Collaboration Central

Cowork ing spaces encourage entrepreneurial collaborations

BY KRIS BEVILL

CoCo Fargo is located in downtown Fargo, N D , in a 6,000-square foot-space above the Kinghouse Buffet restaurant. The coworking space is able to accommodate 100 members, according to the company PHOTO: COCO

What would happen if entrepreneurs, tech professionals, creative types and remote workers from different companies and backgrounds abandoned the traditional office layout, closed up their temporar y coffee shop corner offices and gathered instead in a shared space to work individually and/or communally? The concept, known as coworking, has been a growing trend in communities across the globe for several years and is expected to continue to increase in popularity as mil- lenials, entrepreneurs and forward-thinking companies embrace the modernity and relative affordabilit y of renting cowor king space instead of traditional office real estate.

A 2013 report by the Commercial Real Estate Development Association credits cowork- ing for revolutionizing today’s idea of workplace, from a place where people go to complete assigned tasks during a specific time of day to a space where people from different professions congregate to work separately and/or communally in an open-door setting at any time of day

The report charts the evolution of innovative workplaces, from the first incubator in Batavia, N.Y., in 1959 to innovation centers, accelerators and, in 2006, coworking centers The report notes that this evolution, and eventual revolution, of the workplace concept could not have occurred without technological advancements Today’s technology offers workers mobility like never before. Gone are the days of landlines and rigid office hours, replaced instead with cell phones, video conferences and instant messaging Related to this is the emergence of a generation of workers who expect instant access to all information, which lends itself well to the nodoors, no-set-hours style of working that coworking centers embrace.

“As a result of these technological and social forces, within the past five years the coworking concept has emerged to meet the needs of independent innovators and small businesses and has become the largest of the innovation workplace movements,” the report’s authors say. “This highly versatile concept has taken innovative workplaces to the next level by offering a membership-based workplace solution that provides independent workers with both a community and a place where they can focus on productivity ”

According to the report, more than 2,000 coworking spaces had been established worldwide by early 2013, 700 of which are located in the United States. In MinneapolisSt. Paul, CoCo (short for “coworking” and “collaborative space”) is responsible for three of those spaces The company opened its first coworking center in uptown Minneapolis in 2010 and has since expanded to include locations in lower St Paul and, most recently, a massive 20,000-square-foot space at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.

CoCo Comes to Fargo

This month, through a partnership with Fargo, N D -based Emerging Prairie, the company will open the doors to its first coworking facility outside of the Twin Cities. CoCoFargo will be housed in a 6,000square-foot space above a Chinese buffet restaurant in downtown Fargo, providing space for up to 100 members to collaborate, cowork and create

CoCo cofounder Don Ball says the opening of the Fargo space comes after three years of consideration and a convincing grassroots recruitment effort by the Greater Fargo Moorhead Economic Development Corp., the Kilbourne Group and Emerging Prairie He says the company had also explored expanding to other markets in the vicinity of Minneapolis, but none impressed like Fargo in terms of energy, enthusiasm and the commitment of people eager to grow the community “Fargo just punches above its weight,” he says. “ ... It’s a town that’s just ready to explode All you have to do is show up and give all the people with the energy venues where they can be together more often and work on projects more often.”

The company announced its Fargo space on June 25 It immediately signed on two members By early July, six members had been enrolled. Ball expects the coworking space to primarily attract young “solo-preneurs,” which also make up the majority of the company ’ s Twin Cities membership, but says the spaces attract an “interesting mix of people.”

