When Joe Erwin, co-founder and former president of national advertising agency Erwin Penland, announced his departure from the company he built into one of the largest agencies in the South, he already had an idea of what was next. Erwin Creates is not another ad agency, but a company that will continue the legacy Erwin has built over the last 30 years of cultivating, growing and influencing a creative community throughout South Carolina. Erwin Creates will support the Erwin Center for Brand Communications at Clemson University and Erwin’s personal consulting requests, but its centerpiece will be a new creative community called Endeavor.
Endeavor will be a membership-based co-working community for independent companies and freelancers in the creative services fields. Endeavor’s location in downtown Greenville will provide members with state-of-the-art work and meeting space, and uniquely, will surround them with a diverse array of creative peers who offer a broad range of marketing services and experience. By facilitating daily face-to-face collaboration among these entrepreneurs, Erwin’s goal is to foster increased business-building opportunities, idea generation and professional growth for Endeavor members.
Endeavor will also offer access to the expertise of Joe Erwin and provide a gateway to Erwin’s extensive network of business contacts and industry resources to provide training, mentoring and potential business development opportunities.
“Both through the success of Erwin Penland over the years and due to the fact that Greenville is becoming known as one of the top small cities in the country, we now have a considerable critical mass of creative firms and independent contractors in the area,” said Erwin. “This project fits well with the entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit and business support network that has helped propel Greenville into the national spotlight. Our role is to nurture these companies and enable them to collaborate with other creative services professionals to grow their business, and in turn, attract more opportunities and creative startups to Greenville.”
Endeavor’s 20,000-square-foot space in the ONE Development downtown will feature multiple open work areas with shared community space, private desks, dedicated offices and technology-equipped conference rooms. Memberships to the community are tiered, ranging from five-days per month passes to use the shared spaces, to having 24-hour access to lockable offices that can accommodate whole companies.
As the heart of Greenville’s creative community, Endeavor will also serve as a destination for companies and individuals looking to connect with the city’s vibrant creative class. Memberships will be available to corporate marketers, marketing professionals working for national agencies but living in the Upstate, creative vendors and resource reps, and community sponsors.
The Endeavor space is currently under renovation and is expected to be ready for charter company members to move in by mid-April, with daytime-access memberships coming online in May.
