Entrepreneur Rising

A Spirit of Cooperation

By Steve Sanoski, as featured in the Baton Rouge Business Report on Tuesday, May 3, 2011

For years, Louis DeAngelo, Jared Loftus and Chad Ortte have occasionally collaborated on entrepreneurial events and organizations. Problem was, after the meetings and seminars ended, so did much of the inspiration.

“Every time we’d leave a meeting we’d have all these new ideas and all this energy, and we’d be ready to go out and start a worldwide company,” Loftus says. “Eventually, we started talking about what it would be like if we all had a place where we could work on our own businesses but also be able to collaborate.”

And so the plan for Baton Rouge’s first coworking office—Entrepreneurs Headquarters, or EHQ for short—was launched.

Over the past decade, however, the coworking concept has gained popularity in progressive cities across the country and around the world. It features an anti-cubical movement in which hip spaces with coffeehouse vibes and open floor plans provide a communal hub for work-at-home professionals, independent contractors and budding entrepreneurs who otherwise would be isolated.

“It’s a great feeling to be out on your own, working for yourself, but then again you’re missing out on a lot of synergy,” says Ortte, a commercial real estate agent who founded his own firm, Rising Realty Group, earlier this year. “When you’re creating new ideas and shaping your businesses, that synergy is so important.”

Elsewhere in Louisiana, two coworking offices have sprung up over the past two years: Launch Pad in New Orleans and CoHabitat in Shreveport. Atlanta, Austin and Dallas boast multiple coworking locations.

When EHQ opens later this month, it will occupy about 3,000 square feet on the ground floor of The NeuroMedical Center, overlooking the town center in Perkins Rowe. The space will accommodate about 35 entrepreneurs, with about a half-dozen private offices, 25 private desks and multiple conference rooms.

“It’s the evolution of the office space,” Ortte says. “Twenty years ago, everybody wanted to be in a high-rise downtown, and then it kind of moved out to suburbia and the garden-style office complexes. Now we’re coming in and seeding the organic redevelopment of the office space for the new generation.”

Rent for the private offices will range from $700 to $875 per month, DeAngelo says, and the private desks will rent from $500 to $600 per month. The conference rooms will be available for rent by the hour, half-day or day, with rates to be determined. Student rates might also be offered if there is enough demand.

“We don’t want people who just want an office,” says DeAngelo, who opened his first restaurant at age 19 and will have seven DeAngelo’s Casual Italian Dining locations by the end of the year. “We want creative, influential, inspirational entrepreneurs who want to be a part of this new community.”

The Perkins Rowe site will be known as EHQ South, with an EHQ North office planned for downtown. Pending the finalization of the lease agreement, EHQ North could be open by midsummer with twice as much square footage as its sister location.

Response to the EHQ concept has been overwhelmingly positive, DeAngelo says, with all of the EHQ South private offices and some of the private desks already spoken for. Josh Ford, who started Giraphic Prints in 2007 while he was a senior in high school, was one of the first people to claim an office space.

Giraphic Prints has expanded exponentially during the past four years, and it moved into a 3,000-square-foot location last year off Perkins Road. Ford also is a partner with Loftus in two food trucks, Ninja Snowballs and Taco de Paco, and he has plenty of business ideas he hopes to work on while at EHQ.

Still, Ford says he remains a boots-on-the-ground-type of owner, adding that it’s difficult to focus on other projects while juggling the day-to-day demands of his screen-printing business.

At his Perkins Road office, “there’s a knock at my door every 10 minutes,” he says. “Whether it’s a customer or an employee, there’s really no escape from the distractions. There are certain projects where you need to detach from the office to be able to look at it from the right perspective.”

EHQ will provide an environment for entrepreneurs like Ford to work on their businesses, DeAngelo says, gaining energy from the surroundings instead of feeling that energy being drained away. Loftus adds that entrepreneurs will benefit from the support they receive from peers.

“As an entrepreneur you hear ‘no’ from so many people: ‘No, that’s not a good idea.’ ‘No, that will never work,’” Loftus says. “Just having a little bit of encouragement can be the difference between moving an idea forward and stalling out. [EHQ] is going to be an environment where people will get that kind of encouragement.”

To foster that spirit and celebrate the achievements of its entrepreneurs, EHQ is planning quarterly launch parties, special events and guest speakers.

“Entrepreneurship is not a place,” Loftus says. “But if it could be, I’d say that it’d be this place.”

