[RTC List] office co-op idea: inspired by CubeSpace in PDX

[Stilson Snow]

Hi, Aaron,

 

Your idea of shared office space/transient office rental is an intriguing
one.  At the SBDC we've had a few people over the years ask if such a
facility exists in Humboldt County, even for transient sales people coming
through.  A couple of entrepreneurs started to explore the possibility, but
they just sort of faded away.  

 

Transient office rental is readily available in large metropolitan areas
because of the large population base.  I think that to make it work on a
Humboldt scale it would take a committed organization or entrepreneur with
access to conveniently accessible low cost space near business centers and
an entre to the single person consulting businesses for marketing purposes.
The key questions locally, so far unanswered, are: who will hold the master
lease, how will they finance it, and who will manage it?  

 

Personally I find the concept very exciting, however quantifying demand for
this kind of facility in a small town has proven very elusive, making
financial projections for it extremely difficult.  For instance: if your
offices are mainly short term rentals, how do you pay for the long term
master lease if your short term folks either don't show up or suddenly
leave?  So far it hasn't proven economically viable for a for-profit entity.
That doesn't make it a bad idea, just challenging to implement.

 
Stilson Snow
Director, SBDC Program and Del Norte Services
North Coast Small Business Development Center
520 E Street
Eureka, CA  95501
707.445.7913
707.445.9652 FAX
707.464.2168 Del Norte
800.697.SBDC (7232)
http://www.northcoastsbdc.org <http://www.northcoastsbdc.org/>  
 

  _____  

From: list-bounces at redwoodtech.org [mailto:list-bounces at redwoodtech.org] On
Behalf Of Aaron Antrim
Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:41 AM
To: RTC
Subject: [RTC List] office co-op idea: inspired by CubeSpace in PDX


Hi all:

I wanted to share a concept I've talked about with a few people - a Humboldt
shared office facility that would allow entrepreneurs and workers in the
creative, technology and information fields work alongside their colleagues
from different firms.  While I don't think this shared workspace would
necessarily lead to lower costs, it would offer benefits in the way of more
skills and business networking. 

The example that inspired me is in SE Portland.  It's called CubeSpace
(http://www.cubespacepdx.com/).  I visited in March.  You can rent cubicles
by the hour, day, or month.  Conference rooms of various sizes are located
around the periphery and can also be rented on an as-needed basis.  Phone
and internet is included.  Printers, copiers, fax is available on a pay as
you go basis.  There's also a big lunch room with soda fountain, coffee, and
snacks.  There are regular and special events - for professional networking,
yoga, and technical and business seminars.  The biggest benefit from my
perspective is getting to be immersed in an environment where collaboration
and conversation is more available, and, indeed, I am told that lots of
CubeSpace tenants end up sub-contracting jobs or working together on
projects with folks "across the hall."

While I don't think something like CubeSpace could happen on the scale that
it does in Portland in HumCo, I think something like it could happen on a
much smaller scale (there are probably plenty of you already sharing offices
out there, which is basically CubeSpace on the smallest scale).  I've
realized that a diversity of different types of offices might be interested
in renting (startup non-profits like Green Wheels, for example), which would
help.

One issue that would make it harder is that a cube space in HumCo would
likely draw mainly from the town it is located in, rather than Humboldt's
total population base.  Long commutes by car, in my mind, would violate some
of the common goals of telework - which is to increase convenience and
reduce environmental impact and cost.


Just an idea I wanted to float out there.

Aaron
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://redwoodtech.org/pipermail/list_redwoodtech.org/attachments/20080902/3a3de57d/attachment.html