I’ve spent years watching companies grow inside Bounce’s walls, and I’ve started to think about what that progression actually means.
From a Place perspective, that raises a simple question for me: how do we measure whether space is actually helping that happen?
Occupancy matters. But growth tells a deeper story, the story of who started small and expanded, who stabilized and scaled, and who stayed rooted instead of relocating. Square footage tells you if space is full. Progression tells you whether growth is happening. And growth is what matters.
During my time leading operations at Bounce, I’ve come to see our work a little differently. We’re not really in the space business; we’re in the shared capital business.
Starting a company already requires courage: What founders don’t need is unnecessary overhead layered on top of that risk, long-term leases before revenue is predictable, building out infrastructure too early, or committing to more space than they truly need.
When each company has to build everything independently, growth becomes heavier than it needs to be.
At Bounce, those investments are shared. They scale on top of existing infrastructure instead of rebuilding it each time.
When a company isn’t locked into overhead costs it can’t yet afford, there’s more room to hire, to experiment, and to stick around long enough to contribute something to the region.
We see that progression play out in real time. Companies move from a couple of desks to small teams, then expand into larger suites as they hire and stabilize. And eventually, some take the next step into their own independent space. When that happens, we celebrate it. It doesn’t feel like loss: it feels like a win.
At our recent State of the Place discussion, several founders shared a similar story; they began small, surrounded by shared infrastructure, and scaled their teams over time. For some, that meant expanding within Bounce. For others, the goal is to eventually step into their own independent space in Akron. That’s exactly the kind of trajectory we’re here to support.
If a company grows here, builds relationships here, hires locally, and then steps into its own space within the region. That’s evidence that the ecosystem is working the way it should. Bounce is here to strengthen the broader commercial landscape, not compete with it. The goal isn’t to contain growth inside one building; it’s to help companies scale here.
Watching that play out over and over has changed how I think about what Place really means.
I’ve started to see Bounce less as just a building and more as infrastructure that supports growth at different stages. The space itself matters, of course, but what matters more is the layer wrapped around it: adaptable layouts, operational consistency, shared amenities, and proximity to other companies navigating similar challenges.
When those elements align, companies gain momentum. They don’t just rent space; they gain flexibility, reduce risk, and make decisions with a little more confidence because they’re not building alone.
Economic development conversations often center on attraction; how do we bring new companies into a city? But retention and internal growth are just as powerful. When founders don’t have to leave to scale, when expanding doesn’t require a massive upfront capital leap, and when infrastructure adjusts alongside a company’s trajectory, stability builds over time. Jobs stay local, experience stays local, and investment stays and compounds here rather than following a founder out the door.
None of that happens by accident. It requires space that is deliberately designed and consistently operated to lower barriers rather than create new ones.
That’s really what Bounce is, shared infrastructure for people building something. And when that infrastructure works, companies grow, scale, and stay rooted here, whether inside our walls or beyond them. The entire region benefits from that.
Space, when it’s designed with intention and operated consistently, does more than give people somewhere to work. It makes risk feel a little more manageable. It gives founders room to figure things out without everything riding on each decision.
That’s the role of Place. And after years of watching it actually work, companies stabilizing, teams growing, founders making decisions with a little more confidence, it’s the part of this job I’m most proud of.