Iron Clad Coworking space bar
We cant wait to introduce you to Iron Clad! With two coworking locations, Iron Clad is doing amazing things for the Kansas community. Iron Clad recently joined the Proximity network and we couldn’t be more thrilled about it. We asked co-owner Darin Miller some questions about his two spaces.
When did you open your coworking spaces?
Our Wamego space opened in 2016 and we opened our Manhattan space in 2017 .
What is your favorite thing about operating a coworking space?
Meeting all of the interesting people and seeing them succeed.
What has been the most surprising/unexpected thing about operating a coworking space?
The idea of a shared space is not a natural inclination in the more rural settings where our spaces are located. It’s [been] a challenge to get people to adopt.
What’s your favorite story of one of your members?
The group hug that happened in our online closed group when the father of a member passed away. Mind you, these are all people that had only recently met through Iron Clad and for the most part would not have known each other.

Tell us about your space? How big is it? What kinds of amenities do you have?
Iron Clad strives to be a place where people are treated the same no matter their title or position. We offer memberships and facilities for coworking, offsite meetings, and celebrations. Because we have two locations in the area, a membership at Iron Clad allows the use of both spaces – whichever is convenient.

The Wamego space is in a limestone building built in 1884 and is mostly made up of an open area with two private meeting spaces partitioned by garage doors. We have a speaker/mic system that can be used when larger groups use the space. With 5200 sf, the capacity is 175 people. The Manhattan space is smaller at 2600 sf and has three areas with a large working area in the front, a small meeting are in a mezzanine and a larger meeting area in the back. This is also an older building and part of the Downtown Manhattan Historic District which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
We chose the locations of both of our spaces to be very similar in amenities and our focus is mostly open work areas and meeting spaces. Both spaces are located at street level in the downtown business districts in their respective cities near well-known landmarks and restaurants. Both are on street level with prominent storefront windows. Each has internet with 1 GB upload and 1 GB download capability and a number of large display screens with Apple TV connectivity. We also have a TV billboard located in each of the storefront windows scrolling and advertising our space as well as our members to people walking on the sidewalk. We have business card holders for members to post their information and lockers that double as mail boxes. There is a printer/scanner/copier for use with no limit or monitoring and members can have their business names displayed on our store front windows as an add-on.

What is your biggest piece of advice for someone wanting to open a space?
With our spaces being located in a relatively rural location and coworking culture that has not matured in a way that might exist in a larger city, you cannot follow the recipe of how coworking runs in larger metropolitan cities. It’s not necessarily easier or harder, it’s just different.

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Congratulations to Iron Clad on their thriving locations! Here’s to many successful years of community building.For more info visit:
Iron Clad Coworking
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Iron Clad is part of the Proximity Network so full-time members of any coworking space that is Powered by Proximity can use Proximity Guest Pass to drop in to work at the space during regular business hours.
Meeting with Coworkers at Iron Clad Coworking Space Main Area of Iron Clad with Coworker
Iron Clad Main Space empty
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