Jul. 11—WORTHINGTON — The Globe opened last week in its new location at 416 10th St., in downtown Worthington, after employees worked from home for two full months.

The editorial, advertising and front office staff moved into the new office during the final days of June, and the doors opened to the public on July 5. Located in the former Lien Electric store, the building was purchased by Al Drost and Dan Krueger and completely renovated for the news organization.

Globe Publisher Joni Harms and the staff are pleased to be back in an office in downtown Worthington.

"When the Lien Electric building was brought to our attention, I met with Al Drost and Dan Krueger and fell in love with it immediately," Harms said. "Their vision matched up with what we were looking for — keeping the exposed brick and creating an industrial look."

The owners did a build-out to suit The Globe's needs, with a fully open-concept office, including a reception area, reporters' desks and an advertising area in the front of the building, with offices for the publisher and editor, a conference room, break room and space at the back of the building for delivery of newspapers and added storage. There is also a full basement, which was an added bonus, Harms said.

"Our new office space has eight dedicated spaces for employees, with space for the telecommuters to come in and work as needed," she added.

While much of the work area was ready for employees, Harms said a full renovation of the building's front exterior should be completed before the end of summer. The remaining work includes replacement of the front windows and door, and improvements to the base below the front windows.

"We're super excited to be right smack in the middle of downtown with all of the other 10th Street businesses," Harms said.

The new office is approximately two and a half blocks from The Globe's former location at 300 11th Street. That building, which housed The Globe from 1956 through April 2022, was sold to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and will be renovated to suit the church's needs.

"We listed our former building in 2019 because, through all of the changes in our industry, we do business differently," Harms said. "One of the things is the number of people it takes to produce our paper and products."

When COVID-19 struck in March 2020, The Globe's employees began working from home. With the success of the hybrid work environment, Harms said her goal was to search for a smaller building for the team that would return to the office setting.

"The building we moved out of on 11th Street was built with a press in it — it housed a full production (division)," she added. Multiple areas of the split-level building were not in use.

While it made sense to seek out a smaller building for The Globe, Harms said it was an emotional move for employees who had worked there a long time.

"I teared up because I grew up in that building," said Harms. "As excited as we are for the new location I, personally, was really sad to leave my business home of 44 years. There were lots of memories of many, many former employees.

"It was where Joe Rossi had his start; where the Vances, Jim Brandenburg, Owen Van Essen, Paul Gruchow, Ray Crippen, Bob Cashel, Lew Hudson — it's where all these people and so many other great employees in our history worked," she added.

The Globe's graphic designers will continue to work remotely full-time, while editorial and advertising staff have the flexibility of a hybrid work model — working from the office or from home.

The Globe's new office hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday.