Founder and CEO Bryce Ballew takes on a few projects to keep his license current and skills sharp, but he finds his interaction with Tradecraft Industries members to be soul fulfilling and fun.

A variety of conference tables in the common areas give multiple teams room to share projects, plans or a cup of joe.

Early in his contracting career, Bryce Ballew, Founder of Tradecraft Industries, worked for a general contractor that built spaces for cool restaurants, creative marketing agencies and technology companies. While working at night, he could study and absorb the imaginative designs that went into creating high-energy spaces. He started wondering why contractors never got to run their businesses in such cool, fun spaces.

His was a big idea and he knew he needed more time to pay his dues in contracting, gleaning all he could from the master builders he worked with. Bryce understood the immediate need to support himself and to build his credibility, so he became a sponge with every client, tradesman and architect he met along the way.

In 2012, Bryce visited a Galvanize location in Denver, Colorado. Galvanize is a high-tech coworking concept that has been introduced in nearly a dozen metropolitan areas nationwide. Touring the vibrant workspace model that includes classrooms, resources, and business incubator services for startup tech companies, he found validation for the type of environment he’d envisioned.

“It was clear to me that coworking was a growing trend, not just a hipster idea. With the world changing and business moving faster and faster, companies want more flexibility to grow and scale around others in the same industry,” Bryce says. “So, in 2013, I formed Construction Incorporated LLC, my own construction management/general contracting firm, and began to flesh out my idea, when I wasn’t managing the projects that seemed to find me.”

Over the next four years, he continued to build his reputation as a progressive-thinking contractor, making critical contacts and pitching investors, all to get the doors open for Tradecraft. Bryce landed on “Tradecraft” for the name, a term used by the intelligence community to describe the techniques and art of espionage, most of which are learned in the field, similarly to how contractors pass down their trade to apprentices. Adding “Industries” to the name was a natural way to both leave room for future growth in representing other fields and give a nod to construction’s industrial roots.

It wasn’t until 2017 that Bryce would open the doors to Tradecraft Industries, a flex-office environment in Denver, designed and built by a contractor for contractors of all types. It is the culmination of his vision to bring progressive, forward-thinking members together in a creative community where they can share the risks of contracting, project leads and well-honed skill sets to grow their businesses.

Protecting the American Dream

The American economy does not work without contractors of all types, and the industry is starved for new talent. Tradecraft Industries hopes to attract and mentor the kind of contractors who realize they can live a good life as a skilled craftsman. Bryce thinks the cool factor of the physical design and the energy of the environment will draw in innovative young carpenters, electricians, welders and plumbers looking to be their own boss.

From the beginning, he felt his vision of an innovative work environment would probably not attract longtime contractors already set in their ways of doing business. He was right. It was the younger contractors and early adopters who instinctively knew there were great benefits to coworking. They quickly self-selected membership and joined the community.

When asked about his biggest hurdle, Bryce explains, “We began as a real estate and construction startup, not a tech company that could move from version to version when bugs occurred. Our building was our business. We had one shot to get it right—all of it, the concept, the design, the construction, the launch—and the early members had to mesh.

For the Members

“Tradecraft has no noisy pool tables or foosball in the common areas, opting instead to create an atmosphere that fosters social interactions for business without distractions,” Bryce says. “All members can participate in monthly poker tournaments; open houses for prospective new members; lunch-and-learn and webinar topics like negotiation, marketing and insurance that are very relevant to contractors.”

Bryce likes to say, “Tradecraft is a place for working ON your business, not IN your business. We try to help our members get out of the day-to-day projects and into the strategic planning. By working outside the generally isolated silos, they get to see lots of hustle and problems being solved across many businesses.”

Having Galvanize Law Group, LLC as an early member, specializing in construction law, is a big benefit to the community. “Legal issues can flare up at any time,” Bryce says. “When a member is facing a lawsuit or has to kick a contractor or a sub off a site, they can walk over and talk with Galvanize right when issues come up.”

