Making an iMpact

Local companies give back.

Minnetonka resident Joel Peterson founded iSpace Furniture, a contract office furniture dealership, in 1993. About 10 years later, Peterson co-founded MSpace, a company that focuses on conference room technologies. But Peterson wanted to create another space—one that helped foster a culture of giving back to the community.

Peterson’s iMpact Team unites members from iSpace and MSpace, both located in a showroom in downtown Minneapolis, and functions as a philanthropic organization for both organizations. “I believe the more you formalize something like that within your company, the more impactful it will be,” Peterson explains, “and the more it will mean to the employee base.” The iMpact Team helps the companies use some of their profits for charitable giving.

The iMpact Team has partnered with large nonprofits like Second Harvest Heartland, one of the nation’s largest food banks, and with Books for Africa. “But then we find some [nonprofits] that are less known that are pretty cool,” says Peterson. One of these is the 363 Days Food Program, a grassroots organization that distributes sandwiches to the homeless and hungry.

In 2016, iSpace Furniture was one of Minnesota Business magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.