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Missouri State University President Michael Nietzel delivers the State of IDEA Commons at the Brick City art gallery on March 30.
Missouri State University President Michael Nietzel delivers the State of IDEA Commons at the Brick City art gallery on March 30.

Marlin, Brewer moves help to build downtown DNA

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A good idea can lead to economic growth in downtown Springfield.

That was the message sent during the weeklong IDEA Exposition, March 30–April 2, at Missouri State University’s IDEA Commons. The Commons, with the Roy D. Blunt Jordan Valley Innovation Center as its anchor, intends to promote innovation, design, entrepreneurship and art – hence the IDEA acronym – in center city Springfield.

During the State of IDEA Commons on March 30, MSU President Michael Nietzel said MSU’s efforts to create a sense of place that inspires economic development are showing signs of fruition.

Such proof is Marlin, a 25-year-old Springfield-based advertising agency that two months ago agreed to set up shop in Brick City, within the IDEA Commons footprint.

Marlin signed a five-year lease with Matt Miller Co. Inc. for 8,600 square feet on the third floor of 225 W. Water St. The firm has hired architectural firm Buxton-Kubik-Dodd Inc. to design an open floor plan that Marlin President Michael Stelzer said would maintain the integrity of the 100-year-old building, combining “industrial-style simplicity with some contemporary” elements. Construction bids should go out in early April, he said, with the intent to move in August.

Additionally, existing JVIC corporate partner Brewer Science is expanding with manufacturing space for its work on carbon nanotube technology.

Currently, there are 85 people employed within IDEA Commons, Nietzel said, and the two-year-old initiative has generated $10 million in private investments. Another $25 million in private money, including business and residential investments, is projected to come in during the next five years, he said.

In 2008, MSU entered a lease for 20,000 square feet in the former refrigerated warehouse complex now known as Brick City from developer Miller for its art and design department studio space and classrooms. Nietzel said the school has since signed a 10-year lease for 16,000 square feet on the first and second floors of the adjacent building, 225 W. Water St., to expand its art and design programs in fall 2011.

“It puts our students next to the professionals they aspire to become,” Nietzel said.

Marlin already had a relationship with MSU. Stelzer said more than 100 of the university’s students have served as interns at Marlin companies, and some have been hired on after graduation.

The Marlin agency, formerly known as The Marlin Co., falls under the umbrella of Marlin Network Inc., which also operates a second full-service ad agency Deep; digital-focused agency The Alchemedia Project; Food I.Q.; and Marlin Network Consulting Group. Marlin is based at 1200 E. Woodhurst Drive, but close quarters prompted the company to start looking for a place to relocate its 25 staffers, Stelzer said. The Marlin Network, which employs 78 total, continues under the direction of founder and CEO Dennis Marlin.

“Once I learned about the IDEA concept, I felt it fit with our creative DNA,” he said. “We’re driven by young ideas and people with energy.”

Stelzer hopes to capitalize on that energy by developing a closer working relationship between agency and university. He said the agency would like to explore the expansion of the existing internship program and provide portfolio reviews on a regular basis. Students also will be able to witness Marlin’s work for global clients, including Starbucks, Splenda, Blue Bunny Ice Cream and Tyson.

“We’re not in the business of being educators, but just by being adjacent, there will be opportunities for students to learn,” Stelzer said.

Learning won’t be a one-way street, either. Stelzer intends to encourage staffers to participate in university classes. “This is an opportunity for them to get very close to a creative culture,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]

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