a café combined with a coworking space came to me several years ago literally while I was
at Panera Bread in Tallahassee reading a news story on the emerging trend of coworking spaces. As a
web designer and marketer, I often spent many hours in cafés sitting in front of a laptop working on
projects and noticed that I wasn’t the only soul doing the same thing. No matter how many other
individuals were working around me, however, it was a very isolating experience. After moving to
Crawfordville, I tried the full time home office solution, even going so far as to converting a large
outdoor wooden shed into a comfortable workspace. But what started out being a peaceful environment
soon became ground zero for distractions and interruptions. Productivity slipped. And that isolation I
felt in cafés before was still there. I’d try to take lunch breaks at many of the restaurants in
Crawfordville only to be disappointed that most did not have wifi. I constantly thought to myself “if
there was only a place where I could get a nice bite to eat, a decent coffee, and wifi in Wakulla”. Then, in
the midst of the “Great Recession”, I lost my largest client.

“The Works had to exist.” That was my thinking and I didn’t want to wait around for it to come
to fruition. After attending the Crawfordville Downtown Plan workshops and listening time and time
again to the citizens mentioning their desires for cafés I knew there was a demand for a gourmet coffee
shop in our area. But was there a demand for a coworking space? These places are usually found in much
larger, high tech cities like Boston, New York, and San Francisco.

I firmly believe, with all my heart, that Wakulla is more than a bedroom community to
Tallahassee and that we have the potential to step out of the shadow of the capital in the coming years.
Once we emerge from the current economic situation we will have learned important lessons that will
protect us from future downturns, the most important lesson being that we must end our codependence
on our larger neighbor to the north by developing a self-sustaining business environment at home. We
feel The Works can play a large role in realizing that goal.

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Ask yourself this question: Is it better for our community to lure one company that creates 200
jobs or to create 200 companies with one employee?

If you answered the latter then you can begin to understand the importance of a coworking space
in Wakulla. Ideally, a coworking space working at capacity is comprised of a solid mix of existing and
startup businesses in an environment that emphasizes the five tenets of coworking: collaboration,
community, sustainability, openness, and accessibility. Startups are really important to the growth of a
coworking space with the goal, of course, being the spinoff of a larger company, with more employees,
and a larger facility. But startups also need the most nurturing and that’s where existing businesses in a
coworking space can help mentor, direct, and inspire their officemates. These shared, symbiotic
partnerships are the underlying catalysts for growth towards the self-sustaining economy we ultimately
desire in Wakulla.

Since The Works has opened we have had several members take advantage of the coworking
spaces, mostly accountants due to the tax season. But we have had many interested parties that are
looking for home office or traditionally leased office alternatives. We know a lot of people “get it”. We
can see the twinkle in their eye, the “aha!” moment, when they understand the advantages of coworking
such as the lower overhead, the networking, and the productivity boost. Finding new members will take
time and we understand that. There are many variables involved including the current economic
conditions and even just the awareness of The Works. We are working very hard on new member
acquisition as well as building a new and returning customer base of coffee lovers who are relieved that
(finally!) there’s a gourmet shop in town.

2. Community Involvement: Explain and/or provide examples of how your business contributes
to your community.

If you read The Works’ “About Us” page (http://www.theworkscafe.com/about-us/), a page that has
not changed since conception, you will see in simple, plain English how Wakulla and the community are
our top priority. We constantly refer people to that page not for the sole purpose of providing them
more information but primarily for our benefit. The page’s objective is to remind us here at The Works
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why we exist and who we serve. I cannot begin to tell you how vital and meaningful that page has
become to us.

To that end, The Works has committed to becoming a resource in the community. One of our
greatest assets to share is our conference room. Already we have had several groups, large and small,
such as the non-profit organization NAMI, the League of Women Voters, to cub scout den mother
meetings and student study groups from Wakulla High School take advantage of the space. We have
also hosted several webinars from leaders in their fields to discuss critical social and business issues.
Furthermore, when local groups have come to us with their own civic and social campaigns asking for
assistance, we have tried our best to not only accommodate them but to also go the extra mile by
garnering support for their causes through our strong presence on social networking sites such as
Facebook. If it’s a good cause, we’re not only proud to support it…we evangelize it.

