This story originally ran on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal.
Walking into the Minnetonka office of FRSecure, one might think they're stepping into an entertainment center. Amenities include, and are not limited to: floor hockey and ping-pong, a beer fridge, a game room, and a security lab with a wall computer, a disco ball and lasers.
The office, which the company moved into in September 2016, was designed to reflect a new company motto: Have balance. We work hard and play hard.
"We work hard, but also have a lot of fun, whether it’s a quick game of bubble hockey, ping-pong, having a cup of coffee with a co-worker or summer grilling for lunch," Senior Security Analyst Chad Spoden said.
"Having the ability to go back and play some arcade games for a few minutes when you realize you are stuck with tunnel vision on a project has helped create much better work," Senior Security Analyst Brad Nigh added.
FRSecure is a full-service information security management company offering expertise in protecting a company's sensitive information. With rapid growth after its founding in 2008, the company ran into an unfavorable scenario with its old office space in downtown Waconia. The company started with one small office , but needed to add another as the employee base quickly grew. This separated the sales and operations team, and caused a bit of a communication divide. The company began occupying a nearby coffee shop to collaborate.
"We needed to get everybody back under one roof," Chief Financial Officer Kevin Orth said.
To accommodate its booming staff, FRSecure upgraded to a new 15,000-square-foot office in Minnetonka - a significant enhancement from the crowded 3,000-square-foot Waconia space. The company went from having zero conference rooms in its old offices to having more than nine meeting and collaboration spaces.
Now that the entire staff is under one roof, Orth said FRSecure has a much more cohesive work environment. "We had to hit all of the 'need to haves,' and wanted to hit a whole bunch of the 'nice to haves,' as well."
One of those need to haves was the first table the company ever purchased, which has been through countless meetings, brainstorming sessions and coffee spills.
(All Images by Peter Smith)
