Co-working spaces offer a flexible environment where telecommuters, freelancers and traveling workers can come together for collaboration, community and shared resources. They are common amenities in cities across the world, including Burlington, and have started sprouting up in smaller towns around Vermont. The NEK Collaborative believes developing such spaces in hubs around the region is essential to its future vibrancy. USDA Rural Business Development Grants awarded this year and last are supporting the development of shared spaces in Lyndon and Greensboro, in part because of NEKC advocacy. A private venture, the Work Commons in Newport, will open its doors next month.
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Evan Carlson brought his New York City job with him when he moved back to his native Lyndonville in 2016. At first, working out of his home as an online video platform consultant seemed like the best of both worlds, rural living with an urban scale paycheck. But within a few months he was mired in feelings of isolation familiar to freelancers and telecommuters everywhere. To break away from the kitchen table, he set up shop once in awhile in a local café. The location was far from ideal. It closed mid-afternoon and the internet was spotty. But spending time there gave him an idea.
“After awhile, it became apparent people that people were doing similar things out there, I just wasn’t meeting them on a regular basis,” said Carlson, 34. What they needed was a place to gather and do their work.
Co-working lounges and shared “hot desks” are now common amenities in cities including Burlington. These are spaces where, for a fee, members can drop in any time of day to work, socialize, and use office equipment or a conference room to meet with colleagues in person and via video chat. Over the last three years, the concept has taken off in smaller Vermont communities. Roughly a dozen such places operate in towns across the state including Montpelier, Barre, Bennington, Waitsfield, White River Junction and Woodstock. Carlson thought, why not something like that here in the Northeast Kingdom?
Carlson’s idea is becoming a reality, thanks to a partnership between Northern Vermont University and several area businesses and non-profits. Last month the project was awarded just over $51,000 Rural Business Development Grant to support its start-up. This fall, NVU expects to open a 2,000 square-foot co-working location on the second floor of the former Bag Balm headquarters on Broad Street. It’s part of the university’s new initiative to become a larger presence in the broader community, said NVU provost Nolan Atkins
“This ties in really well to where we are taking the institution,” Atkins said. “We’re very excited about the synergy this will create between the college and the community. I already sense there is a lot of interest in the space.”
The university is leasing the space from the Paris family, the building’s owners who plan to open a drive-through restaurant on the first floor. NVU will offer membership in the space, which is likely to include part-time support staff and an entrepreneur-in-residence, Atkins said.
Carlson will be a charter member. He hopes to help organize events such as “start-up weekends” to connect entrepreneurs in different sectors. “To be able to bring together a collective of people who have that entrepreneurial spirit and try to foster that in the community is super important,” he said.
Meanwhile, 35 miles to the south in Greensboro, the non-profit WonderArts began raising funds to purchase equipment for a different kind of collaborative work zone: a high-tech maker space and small business accelerator called Spark. That project received a $59,000 USDA Rural Business Development grant in 2017.
WonderArts is currently accepting a limited number of beta members who will have access to the lounge and workspace, as well as the CAD and design software and the large format and 3-D printers on site. These pioneers will help develop protocols for broader use, which is expected to start this fall. Already, 20 people – small business owners, website designers and artists among them – have signed up from the communities of Greensboro, Craftsbury and Hardwick, said WonderArts Executive Director Ceilidh Kane.
Spark’s focus is on supporting sole proprietors and small businesses in their early development. The center plans to offer classes and workshops on various topics from accounting to entrepreneurship. It is currently co-located with WonderArt’s own offices in the sunny basement of the Greensboro United Church of Christ. But the group hopes eventually to move the project to a larger location that could offer room for woodworking and other crafts, as well as desks and more traditional co-working space.
In addition to sharing the space and equipment, Kane hopes people will also share information about other resources and opportunities in the area. “What we are really hoping for is that this is a hub where people can come together and talk about their work,” she said.
