Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Ivancic.
Hi Joe, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first heard about CIC St. Louis and the Cortex Innovation District when I was in grad school. My mom, an educator, had taken a tour of the district and came home and told me, “Joe, you need to go look for a job there.” So I did. My wife and I are both from St. Louis, our families are here. So staying in the city and working somewhere that was doing something genuinely exciting for St. Louis felt like the right move.
I started at CIC in October 2017, right as we were gearing up to launch our newest location in the 4220 building in spring 2018. There was a lot of energy around that expansion, and I remember the feeling of not fully understanding everything CIC did yet, but knowing it was worth paying attention to. Learning about our global footprint was eye-opening. CIC is now in 11 cities globally. Our presence in St. Louis is just one part of a global network.
Over the years I’ve grown into leading our sales team here, where we handle office, coworking, and lab space leasing, along with hourly and daily rentals of our conference and event spaces.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t all been smooth, no. I remember working through the pandemic thinking, what is the future of workspace even going to look like? Somewhere along the way I also read every possible think piece on return-to-office versus remote work.
But our core offering hasn’t had to change because of any of it. If anything, flexible, plug-and-play office and lab space has found its audience with a different kind of company: teams who understand the value of being in person and want a space built around that, not around a lease for a specific footprint.
We’ve never tried to convince remote-first companies that they need to come back to an office. But, if you’re a company that wants an in-person presence, a hybrid setup, or just a place for your team to gather, there’s not a better option out there than CIC.
We’ve been impressed with CIC St. Louis, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
CIC builds, activates, and connects local innovation ecosystems around the world. We do this through our global network of innovation campuses, managing 1.5M square feet of work, lab, and event space across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Unlike traditional coworking, our innovation campuses are designed for innovators to meet, connect, and grow their businesses alongside each other.
Our founder, Tim Rowe, often talks about the difference between a space and a place. A space is square footage, furniture, and a mailbox. A place is where the actual work of building a company happens: the conversations, the interactions, the reason you keep showing up. You hear it when people say things like “this is the place where I met my cofounder” or “this is the place where I wrote my first grant.”
Space still matters, though, and we back it up with real infrastructure. In 2024, right around our 10-year anniversary here, we completed a $2 million lab renovation, a joint investment with our partners at Cortex: six private labs that scale from a single scientist to a 44-person team, plus shared bench space for smaller groups. Across our three buildings in St. Louis, we have kitchens, conference rooms, event space, and even a podcast studio. If there’s an amenity a member needs, chances are, we’ve already got it covered.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
Our partnership with Cortex has been instrumental, and I count myself lucky to work closely with that team. The district’s focus on attracting and retaining talent is genuinely impressive to watch up close.
Beyond that, I count myself lucky to have a window into so many incredible companies. We have a large range of industries represented at CIC, and so many people working to solve unique problems. Watching that has been one of the more inspiring parts of this job.
Pricing:
- Private offices and suites: From $600/month
- Coworking: From $300/month
- Private labs: From $1,200/bench/month
- Shared labs: From $600/bench/month
- Meeting rooms and event space: From $85/hour
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cic.com/st-louis
- Instagram: @cicnow
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cicnow
- Other: stlouis@cic.com
