The Idea for The Place
The idea for The Place originated with Vince D'Acchioli, founder of On Target Ministries (OTM) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Vince was looking for a place to house his On Target Institute, a curriculum development division of OTM. The institute needed a place to gather groups for modeling new teaching formats to be distributed throughout North America. Video and audio capture and production was also needed. Vince spent 30 years in retail climbing to a senior executive position with a fortune 1000 company before leaving in 1989 to go into full-time ministry. While in retail he studied under the best in the world when it comes to quality customer service - a sadly missing part of today's retailing environment. In addition, the food service industry had always been fascinating for him to observe.
Finally, through Gary Larson, a good friend and local architect, 
Vince was introduced to some information about The Third Place, a sociological phenomena that addresses a need people have to socialize at places other than work or home. Company's like Panera Bread and Starbucks are thriving because they are meeting a real need people have to form community. These companies do this by appealing to a felt need people have for good products -in this case, the food and coffee.
The Place will reverse this trend with marketing efforts that sell the real need first, (community) and then provide the very best offerings possible to satisfy the felt need.
As the following will demonstrate, the concept behind The Place is truly a culmination of all of these ideas and experiences.
"The Place" is a for-profit extension of On Target Ministries. ALL net profits will be directed toward 501(c)3 non-profit causes serving the local community and church.