Mike Small, owner of Corporate Design, jokes that in his 40 years with the family business he’s still in the same spot where he started.
Small’s entire career has been with the company. He continued the office furniture portion as Corporate Design after his father retired from the Universal Furniture Company in the early 1980s. Small moved Corporate Design to the Woolen Mill Building at 420 N.W. Fifth St., built in 1890 and overlooking the Lloyd Expressway. About five years later, the company moved back to its previous location at the Evansville Furniture Company building at 1419 Pennsylvania St.
In the summer of 2019, however, Small purchased the Woolen Mill Building and moved Corporate Design back to where it all began. He also leases space in the building to other tenants, including Commonwealth Engineers, Summit Real Estate Services, and Westward Leaning.
“I’ve always been attracted to this building,” says Small. “It was where I started, and it’s probably where I’m going to finish, putting a full circle to it.”
The new third-floor office is a modern and collaborative environment. As experts in office planning and design, Corporate Design’s space serves to show what they can do for clients, but the most important part was making sure the team felt comfortable.
“We did not want to encumber our team to make them think they were restricted to a typical 6-by-8-foot cubicle,” says Small. “We wanted them to know and experience they have 15,000 square feet where they can work wherever they want.”
The space features community areas, sitting and standing desks, a treadmill desk, and conference rooms. There also are many areas to unwind, like the large kitchen, the fully stocked bar, and the game room with a pool table, foosball, and corn hole. The space also has a large community room with tables and chairs that can accommodate up to 60 people and be used by local nonprofits for events and gatherings.
“Collaboration was a big thing,” says Small. “We want this to be a fun place to come to work. It’s a big, open space, and we want everyone to enjoy the space.”
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