New MODSpace to nurture tech innovators in Stanislaus

A collaborative space for technology entrepreneurs has just been unveiled in downtown Modesto and already has seven people sharing it.

MODSpace has filled an unused room within the Stanislaus Business Alliance’s space at Tenth Street Plaza. Its aim is to nurture emerging “innovative technology” companies, said Kurtis Clark, chief innovation officer for the Alliance and director of its Small Business Development Center. Alliance Chief Executive Officer Dave White called it an “economic garden.”

Stanislaus County has small companies doing business internationally and needing technological support, White said Friday afternoon at an open house for MODSpace. They’ve usually had to look across the Altamont Pass to get that need fulfilled, he said.

But there are talented technological minds right here, Clark said, and by collaborating, they can tackle bigger projects than they could individually. “This will increase the capacity of what our community is able to do vis-à-vis even serving some of the bigger Bay Area clients,” he said.

The idea for MODSpace goes back about nine months, but work to bring it about really began just three months ago, Clark said.

One of those working in MODSpace is Nathan Bunney, owner of Inventaweb.net, which specializes in building custom Web solutions for its clients. MODSpace is a place where skilled programmers, website builders, tech marketers and digital artists can gather and push the envelope of technology, he said.

“We wanted to form a core group of really hard-core programmers,” Bunney told the audience at the open house. “Six of us are really geeks ... but we need people we can throw artwork and writing requests to.”

It’s a diverse mix at MODSpace, he said, introducing a few of his fellow consultants:

▪ Bradley Giesbrecht of Data Boost: Data Boost provides data marketing application development and hosting solutions. It builds software that helps businesses run, Bunney put it simply.

▪ Danny Weber of Grand Glacier: Grand Glacier is a marketing and technology agency. It provides a bridge between the software being developed and the marketing of that software, Bunney said.

▪ James Moore of knowthen.com: James discovered the joy of software development while submerged hundreds of feet deep in the Pacific Ocean. He liked it so much, he left his career as Navy nuclear submariner to learn everything he could about creating software. He’s an independent software developer, consultant and trainer.

“We have technologists who can actually communicate, and that’s a rare thing,” Bunney said, prompting laughter from a knowing crowd. “They live here, they understand agriculture and local manufacturing concerns.”

Dawn Golik, deputy district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration, was up from the Fresno district office to lend her support to MODSpace. “The Small Business Administration recognizes the importance of technology to small business,” she said at the open house. She noted that in 2014, it named Datapath, a Modesto-based technology management company, the Central California small business of the year.

Stanislaus County is part of a “really great trend” in launching a workspace for innovators to collaborate, said Lorinda Forrest of the California Community Colleges Economic and Workforce Development Program.

She cited an Intuit report that says by 2020, contingent workers – defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as independent contractors and part-time, temporary, seasonal and leased workers – will exceed 40 percent of the workforce. “Traditional full-time, full-benefit jobs will be harder to find,” the report states.

“We are not the Silicon Valley, but we have people with great talent here,” said Forrest, who works with 13 community colleges in the Central Valley and Mother Lode.

She said her program will provide two interns to MODSpace because for students to succeed in the work world, they need a combination of tech skills and “soft skills,” such as learning teamwork and collaboration.

The Stanislaus Business Alliance pays the rent for the MODSpace room, but members pay a small amount each month toward its operation, Clark said. He described MODSpace as self-governing. “People apply to be members, make a pitch to the current membership and are accepted, or not,” he said.

Anyone interested in joining MODSpace should email him at clarkk@stanalliance.com, Clark said, and he will forward an application. Businesses interested in collaborating with MODSpace consultants should contact Bunney at Inventaweb.net.

The hope is that MODSpace will outgrow its current space and need a facility many times bigger, White said. The alliance wants to expand it into other parts of the county and “bring people out of the woodwork” to participate.

He was asked by a couple of audience members – including one in the apparel business – if it will expand beyond its technology focus. There are “stealth clothing companies here,” quietly doing design work and having manufacturing done elsewhere, White replied. He said he certainly could see a collaborative effort arising in that field – dubbed “BODSpace” perhaps.

This story was originally published June 2, 2015 at 1:04 PM with the headline "New MODSpace to nurture tech innovators in Stanislaus."