Finally, in lieu of tips we simply direct our customers to one of our many collection boxes near
our register and we put some funds in ourselves. Whether it’s a micro-lending cause like CoffeeKids.org
or a local Relay For Life team, we are humbled by the generosity of our community. Ever since we
opened, no employee has complained in the slightest about not receiving tips. I am so proud of my
employees never thinking twice about that small sacrifice. We’ve already sent our first donation off and
now everyone at The Works, and our fans too, are excited about the next donation. It’s the little things
that make Wakulla greater. This is one of them.

3. Innovation and Imagination: Explain and/or provide examples of excellence in product
enhancements, service or service after the sale that make your business stand out in the market
place.

“It’s like a Starbucks, but with offices.” – A customer overheard at The Works.

As mentioned before, The Works is not your typical café. By combining a traditional coffee
house with coworking spaces we have created a unique environment where many walks of life will find
themselves pursuing work or pleasure.

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We didn’t want to create your typical café ambience and atmosphere either. The light brown on
dark brown color combination that alludes to coffee has been overdone by so many coffee houses that it
has become a cliché to be expected. We wanted a look that was unexpected for Wakulla: a metropolitan,
yet comfortable design that surprises new customers, forcing their innate double-take. Yes, Dorothy,
you’re still in Crawfordville.

We knew we wanted a staff that was focused on servicing customers, not serving coffee. Baristas
are pretty common but computer-savvy marketers are not. When we hired our staff we made sure that
each person contributed a highly developed skill that would assist our members. A graphic artist, a
marketer, and a Microsoft Office specialist, we think, fit that bill.

To make their lives easier, we decided to invest in espresso machines that were smarter than us.
The typical espresso machine has a difficult learning curve and is hard to maintain. The machines we
chose run on specially-engineered pod systems that extract the perfect brew each time and with utmost
consistency. That consistency is critical to serving espresso-based drinks as you cannot serve a high
quality product with too much water one pull and too little the next.

Finally, we wanted our customers to have what we call a “highly customized coffee experience”.
As such, we went with another new technology that has really caught on now with consumers: the
Keurig K-Cup system. With this pod system we can now offer our customers over 70 coffee and tea
choices. When you take into fact that we can also add high quality flavored syrups and sauces, our coffee
combinations increase exponentially.

For those customers who are overwhelmed by the choices, we also offer our popular breakfast-
blend style House Roast. And, as it so happens, the blend comes from a new roaster that we’re excited
about because they happen to be a local roaster! Lucky Goat Coffee of Tallahassee began brewing a little
over six months ago and we are a proud to be one of the first retailers in the area to be brewing and
serving locally roasted coffee.

4. Economic Development: List organizations that you have been involved in and how your
involvement has contributed to the economic health of our community.
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The Works is heavily vested in the Wakulla County Chamber of Commerce. When I joined several
years ago with my other company, Brick Launcher LLC, I was looking for ways to meet new people.
That didn’t seem like much. I then realized that I could only get out what I put in. That’s when I
became actively engaged with the Chamber. It wasn’t just about the mixers and events, it was about
understanding business as a whole in Wakulla.

Incoming President John Shuff asked me to join the Government and Commerce Committee for
the Chamber and I’m thankful I did. We were immediately presented with several challenges that
impacted businesses in Wakulla County that had to be addressed before the County Commission.
Working as well-orchestrated team, the committee put together solid recommendations based on careful
review and discussion to be presented by the Chamber before the Commissioners. The results were a
success. It’s something we were quite proud of and, I think, has laid the groundwork for collaborating
with the County in the future.

