By Shelby Reynolds, Wichita Business Journal
Since closing on the former Printing Inc. building last November, Tracy Hoover and Curt Gridley have immersed themselves in a plan to create a collaborative makerspace in downtown Wichita.
The couple has invested $5 million in a nonprofit called Groover Labs — a combination of their last names — and they're right in the action.
Hoover and Gridley are in the space every day, monitoring construction progress as crews build office spaces, five maker labs and a 275-person event space. Hutton Construction is contracted for the design-build project.
Hoover and Gridley celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary last week by shopping for furniture at IKEA for the future Groover Labs space, projected to open next month. It's not unusual for them to roll up their sleeves to load and unload furniture, then actually put it together.
And the night before their interview with the WBJ, Hoover and Gridley were up till 11 p.m. putting together award boxes for the Tallgrass Film Festival happening later in the week.
Hoover, a software engineer, and Gridley, a software and hardware engineer, have grand plans for the 42,000 square-foot building near Third Street and St. Francis, and what it could mean for Wichita's manufacturing industry. The two sat down with the WBJ — in between their busy schedules — to talk about their vision for the space.
For someone who's not familiar, how would you describe the concept for Groover Labs?
Gridley: It can be different things for different people, but for us we're sort of trying to create a small version of what's happening in general in Silicon Valley or Boston — a tech center startup hub like that. We found various pieces of some of those things in Wichita, but there was no place where they were close-enough together where they could feed off of each other, and so we were excited about the opportunity to create a facility that had all these various pieces — co-working, event space, gallery space, maker space — all in one building so that all the various people could interact and collaborate.
Hoover: And then there's our emphasis on product development. Wichita has a lot of manufacturing capacity and a lot of manufacturing expertise, but it's focused around the aviation industry and as (James) Chung ... pointed out, our fortunes have risen and fallen with the fortunes of the aviation industry, so if we can help get Wichita, you know, broaden what our manufacturing capacity can do, then that's good for Wichita.
What could the partnership opportunities look like at Groover Labs?
Gridley: We would really love to engage with local corporations and businesses, big and small. Bigger ones who might share some of their talent as well as maybe their equipment and dollars in order to tap into the community that we'll be developing. And then small businesses. There's a lot of great small manufacturers — advanced small manufacturing — again largely targeted to the aircraft industry. Again if we could connect with some of those people. The ideal thing is somebody comes to us with an idea and we help them turn it into a prototype of a product and then as it comes to market, we can find local manufacturers who can help manufacture that idea.
The concept of collaborating seems to be very trendy right now, which traditionally has been a little taboo among competing companies. Is that something you're trying to break down?
Gridley: Yeah, in particular with aircraft manufacturers. There are some top-notch advanced manufacturing facilities in Wichita, but they seem to be competing for business, and to me if we could pull some of those people together willing to form partnerships in various ways, I think there's potential new markets that we could go after using largely their existing talent pool and equipment, just targeting a different market.
What are some other industries you think might be interested in tapping into these partnerships?
Gridley: It just goes across the board. I wouldn't say there's a particular industry we're going after, and that's where again partnering with local industry, to the extent they show interest and reach out to us and connect, we'll be willing to consider going after about anything. But tech, and in my case electronics, is my bread and butter.
I think in Wichita you get into a pattern of 'This is how you've always done it,' and unless you've been exposed to other ways, I think it's hard to make that transition. So one key component we feel is to bring in talent and potential start-up people from other areas of the country.
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CURT GRIDLEY AND TRACY HOOVER
AGES: Curt 61, Tracy, 56.
TITLE: Co-founders of Groover Labs.
EDUCATION: Gridley: BS in math and philosophy, Wichita State University, 1980; master's in math, 1983, Dartmouth College. Hoover: BA, computer science and English, Wellesley College, 1985.
EXPERIENCE: Gridley: Founded Amber Wave Systems, 1994; sold to USRobotics, 1996; taught Intro to Engineering as an adjunct at WSU two years. Hoover: Software engineer in Boston area until 1997; together established the first Faculty of Distinction professorship in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Curtis D. Gridley Professorship in the History and Philosophy of Science; together established The Gridley Family Foundation, 2000; Former board members of MakeICT.
FAMILY: Son, Henry, 23; daughter, Fiona, 20.