Forward Space is the largest Steelcase furniture dealership in Chicago and Milwaukee. A woman-owned business, they supply furniture to a range of clients from offices, to educational and medical institutions.

Once the furniture is sold, it is delivered to site and installed by a separate installation company. While Forward Space has a few of their own installers, they are a non-union company, while most of the buildings in Chicago employ only union labor, which means they have to subcontract the work to a different firm.

The owners of Forward Space want to explore the idea of starting a new, minority owned union installation firm, to ensure that their furniture is installed correctly, while also helping their clients meet their ESG and diversity goals.

The goal of the project was to create a plan for the formation of the new company.

This involved studying the installation process, understanding the attributes of a good installation company, understanding the process of hiring union labor, and for getting an MBE certification.