5. The Future: Explain your vision for your business in the next few years.

Roughly 30% of all new businesses fail within the first 2 years. About 50% survive for 5 years. The
Works, and its accompanying business model, is a new concept that few have tested especially in a rural
setting. To say we will beat the odds smacks of hubris. But we’re aiming for that 50% graduating class.
What’s more, we want our coworking members to be in that 50% success class, too.

To meet these goals we will educate our community on the benefits of coworking and encourage
active participation in the environment it creates. In our first year, aside from building brand awareness
about the café and its delicious fineries, we will reach out to new and existing businesses through
partnerships, networking events, and what we call “Open Office” hours when the coworking spaces are
available to use for free. As a benefit to the community and a chance for us to meet new and exciting
civic leaders we will also allow for the use of our conference room to their respective non-profits and
associations to meet. The end result for all these actions should be a powerful word-of-mouth
advertising campaign that pays dividends in the years to come.

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Once established, The Works will continue to challenge conventional business wisdom that often
stagnates growth not only in each small business but in the area it calls home. Continuing to
revolutionize the office space by growing the number of units available will only be a start. Extending
our members’ brands beyond Wakulla will also be fundamental to our mission. Increasing the number of
partnerships between businesses through a centralized networking schema means a solid foundation for
the future.

Given the above, in three years to five we should begin to see our members’ fledgling businesses
looking for new rounds of funding and this is really where The Works would like to kick in full speed to
building Wakulla. We would like to situate ourselves as a connector between our members and
investors who also serve as mentors. Given the space we provide and our other services, some might say
we would like to become an incubator. Yes and no. Larger rounds of “seed money” or “angel funding”
are geared for companies who are ready for that step into an incubator. We would like to be that niche
segment between idea and incubator. The Works: a “bootstrap enabler”, if you will. The funding we’re
talking about is “micro” and will become more relevant in the near future as only now investors are
slowly and cautiously returning to the markets. Microfunding local startups, especially in rural areas,
may prove to be a much more nuanced means of earning ROI while creating a social good for the
county. After speaking with a number of entrepreneurs in our community, we feel that we’re not too
“revolutionary” when it comes to meeting this goal as well as those previously mentioned and those to
come.

6. Human Resources: Explain and/or provide examples of excellence in the areas of establishing
positive employee morale, employee involvement in business operations/decision making and
human resource development.

Collaboration and openness are two of the tenets of coworking that we have instilled at The Works.
They play a role in our day-to-day operations and will do so forever. Why? Gone are the days of top-
down management styles and hierarchies. Today we have leaders, not bosses.

Our employees have access to online collaboration tools where they all have an equal ability to
create, execute and manage any project at The Works that they so desire. Discussion of the projects is
highly encouraged and eventually is used for approval processes. If our team sees a fit course of action,
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we follow it. There is complete visibility at every stage of the project, too. Financing the projects
included.

All of our company meetings are recorded and shared on our website. We have found that
instead of inhibiting employees from expressing their opinion that it actually encourages them to do so.
Our employees want to share our openness as much as management. This, along with our team
collaboration, builds employee loyalty and commitment, two ideals that come naturally in this
environment.

Finally, there’s “Team Clean”. Team Clean is a simple solution to a common problem: during an
employee shift-change there are inevitably certain operations tasks that must have or will be completed.
In order to avoid any confusion or frustration, we simply have our employees 1) ask “before I leave is
there anything else I can do” and/or 2) ask “before you leave, can you…”. We encourage the employees
to use the latter tactic, as it is sometimes the harder (therefore, right) thing to do and that it builds a
team environment where, for example, asking for support on their project in the future will be required.

7. Disclaimer: Those businesses applying must be free from any government action involving
marketplace activities, maintain a satisfactory record with both the government and reporting
agencies, and not be in arrears financially to other businesses.

N/A

Signature of Nominee: Chuck Robinson Title: Owner
Date: 4/14/2011
By signing, I certify that all of the information on and attached to this application is true,
correct, complete and made in good faith.

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