Looking Back at the Past Workspaces of FireBoard Labs

With the renovations of our new HQ almost complete, we felt it might be a good time to look back at the places we used to call home.  As it is easy to see, our choice of work location reflects our connection with our community.

208 West 19th Street

For two months in 2015 Ted and Steven rented an office at Office Port a coworking space in downtown KCMO.  This would be the first location where the co-founders would gather to drink coffee and discuss a better way to make a cloud connected thermometer.  Right away they realized more space would be needed.   The building is currently home to the downtown campus of Christ Community Church.

208 West 19th Street, FireBoard’s first office space, albeit for two months.

118 Southwest Boulevard

This office was a sublet from an animation studio that utilized the building’s upper floors.  The unit’s second floor fire escape  proved handy for Research and Development testing.  As business grew,  a larger space was needed.

118 Southwest Boulevard, second location of FireBoard Labs.

1656 Washington Street

This space was roomy enough to do some assembly and to hire some part time employees.  This location is where most of the manufacturing of the FBX11 was done.  Quickly it was realized that more space would be necessary, and the search was on for a location with more expansion options.  This building complex was also home to one of  Screenland’s locations, a locally owned movie house chain.

1656 Washington Street, third office space home to FireBoard Labs.

105 East 5th Street

What was once the Oldham Hotel, became FireBoard Lab’s fourth location.    The operation started with multiple offices on the third floor, but quickly expanded to the fourth floor to make room for storage and assembly.  With a three year lease in place, and new employees brought on for manufacturing, it seemed like this would be the home to FireBoard Labs for the duration.

105 East Fifth Street. The fourth location of FireBoard Labs just a few blocks west from 501 Charlotte Street.

3305 Terrace Street

What was thought to be a distant goal soon became a reality.  In 2019 FireBoard Labs made the commitment to the machinery necessary to design and build their printed circuit boards in house.  This bold move required yet more space.  Enter our current location and the building that has been home to FireBoard the longest.  This building has quirky features like being built into the side of a cliff, and a ramp to a second story loading dock/warehouse.   Rumors of the building having a connection to prohibition era political boss Tom Pendergast only adds to the charm of our home.

3305 Terrace Street. The fifth home to FireBoard Labs, our first location with our PCB line.

501 Charlotte Street

As this is being written, the new soldering and coating line installation is well under way as well as finishing touches on plumbing and electrical.  Simply mentioning the new building is enough to kick off a buzz of excitement at FireBoard Labs.

501 Charlotte Street, FireBoard Labs Headquarters.