Loomio
Thu 30 Nov 2017 7:24PM

Co-working space(s)

SC Steve Cooperman Public Seen by 361

One of the ideas discussed at the Summit was having co-working hubs throughout the region. I have begun looking for a place in Asheville that could possibly be a home for UniteWNC, CommonsWealth Institute, a consulting/freelance cooperative, and others, and want to engage others in a conversation around what this might look like.

SC

Steve Cooperman Thu 30 Nov 2017 7:46PM

Yesterday I met with the folks at Base Camp AVL to discuss two potentially complementary opportunities. One would involve the basement space. Through March it would be two rooms for $700-800 a month, and then the contiguous front space, which has access from the parking lot, more windows, and a bathroom, becomes available on April 1, and the whole basement would be $1200/month. I also proposed taking over the management of the co-working space on the 2nd floor, which they're interested in. Likely there would be a baseline established (probably based on what the current level of co-workers is), above which revenues would be shared, could be a way to defer the cost of the basement space.

We could also decide to adjust the setup of the two spaces to meet everyone's needs as more people access the space, e.g., set up the basement space more for meetings (and be used for co-working the rest of the time), given how much demand there is for meeting space. And we'd have the big co-working space available for meetings and events. We could even look at running the co-working as a Mutual Aid Network or something similar.

I'm imagining a number of organizations, including the CommonsWealth Institute and UniteWNC, could be involved, as well as freelancers who need co-working space (15 x $75/mo gets us to $1125).

They're supposed to be coming back to me with more specifics, e.g., what the revenue share would be, but I thought I'd put this out there for initial feedback, questions, etc.

PBH

Paul B. Hartzog Thu 30 Nov 2017 8:29PM

This is great news, Steve. As I see it, there are a lot of options here.

In the long run, I think it would be great to offer a network of free spaces ala GangPlank Coworking ( https://gangplankhq.com/ ) but in the short run some kind of member dues is the standard way to go. I remain convinced that over time we can crowd-budget our way to several successful models.

On a personal level, I would be happy to help manage the space if it means being able to use it and work on Mutual Aid, UniteWNC, CommonsWealth, and other ideas.

Thx for putting this out there to the group!

PBH

Paul B. Hartzog Thu 30 Nov 2017 8:32PM

Just had another thought. What with the AVL tool library being there also, the space could become the new economy sharing/cooperation/commons hub of WNC/AVL!

SC

Steve Cooperman Thu 30 Nov 2017 8:41PM

Exactly!

SC

Steve Cooperman Thu 30 Nov 2017 8:42PM

And we'd be very close to the Makers.

JM

Jim March Thu 30 Nov 2017 9:07PM

Any chance Base Camp AVL wants to be part of UniteWNC?

SC

Steve Cooperman Fri 1 Dec 2017 1:55AM

What would that mean?

JM

Jim March Fri 1 Dec 2017 10:58PM

I don't know who owns Base Camp AVL, or what their hopes and aspirations are. Does anyone in UniteWNC know? Do they own the building? Or are they leasing? If there was enough of a link between our goals and theirs, we could enter in to an association, partnership, co-ownership, co-operative, etc. What the details would be, we would have to discuss and agree.

SC

Steve Cooperman Tue 5 Dec 2017 12:42PM

I am a former co-owner, so yes, they own the building. A formal partnership is not going to happen - the reason I am no longer involved is that I wanted to do something more radical, e.g., cooperative, and my partners were more interested in making money. That said, I am open to co-locating. See below for the latest from them.

C

Cheri Fri 1 Dec 2017 2:36PM

I love this idea and I'm in. This would resolve so much -- including trying to schedule time for us to meet. If we're all in the same place, it's so much easier. I also love that the space would allow us to host meetings and rent it very reasonably to supplement the overall rent. I'm not sure what management of the space means. I'm willing to explore how I can help with that as well to spread the responsibilities broadly! Thanks, Steve, for moving forward on this. What is the next step?

On hubs around the region, my husband is working with a retired lawyer on starting a non-profit/small business start-up incubator in Marshall. I finally had a conversation with him about what they were up to and there is a lot of synchronicity. I've talked with them about what we are up to and they'd love to have a conversation at some point. Their idea, when they describe it, sounds much more like a cooperative with elements of helping non-profits get started with the expensive up-front costs before they have any income. Having co-working space is one of the things they are planning on. They've selected a great space in downtown Marshall (the old Belk store building). They are hoping to focus on education, theatre and art, the aging population (exactly what Silver to Gold is about), and have a tech center where seniors could come and learn and young kids could get exposed to technology. Guess I should talk with my husband more often!

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