Refinery 46 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony With Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett
On May 14, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett joined the founders of Refinery 46 — Brian Schutt and Jesse Cross — to officially open the doors of the new co-working and incubator space near Keystone Avenue and 46th Street in Indianapolis. We were privileged to capture corporate event photography at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Scroll down to see images of the public relations occasion and photos of the former Double 8 headquarters and warehouse before renovation.
The Story Behind Refinery46
Unlike any co-working space in the Midwest, Refinery46 offers dedicated space — including lockers and offices — for small businesses in the home services and construction industries to run and grow their operations on both a short- and long-term basis.
In his comments at the ribbon cutting ceremony, Hogsett stated that:
"Refinery46 would help revitalize the Keystone corridor and provide workforce development opportunities for electricians, plumbers, painters, contractors and others. Industry specific co-working spaces are growing significantly around the country, and Refinery46’s focus on developing talent complements a need in our city.”
The co-working space is the brainchild of Refinery46 owners Brian Schutt and Jesse Cross, who can relate to the pain of a startup operation in need of leasing an office to serve customers. In 2011, the pair founded Homesense Heating and Cooling, and over the past seven years they have leased five different office spaces around the Indianapolis area.
As Schutt mentioned in his speech:
“With Refinery46, we can offer a sized-to-fit approach that focuses resources toward growing a small business, not on questionable overhead costs. We want to leverage our experience as a launch pad to help other companies in our sector.”
Refinery46 Offerings
The Refinery46 space occupies approximately 30,000 square feet of the warehouse building, including the entire basement and second floor. Members can select from a variety of workspace options — including a large office for three or more people ($750 per month), a small office for a one- to two-person team ($500 per month), or a single locker space ($150 per month) — and can also utilize the 2,000 square feet of training space and 8,000 square feet of common space.
As part of their monthly membership, small business owners gain entry 24 hours a day to their selected working space, as well as access to Wi-Fi, shipping and receiving, full coffee bar, and in-house microbrewery and Cuban kitchen. They also gain professional development opportunities throughout the year from local support service groups, like local marketers, accountants, and attorneys.
Per Brian:
“Some of our members may not have the time or the resources to seek out the business advice they need to grow. By bringing business professionals to Refinery46, we hope to answer questions and provide our members new business ideas.”
As of the time of our corporate event photography of the ribbon cutting, more than half of the Refinery46 space occupied by local members.
Corporate Event Photography of Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Sarah Holsapple – Holsapple Communications
Brian Schutt – Refinery46
Refinery46 Member Christina Garten – Christina’s Complete Clean
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett
Ribbon Cutting
Photos of the Warehouse Space Before Construction
Long before we took corporate event photography at the ribbon cutting ceremony, we had the opportunity to explore and capture pre-construction images before construction began on the Refinery46 space, which was originally built in 1945 by the Sutho Suds detergent company. Other past tenants include W. Sams & Co., Inc. publishers, Kimble Glass Division of Owens-Illinois Glass Corporation, and most recently Double 8 Grocery Stores.
Here are some of the before images we captured in the dark, dingy — and, to me, beautiful — space. (Post-construction images still to come.)