Membership fees for the Fargo space start at $70 per month for single-day access each week and increase in cost according to the frequency of accessibility desired, up to $350 per month for 24/7 access Group memberships are also available and are targeted toward small startups

As part of the partnership with Emerging Prairie, CoCo will manage the coworking space while Emerging Prairie will host various events and meetups at the facility. “We believe that a collaborative work space improves the work experience for people, especially entrepreneurs,” says Emerging Prairie cofounder Greg Tehven “Our new partnership with CoCo is an important step toward increasing innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship in the region ”

And because CoCo embraces a “member of one, member of all” concept, Ball expects CoCo’s expansion to Fargo will create new opportunities for exciting collaborations between Fargo and Minneapolis-area members as they travel to and from the company ’ s multiple spaces

“We’ve found that even in the Twin Cities that people will go to different locations for different reasons and we ’ ve always imagined that across the region that could happen,” he says “When some of our members find out the incredible talent pool that’s in Fargo, I think they’re going to come looking for help with their projects. And, I hope the Fargo people will take their show on the road to the Twin Cities ”

CoCo has also been designated as one of Google’s seven Tech Hubs, which Ball says brings additional opportunities for its members to collaborate with others throughout the country and participate in Google-sponsored events

CoCo already boasts several successful startups spurred to fruition by its collaboration-inducing atmosphere. Ball is especially proud of a young tech company called Spark Devices, which designed a WiFi development board that enables the user to connect any number of household devices to the Internet The company was born through the collaborative efforts of two CoCo members, who met at the space and combined their individual software and hardware expertise to bring the idea to life. Ball says the company recently closed a successful Kickstarter campaign and will soon outgrow its space at CoCo.

Family-like Atmosphere in Sioux Falls

While CoCo Fargo is believed to be the first coworking space in North Dakota, the coworking concept was introduced to South Dakota several years ago with the launch of Meso in Sioux Falls Kim Bartling was a member of coworking space Meso when its owners decided to close the facility in 2013 She liked the coworking concept so much that when she learned of the plans to close the facility, she found a partner and bought the company to keep it alive “I was more productive in this type of environment than I ever was when I had my own enclosed office,” she says Meso is located on Phillips Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls, which Bartling describes as the most coveted block for business in the city The space offers a “funky looking” modern atmosphere with access to parking, a board room, kitchenette, consultation rooms, secure entry and technology capabilities for webcasting and other business activities. Individual membership rates range from $125 per month to $275 a month depending on the services desired All members are granted 24/7 access to the space. Group memberships are also offered

The users of Meso’s space vary from professional types, including a real estate agent and an attorney, to creatives, including graphic artists and photographers, according to Bartling Most members are millenials, and none are over the age of 50.

Bartling says educating the community about coworking has been the most difficult part of owning the space and she continues to spend much of her time informing people of the concept “We’ve had a little bit of a challenge getting people to understand how it works,” she says, adding that some people find it difficult to envision a workspace without cubicles and other traditional office trappings “Do we have cubicles? Yeah, but nobody’s just sitting in them working,” she says “We’re often talking to each other, showing each other our work. We become kind of our own community. It’s not isolated in any sense of the word ”

Meso is still working to become sustainable, and now it will share the Sioux Falls alternative workspace market with another ty pe of workspace provider Luxembourg-based Regus, which claims to be the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, recently opened a facility in Sioux Falls in the CNA Building On its website, the company describes its Sioux Falls business center as being “ideal for forward-thinking businesses” and says its location near Interstates 90 and 29 offers members convenient access to the rest of South Dakota and beyond Regus offers amenities including office space, meeting rooms, a business lounge and “day offices” at the Sioux Falls facility The size of Regus demands a decidedly more corporate structure for memberships and access, however, and accessing details about membership options or the company in general is notably challenging

Bar tling says she doesn’t believe Meso and Regus are competitors, simply because of the obvious differences in their business models “That’s like comparing a mom and pop grocery store to Walmart,” she says “We have a completely different vibe, certainly a different price scale It’s just a different animal than what we offer.” Still, she is also a firm believer that commerce creates commerce and that the presence of a global firm such as Regus will help draw attention to coworking and alternatives including Meso PB

Kris Bevill Editor, Prairie Business 701-306-8561, kbevill@prairiebizmag com