Nick Groeger, Principal at Taurus Builders, already had decades of experience in metro Denver when he joined and moved his office of three people to Tradecraft shortly after the doors opened, and he never looked back.

“We slipped into the Tradecraft environment without missing a beat, taking advantage of every benefit available to us, from the lunch-and-learns, using Galvanize for legal advice and especially interacting with like-type businesses,” Nick says. “With our portfolio and as part of Tradecraft, we act and show as a bigger company and compete more successfully for the larger projects.”

Three electricians were also among the early members and immediately started bidding and working projects together. Two were commercial and one residential but they won new business together, sharing crews to keep them busy as construction project schedules inevitably got changed.

Most of Tradecraft shared business is done with a handshake because the members trust and respect each other to do the right thing. Keeping the balance in the community has not been an issue, but just in case, every member understands the Tradecraft Industries Code of Ethics:

1. No Stealing
2. Honor Your Word
3. Protect the Tradecraft Community
4. Let Things Go and Move On
5. We Are a Community
6. Respect Your Elders
7. Help the Younger Generation
8. Don’t Be a Jackass

The Specs

Designed by Bryce in collaboration with Adam Harding of Roth Sheppard Architects and winner of an American Architecture Award in 2019, the Tradecraft Industries physical structure employs multipurpose building materials and was constructed by Bryce and his crew, from dirt lot to doors open, in just seven months.

The stylish, industrial looking, rectangular metal building has a first floor of storage containers welded together around the perimeter, available for rent to members needing drive-up storage. Offices from 100 to 600 square feet ring the outside of the second floor. The building is surrounded by a large parking lot that can hold delivery trucks and a 30-yard dumpster. Each member gets a unique username and password for their Wi-Fi connection and firewall protection both inside and outside the community.

Monthly memberships offering 24/7 access to the building, coffee, Wi-Fi, classes and conference rooms begin at $125 monthly and offer the ability to add on storage and/or office rental, mailbox, 30-yard dumpster access and trailer parking.

Spreading the Word

Members found Tradecraft as soon as the doors opened, or perhaps it was the contacts that Bryce had made over 15 years in the business. He tried social media advertising with little response. His most successful marketing came from an open house for prospective members that resulted in an article in 5280–Denver’s Mile High Magazine. Between the article and the open house, Tradecraft Industries’ community was humming. Bryce continues to go after news articles and interviews, holds the occasional open house and lets the environment sell itself.

“We, surprisingly, get a lot of people stop in as they’re just driving by, wondering if it’s a craft brewery or just wondering what we’re doing,” Bryce explains.

When asked about his role in the community, Bryce says, “Aside from keeping the AC running and giving tours, I qualify the connections that come to me for recommendations on a contractor or vendor. I’ve been around long enough to know how to vet a lead, to determine timing, scope, requirements and whether the budget is realistic before I turn the lead over to the most appropriate members. No one has time to waste on a job if it is too small, not clear or won’t go anywhere. The members trust me to check it out.”

When vetting prospective members, Bryce likes to share a coffee and a chat to get a sense of how they work their businesses, whether they’re ready for an office, a coworking community, or not. Most prospective members are quick to react either positively or a bit defensively at sharing leads, resources and ideas. According to Bryce, occupancy has held at about 98% since opening over four years ago.

What’s next for Tradecraft Industries? Bryce says expansion will come when and where it’s right for the larger strategy.

“I’ve witnessed the problems associated with the ‘growth at all costs’ mindset of other coworking spaces; I want to build when it’s right and with the right team. The overall vision is for multiple Tradecraft locations, both nationally and internationally, that facilitate the community aspect of the trades within and between jurisdictions.”

As the construction industry continues to evolve and adapt to market fluctuations and faster changes, Tradecraft is proof that the brick-and-mortar community is alive and well, facilitating adaptation from within and helping the next generation of contractors to build their businesses and the nation.