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Sam Ites and Justin Smith are educated, enthusiastic and talented. And now, the two young entrepreneurs have free temporary office space and a sounding board for their ideas.

Ites and Smith, who recently launched Kallisto Video Productions, are the first participants in PM Underground, a program initiated by Performance Marketing Inc., a West Des Moines-based marketing company.

The project is one of several that Performance Marketing has created to mark its 10th anniversary, said Jodi Stevens, an account coordinator with the firm. It issued an internal request for proposal for project ideas, some of which are still under development.

“We thought this was such a great idea, we didn’t want to sit on it. We wanted to start it and see how it evolves,” she said.

Performance Marketing, 1501 42nd St., Suite 500, has set up nine cubicle spaces in its office suite for creative entrepreneurs, whether they’re starting their own company or even searching for a new position.

“If people are interested, we’ll meet with them and see if they’re a good fit,” Stevens said.

In addition to desk space, participants have Internet access, use of a conference room to meet with clients and the benefit of being able to bounce ideas off Performance Marketing’s staff members, she said. “We also ask them to provide five hours of their time a week on a project, so that’s kind of a small payment. If we can use them to, for instance, help redo our Web site, or to do a Tweet-up event or sit in on a client meeting and provide some insight.”

Kallisto has already used its connection with Performance Marketing to successfully bid on a project for one of the marketing firm’s clients.

“It’s extremely useful for the networking component,” said Ites, a University of Iowa graduate who moved back to Des Moines earlier this year after having worked for a San Francisco marketing firm. “We’re both very motivated to do work we’re passionate about. We’re going to make videos that are different and that will get people’s attention.”

Smith, who had managed bands and wrote for an alternative music magazine in Minneapolis, moved back to Des Moines at about the same time as Ites, a former Johnston High School classmate. “I kind of got sick of the politics of the music scene in Minneapolis, and got interested in video,” he said.

Kallisto recently completed its first project, a promotional video for The Gateway Church, a new downtown congregation, and is now producing a video for the Des Moines affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure about its annual fundraising race.

For more information about PM Underground or to apply for a space, call Jodi Stevens at 224-7415, or e-mail her at jodis@performancemarketing.com.