About Us
Awards & Recognition
> Minneapolis | St Paul Business Journal's Fast 50 award, 2009
> Glowpoint High Performance Award 2008
> Minneapolis | St. Paul Business Journal’s "Great Place to Work" award, 2005, 2006
> Minneapolis | St. Paul Business Journal’s Top 25 A/V Systems Integrators, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
> Glowpoint Top 5 Channel Award, 2006
> Glowpoint Shared Vision Award, 2007
> Crestron Outstanding Sales Achievement Award, 2005, 2006
> Wolfvision Visualizer Award, 2007
MSpace History - A Success Story
Established since 1987... Founded in April 2002
MSpace was founded in April of 2002 by business partners, Ryan Heining (President), formerly of Acoustic Communication System, Inc (ACS), and Joel Peterson (CEO), co-founder and president/owner of Workplace-2000, now known as i:Space. Together, their ambition was to be the top A/V integrator in the downtown Minneapolis business community.
Ryan and Joel began their small business venture in Joel's windowless conferencing room at Workplace 2000, which they humorously referred to as "The Incubator." In 2002, the MSpace team moved downtown into an office suite in the skyway level of the AT&T Tower on 9th Avenue and Marquette Avenue. This opportunity to be located in the heart of the downtown business community gives business leaders convenient accessibility to MSpace's A/V solution expertise, and allows MSpace to be in close proximity to their key clients.
Ryan's previous company, ACS, was one of the premier A/V integration companies in the Midwest, prior to its acquisition by ClearOne Communications of Utah in June of 2003. In the fall of 2003, MSpace took on the opportunity to acquire the U.S. Business Services and Integration division of ClearOne Communications located in Golden Valley, Minnesota. This division was a full service integration company purchased by ClearOne in 2002 from E. Mergent, Inc., and formerly known as Acoustic Communications (ACS). The core technical team from ACS, including Engineering, Project Management, Help Desk, Programming, Administration and Sales, is now a part of the MSpace team. This acquisition added a very experienced group of individuals to MSpace, who have been specializing in Audio Visual technology for many years. Ryan and the MSpace team have achieved remarkable success by consistently seeking out opportunities and working together to create progressive company culture.
Over the course of MSpace's existence, a group of exceptionally skilled AV professionals have come together, leveraging all aspects of the business to bring their clients the best in A/V technology and support. In 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008, MSpace was rated in the Top A/V Integrators in Minneapolis, as well as awarded the honor of "Great Places to Work " in 2005 and 2006; both honors were presented by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
In effort to keep pace with the ever-changing marketplace of A/V technology, MSpace has internally outgrown their office suite downtown, and moved their operations office to Minnetonka, Minnesota as of July 2005.
MSpace wanted to continue their unfailing company growth by expanding their West Coast presence and client base. In November of 2006, MSpace established an office location in San Francisco, with Daniel Kleman leading as the West Coast Director of Sales Engineering. To add to this national growth, Ross Denne became the General Manager of MSpace's Chicago office in January of 2008.
Achieving double digit growth since the founding in 2002, with a 2008 growth of 20%, MSpace is continually looking for opportunities to extend geographical reach and achieve market-share goals. On June 19th 2009, President Ryan Heining announced from the floor of InfoComm09 that MSpace acquired the Illinois-based audiovisual company Fox River Graphics (FRG). This acquisition doubled the size of MSpace and added offices to Carpentersville IL, Milwaukee WI, and Phoenix AZ. FRG's skilled team, 25 years of experience, and vendor resources made them a perfect addition to the MSpace team!
MSpace Timeline
1987
Acoustic Communication Systems (ACS) was founded by Rob Sheeley. Core technologies were Paging and Soundmasking.
1991
ACS changes core technology focus to the Meeting Space and video conferencing (PictureTel and CLI).
1996
ACS awarded Minnesota State contract for video conferencing and deploys systems in over 140 out-state Minnesota schools as part of the TAG (Telecommunication Access Grant) project.
1998
ACS became the first Polycom video conferencing dealer in Minneapolis/St. Paul market. Increased demand for video communication and Polycom ease of use and competitive price points drove ACS revenue above $9 million.
1999
ACS was aquired by VideoLabs and the two organizations went under the corporate name E. Mergent, Inc (EMRT on the NASDAQ). Combined organization grew to over $22 million in revenue. Professional Services division was launched to provide nationwide telecommunication companies with video conferencing, AV integration and help desk support.
April, 2002
MSpace Inc. was incorporated under the name Conference Technologies Inc. founded by Joel Peterson of Workplace-2000 and Ryan Heining, formerly of ACS.
May, 2002
EMRT|ACS was acquired by ClearOne Communications, Inc. a leading manufacturer in the audio conferencing and AV industries, establishing the ClearOne Business Services Division in Minneapolis as their North American integration and services division.
January, 2004
MSpace Inc. purchased the ClearOne Business Services Division ClearOne Communications and re-establishes core engineering, management, project management and help desk teams.
July, 2005
As MSpace reached their full capacity in their downtown Minneapolis office suite, they realized that they needed more space for their growing engineering, management and programming staff. MSpace expanded their operational office to Minnetonka, yet continued to maintain their downtown office as a showroom for clients.
November, 2006
MSpace launched its West Coast operations in San Francisco, California. Daniel Kleman was appointed West Coast Director of Sales Engineering to manage the growing client base throughout northern California up to Oregon and Washington.
August, 2007
Adam Minnich, a Sales Representative with MSpace, joined Daniel Kleman on the West Coast in Portland, Oregon to facilitate ongoing opportunities and manage client accounts.
January, 2008
Ross Denne, Senior Sales Representative, moved to Chicago Illinois to manage and grow the new office. By being present in Chicago, MSpace was more accessible to current clients as well as focused on the growing our Chicago AV market.
June, 2009
MSpace acquired Illinois based Fox River Graphics. The acquisition was part of an overall growth strategy to extend MSpace's geographical reach and achieve market-share goals. By Acquiring Fox River Graphics, MSpace built a platform to increase its presence as a premier national player in the AV industry.
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