MANSFIELD — The Richland Source celebrated its fourth anniversary on June 18 with a significant announcement.
The region’s leading online-only news agency is moving to a new location at 40 W. Fourth St. the first week of July. Richland Source will be the anchor tenant of the facility, which will be named the Idea Works, with the current resident (the Visiting Nurse’s Association) moving to the second floor of the building.
“We see the Idea Works as far more than office space for Richland Source. The ground floor space will be shared with other organizations and entrepreneurs in a co-working environment,” said Richland Source publisher Jay Allred. “Members will have shared access to office equipment, conference areas, wireless internet, and front desk reception — all the while being part of a collaborative environment that supports their growth and success.
“We’re modeling the space in the image of WeWork and others, which have become popular all over the world.”
Richland Source was launched on June 18, 2013 from an incubator at MT Business Technologies. It began as a fledgling organization with a mission to tell the rest of the story in Richland County. People to know, things to see and events happening throughout north central Ohio were among the items prioritized when the site first launched.
The team moved to its current location, 21 Temple Court, in August 2013.
Since then, Richland Source has expanded twice, into Crawford Source as well as Ashland Source. The site has also grown dramatically in page views, doubling its audience year-over-year in 2016, and on course to more than triple its audience in 2017 from the 2015 benchmark.
“We are very grateful to all of the readers, advertisers, and the great collaborators who have supported us in our first four years,” Allred said. “It’s no secret that finding a new business model for local news is challenging and demands constant experimentation; which is why we are fortunate to be located in communities like Mansfield, Ashland, and Galion.”
In the past two years alone, national journalistic attention has come from Solutions Journalism Network, the New York Times, the Nieman Lab and Columbia Journalism Review among others. Locally, Richland Source was chosen Small Business of the Year in 2016 by the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce.
None of that would be possible without north central Ohio’s readers, who take part in telling the region’s story by sharing their experiences and suggestions.
Reporter Emily Dech was among the original staffers when Richland Source first went live.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been four years,” Dech said. “As a newbie fresh out of college I had zero experience in journalism — I didn’t even participate in a newspaper or anything like that in school.
“That being said, I’m extremely thankful that Richland Source gave me a chance.
“Jay Allred, Richland Source’s publisher, and I were joking that thank goodness Richland Source was my first full-time gig because I thought all the different adventures we’d come across, especially early on, were normal for a news company, when in fact we were pioneering a different way to tell the news in our community.”
That pioneering spirit will continue in a new location.
“The Idea Works really doesn’t compete with a traditional office space, mainly because it won’t have much in the way of traditional lock-it-up-and-leave offices,” Allred said. “Members will join on a month-to-month basis and choose from a couple of different levels that offer either space at communal tables and work spaces throughout the facility or a spacious dedicated desk.
“Businesses that need a high level of customization, privacy or deal with sensitive information would probably do better with traditional space. We believe that growing small businesses that thrive on collaboration and are willing to trade a little autonomy for less administrative headaches are our sweet-spot.”
How does someone see the facility or learn more?
“We have scheduled tours available on Tuesday and Thursday of every week,” Allred said. “Anyone interested in seeing the Idea Works is welcome to contact us and we’ll set them up with a tour.”