Newport’s Work Commons Set to Open
Thirty-five miles to the northwest, Newport real estate owner Rick Woodward and his daughter Jamie Woodward saw the same challenges and opportunity that Carlson did, but from a landlord’s perspective. Their company, Mywood Properties owns the prominent former Montgomery Ward building on Main Street downtown. There are 15 rental offices of varying sizes on the second floor. But not everyone can afford or even wants a dedicated office. Whether you are an entrepreneur starting an organization from scratch or someone whose work brings you to town just a few times each week, fast internet and a comfy couch or quiet table may be all you really need.
The company’s newest venture, a 5,000 square foot co-working environment, is set to open in September within the building’s third floor. The space includes a lounge, a room with shared desks, a small “phone booth” room for private calls, and a room for dedicated desk space. Along with a thermostat in every room and new flooring and furniture, the upgrades include an elevator from the basement of Newport Natural Foods to the co-working space up top. All the office space will be integrated into a community that the Woodwards are calling The Work Commons with shared use of a kitchenette and printer/copier room on the second floor included in a co-working membership.
“What I’m doing up there is going to complete the whole package,” said Rick Woodward. “We should be able to offer the whole gamut of different office options.”
All three of these new work environments will make the Northeast Kingdom more accessible to independent workers, who are becoming an ever larger share of the 21st century workforce. Public and private polls have found that more than 40 percent of the country’s workforce spends at least one day working remotely. Of those, almost a third work entirely from home or at a distance from their employer.
The Northeast Kingdom Collaborative believes that these workers are essential to the future vibrancy of the region, said NEKC’s Executive Director Katherine Sims. The NEK is already an attractive place to live for many people, with its natural beauty, ample recreational opportunities and good schools. “Adding the office space and equipment that remote workers need in hub communities throughout the region makes it that much easier for people to locate here with jobs based elsewhere,” she said. The community aspect of co-working also creates a collaborative environment that supports the creation of new businesses. Plus, it supports the jobs and communities already here in ways both specific and more general.
Both NVU and Mywood Properties plan to make the conference rooms in their co-working space, and the modern audio-visual technology and fast internet connection installed there, available for rental by non-members. Woodward and Atkins both see significant demand from companies and non-profit organizations as well as community groups as space for meetings and classes.
More broadly, Carlson believes these co-working spaces will be an economic boost to the towns where they are located. “The real hope that I had is that by developing a co-working space you are putting people who are making mid- to higher-level income and bringing them into the village center to make it easier to participate in commerce,” he said.
NVU Coworking Space
Town: Lyndonville
Location: 930 Broad Street, second floor
Hours: 24/7 access for members
Open date: Fall 2018
Cost of membership: $20/day to start; tiered monthly fee structure
Amenities: high-speed internet, six “hot desks,” lounge; conference room (15-20 people); printer/copier; porch; kitchen; workshops; trainings
Contact: Ann Nygard, ann.nygard@lsc.vsc.edu, 802-626-4867
Funding partners: NorthCountry Federal Credit Union, Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital Community Health Fund, Northern Counties Health Care, Northeastern Vermont Development Association, USDA Rural Development, Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies
The Work Commons
Town: Newport
Location: 194 Main Street, third floor
Hours: 24/7 keypad access
Open date: September 1
Cost of membership: $65/month; $225/month for dedicated desk
Amenities: high-speed internet, 6 reservable desks, 8 dedicated desks; lounge space, waiting area, conference room (seats 30; 15 around table); printer/copier room; kitchenette; “phone box”
Contact: Rick Woodward, rick@mywoodproperties.com, (802) 673-9106
Funding partners: National Park Service Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit, Vermont Downtown & Village Tax Credits
Spark
Town: Greensboro
Location: 165 East Craftsbury Rd., lower level
Hours: M-F, mornings and afternoon
Open date: open for beta members July 1; fall general opening
Cost of membership: $20 for beta; additional costs for printing & classes; annual fee TBD
Amenities: high-speed internet; work & meeting space; graphic design software; large format and fine art printers; 3D & CAD printing; workshops & more
Contact: spark@wonderartsvt.org; (802) 533-9370
Funding partners: USDA Rural Development, Vermont Community Foundation, Union Bank
