John Ewine

Founder and president of Prevolv Inc.

John Ewine left a career as an industrial engineer and launched St. Paul-based Prevolv Inc., a commercial furniture dealer that has grown to 15 employees in the past 17 years. Prevolv also has an office in Madison, Wis.

Ewine, 49, said there were strong similarities between industrial engineering and the commercial furniture business because both entail space planning, ergonomics and design. Prevolv creates "smart" work spaces to help companies maximize flexibility and increase productivity.

Many companies today are transitioning from typical office cubes to open-plan designs. Ewine helps them design collaborative work spaces with more natural light and mobility. Prevolv's primary manufacturing partner is Inscape, which makes movable walls, workstations and file storage. Prevolv also works with more than 75 additional manufacturers.

Q: What trends are you seeing in office space?

A: Finding ways to allow more daylight into working environments, which is done by relocating private offices to the center of the building and by lowering workstation panel heights. Making private offices smaller without making them feel smaller. This can be done by incorporating glass walls and sliding doors. Allowing employees to work more collaboratively by lowering workstation panel heights and incorporating smaller meeting areas throughout the office. Height-adjustable work surfaces that allow people to sit and stand throughout the day. And incorporating sound masking into working environments to make them less disruptive.

Q: If you aren't looking for new space, how can you maximize your existing space with office furniture?

A: Whether you're moving into a new space or not, your office furniture should always support your business goals and the way your employees work. This might include lower panel heights for more collaboration while maintaining private areas for those job functions that include more heads-down work. With changes in technology, workstation sizes are becoming smaller; however, we all still have the need to store certain things.

Q: What are some projects you're working on?

A: General Mills recently selected Prevolv and Inscape to support their new mobile workplace strategy, which includes the incorporation of low panel heights and "benching" solutions. These solutions will be incorporated in locations all over the country, including an office in Cincinnati, where we're currently installing about 50 workstations. Also, CliftonLarsonAllen is opening up new offices in Des Moines, Iowa, and Peoria, Ill. We help them with everything.

Liz Wolf is an Eagan-based freelance writer. She can be reached at wolfliz99@aol.com.