The Office Outpost is almost ready to open for business, said Bob Pranis who is sitting at one of the computer workstations. Pranis has spent a lot of time patching and painting the walls of the former Grand Marais tourist information center where the Office Outpost is located, and several others have worked with him to set up the workstations. People needing high speed Internet can pay to use the space.
Bob Pranis, several members of the Cook County Broadband Commission and some individuals from the private sector have been working tirelessly to open the “Office Outpost”—a new facility located in the former Visitor Information Center at Grand Marais City Hall.
It is a business center with 11 workstations, a conference room that will hold eight people, a professional printer, and a coffee bar and a private room for video conferencing.
Plans are to open the doors on Memorial Day weekend. “That’s the goal anyway,” said Bob Pranis, who chairs the Broadband Commission and headed up the committee to develop the facility.
Pranis said the center would be open seven days a week 24 hours a day.
“The facility will have some kind of computerized door. People will be able to go online and pay for a certain amount of time and get a punch code they can use to log into the building,” said Pranis.
“Initially we might have someone here for a few hours during the day behind the desk that can answer questions or offer assistance. We’ll have to wait and see. We’re still feeling our way,” he said.
Small Business Development Center Representative Pat Campanaro was on the committee with Pranis, Mimi Gentz, Woody Gilk, Paula Sundet Wolf and Yvonne Caruthers.
“We just met this morning [May 10] and picked out the name,” said Campanaro. “It’s really coming along, but our timeline to open is approaching fast so we have to keep making progress.
“This will be a fee-based business,” said Campanaro. “We haven’t decided yet if it will be a daily, weekly or monthly fee. We will have to decide that in the near future. ”
Vacationers coming to Grand Marais who need to keep up on their work can bring their computer to the center and hook-up to high speed Internet. “We have 50 megs up and 50 megs down,” said Pranis.
For those local entrepreneurs working out of their house, this could serve as a good place to get a break and work uninterrupted, said Campanaro.
“We had a meeting with the public several months ago and 20 to 30 people showed interest in using a facility like this,” Campanaro said.
The city of Grand Marais is giving the space to the Broadband Commission for the first year rent free, said Pranis. “That’s part of the matching grant we got from the city for the Blandin Foundation grant. We also received assistance from Minnesota Power, the Cook County/ Grand Marais Economic Development Authority (EDA), the Cook County Chamber of Commerce, and an in-kind grant of 10 computers from Arrowhead Electric’s True North.
“The first year we will collect data and see if there is a real business here,” said Pranis. “If there is, maybe someone in the private sector will want to buy the equipment and run it. This is the perfect location, right across from the co-op, a short walk to the lake, it’s centrally located. I think it’s a great spot.”
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