Local training firm starts U.S. expansion

BOULDER – Boulder Digital Arts LLC has big plans to expand its training-program company to sites across the nation, recently opening an office in Sarasota, Florida.

Owners of the Boulder-based digital-arts program formed the Creative Collective company within its walls to handle expansion plans. Creative Collective partnered with a business incubator called HuB in Sarasota to open the new HuBED office, according to a press release. The name HuBED is a combination of HuB, the existing incubator office, and “ED,” short for “education,” for the new training programs offered through Creative Collective.

HuBED is billed as a “community-powered resource center for people who create things.” People involved in film, photography, design, technology and business all can benefit from the program’s education, community and collaboration, according to the HuBED website (ed.hubsarasota.com).

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A new Creative Collective office in Eugene, Oregon, is expected to open early next year, and other offices are planned in Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Miami, said Bruce Borowsky, who co-owns Boulder Digital Arts with Zach Daudert. The cost to open a new office is expected to be about $10,000, he said. Some of the new offices will be financed by Borowsky and Daudert; others will be financed through partnerships with companies in the areas where they’re located, Borowsky said.

“It’s very exciting to take something that started in our local community and take it to the next level. We’ve talked to people around the country in the last few years who wished they could have this in their part of the country,” Borowsky said. “We’re being very strategic about the locations.”

Borowsky credits Boulder Digital Arts’ success to its effort to “build a community” for digital arts professionals in Boulder. Boulder Digital Arts has classrooms, offices and co-working spaces for independent workers in a 6,000-square-foot space at 1600 Range St. in Boulder.

In addition, the company’s success has been dictated by rapidly changing technology in the digital world, Borowsky said. Working professionals need the classes that BDA provides, he said. Classes range from $60 to more than $1,000 depending on the length of the class and what students can learn from it.

“People need so much help just keeping up,” Borowsky said. “What makes us unique is that we offer it in person. People want to sit in a classroom. They enjoy the camaraderie.”

BDA holds more than 300 events per year and has more than 600 paid members, according to the press release. The company has grown rapidly since opening in 2004 – appearing on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list of fastest growing companies numerous times, Borowsky said.