A walk down Main Street in Durham, NC will take one past many great restaurants, bars, and shops, as well as office and residential space. One such place is Beyu Caffe, and there, in the window on the right, if one looks closely, is The Smoffice.
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| Durham Wins! Casey Steinbacher, Matthew Coppedge and Adam Klein with $3,000 check and plaque. Photo from Downtown Durham, Inc. |
The tenants of The Smoffice have since moved out, but the idea was entered into a contest to determine The World's Most Unconventional Economic Development Project.
Guess what. It won. At 25 square feet, The Smoffice bested contenders from around the globe at The World Chambers Competition at which chambers of commerce competed with their economic development projects. Some of these were executed at the national level with massive budgets. Despite the long odds and imposing competition, Durham did what Durham does...it roared. Again.
The competition was held in Doha, Qatar where Casey Steinbacher, Matthew Coppedge, and Adam Klein represented Durham. Steinbacher is President of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, Coppedge is Chief Operating Officer for Downtown Durham, Inc, and Klein, formerly with the Chamber, is now with American Underground.
This is the first time the US has ever won this competition.
More details will be shared as they are available. Some back story on the project is at the links below.
Really Small News
Smoffice Chosen As Finalist
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