Entrepreneurs have a home in EHQ

As posted on 10/12 weekly corridor e-newsletter April 6, 2010

Entrepreneurs in the Capital City now have a home in EHQ. The acronym – which stands for Entrepreneurs Headquarters – is the brainchild of Louis DeAngelo, Jared Loftus and Chad Ortte. It’s considered Baton Rouge’s first co-working space that will house young entrepreneurs, start ups, freelancers and designers, among other creative types. The first locale, known as EHQ South, is planned for Perkins Rowe on the ground floor of the Medical Office Building overlooking the park area and theaters in the development. Entrepreneurs can find private offices, private desks, co-working spaces and conference rooms. Also planned are educational events and programming, such as a quarterly launch parties for new start ups in the Baton Rouge community. EHQ members are expected to benefit from community building efforts for entrepreneurs and indy workers. Also planned is EHQ North at a yet-undisclosed location in downtown Baton Rouge. EHQ South will officially open the first week in May; EHQ North, sometime in June or July, according to DeAngelo. Tenants are already signed up. For more information about the initiative, click here.

Local Entrepreneurs to open offices
As posted in the lsurevielle.com

The world can be a scary place for small business owners, but Baton Rouge locals will soon find safety at Entrepreneur Headquarters.

Jared Loftus, president of the North Gate Merchants Association and owner of Ninja Snowballs, Tiger District and Taco de Paco, is one of the founders of the EHQ, which is set to open its first location in Perkins Rowe on May 1.

Loftus said the EHQ will offer affordable work spaces to small business owners in Baton Rouge.

Loftus said the group, which includes local business owners Louis DeAngelo and Chad Ortte, wants to foster the growing entrepreneurial spirit in Baton Rouge.

“The entrepreneurial conversation going on in Baton Rouge is increasing,” Loftus said. “There’s more talk, there’s more enthusiasm.”

In a recent study by The Business Journals, Baton Rouge ranked 14th on a list of the best cities for launching businesses.

According to The Business Journals’ website, the study ranked cities by analyzing economies, populations and recent business growth.

Loftus said he thinks it’s important for entrepreneurs to receive help when they first start businesses.

“There’s been Startup Weekend and Entrepreneur Day and events like that, but day to day, there’s not really anything to help,” he said.

Loftus said the founders haven’t nailed down an exact rent amount, but they have estimated numbers.

He said business owners will spend about $350 per month to use a public space with shared desks.

He said it will cost business owners about $500 per month to rent private desks and $750 per month for private offices.

Loftus said all EHQ members will be able to use the Internet, conference spaces and other amenities in the building.

EHQ has seen a positive response since word of the group’s latest endeavor spread, Loftus said.

He said he met people at the Startup Weekend event who were interested in joining.

Loftus said he thinks it’s important for entrepreneurs in Baton Rouge to meet others with similar ideas because it encourages them to continue their efforts.

“Sometimes when you’re an entrepreneur, you feel like an island,” he said. “You feel like you’re on your own.”

Loftus said the founders haven’t decided on the exact length of each lease, but contracts will be short.

“When I first moved to Baton Rouge, I had to sign a three-year lease for Tiger District,” he said. “That was really hard for me to do. That’s a big commitment.”

Loftus said the 3,000 square-foot space will likely be able to accommodate 25 to 30 entrepreneurs and the founders plan to open a larger location downtown soon.

Contact Rachel Warren at rwarren@lsureveille.com

New Business Workspace Planned for Downtown

as featured in the Daily Report, Nov 3, 2010

Restaurateur Louis DeAngelo is planning a workspace for young and/or enthusiastic entrepreneurs and startups. All the details have not been finalized, but DeAngelo says it will be called EHQ, as in entrepreneurs’ headquarters. He describes it as “a place for entrepreneurs to give and get support from peers and others who in some way have walked the road they are on or about to be on.” The concept is a shared workspace with three options: open community workspaces, individual cubicles and private offices, along with conference rooms and possibly an exercise room and a game room. Events geared toward professional development and seminars with guest speakers are also planned. Entrepreneur Jared Loftus is also involved in the project, DeAngelo says. Commercial real estate agent Chad Ortte is leading the search for a location, which DeAngelo says has been narrowed to three downtown spots. He expects to be able to accommodate about 50 people, with room for expansion, and hopes to open by the first quarter. DeAngelo is best known for the chain of Italian restaurants he founded. He also conducts business workshops under the “Entrepreneur Rising” brand. —David Jacobs