Most likely you have noticed the building on the corner of East Main Street and South Third Street has a lot of action going on inside, and many strings of lights. That would be due to the latest tenant, CrossChx, an entrepreneurial startup set out to fundamentally change the healthcare industry.
“Before we moved to our current space on East Main, we had a space in the the Chase building downtown,” says Sean Lane, Co-Founder and CEO of CrossChx. “We liked it because it was centrally located in Columbus, but as our company grew and we added more people to our team we simply ran out of room. Even though our growth made a move necessary, we wanted to find a location that we could truly customize and make our own. We wanted a space that visually represented the culture we are creating and embodies the qualities we wanted to project for our business.”
They were drawn to the location and the open floor plan of the 30,000 square foot space, offering plenty of room to house their team of around 100 employees.
“In a way, the space was a blank slate that provided the general size and structure we were looking for without the added expense and delays associated with major demolition,” says Brad Mascho, Co-Founder and President. “Essentially, we could make the space our own.”
Keeping the exterior of the building mostly intact, Lane and Mascho and their employees came together to complete much of the work inside.
“From stringing lights, painting walls, and building our own stage, our employees put many hours of work into making our space what it is today,” says Lane.
On the first floor, they added a kitchen (with a full-time chef), a gym, a stage, conference rooms, and a few workspaces. During my visit, the rich scent of BBQ ribs wafted throughout the space.
Conference rooms and smaller work areas around the perimeter of the second floor are themed around the eleven core values of CrossChx.
Lane and Mascho launched CrossChx in 2012. The two had met while attending Miami University and became close friends, but upon graduation, went separate ways. Lane headed to the United States Air Force and National Security Agency.
“There, I developed advanced technologies and biometrics to find bad guys,” he says.
He served five tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq as an Intelligence Officer, and founded his first business, Battlefield Telecommunications Systems (BTS), building software for the intelligence community.
Mascho “spent a decade in Washington D.C. as a senior advisor to members of the United States Congress and later as an executive of an insurance association.”
“When I visited my hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio, I saw the effects and severity of prescription drug abuse and doctor shopping firsthand,” says Lane. “That’s when I realized that I could take the same technologies I developed in the military and apply them to verify patients identities in healthcare.”
“As I thought about who I wanted to be part of the mission, the first person that came to mind was my longtime friend Brad,” he adds.
Columbus was an easy choice for them to put down roots for their company. A $5 million Series A investment from Columbus-based venture capital firm Drive Capital provided the funding to get them going.
“We saw that there was something truly special happening in downtown Columbus and we absolutely wanted to be part of it,” says Lane. “The vibrance and entrepreneurial spirit provided the perfect backdrop for the culture we wanted to create at CrossChx.”
“When we have hired out of state, we’ve found our candidates are generally attracted to the idea of living and working in Columbus because of the cultural reputation the city has developed and the potential for the future,” adds Mascho. “Just about everything we need to be successful, including talent, can be found right here in central Ohio.”
Photos by Anne Evans.
To learn more about CrossChx, visit Crosschx.com.
Do you know of, have, or work in, a creative workspace or cool office space and would like to be featured in this series? If so, please contact Anne Evans.
