The Workspace

            A new generation of office working has come to Bellingham.

Promoting community and business networking, Northwest Living Workspace, also known as The Workspace, is a new business that is being set up on the corner of Potter and Ellis streets by co-owners Mimi Osterdahl and John Eggers.

            The business is a “co-workspace, which is an office for freelance artists, web designers, anybody consulting,” Eggers said. “Those kinds of people who might be working from their home office or might be looking for some synergy in the community with other business owners or other freelancers, or even just to have a place that is kind of a professional office that they could use once or twice a week to meet clients or use the business center.”

            The idea arose in October of 2012 when Eggers and Osterdahl were looking into starting a real estate brokerage, but decided they were not ready for that venture and instead found the Bellingham Hearing Center for sale, Eggers said.

            The Workspace was inspired by a string of other co-workspaces throughout California under the name of Next Space, Eggers said.

            People are able to work from anywhere now because of the technologies available to us said Osterdahl. “People still need collaboration and all of those things you get from an office environment, but where do you go for that?”

            Coffee shops provide places to meet with clients, but usually they are busy and do not enhance the kind of environment productivity needs to flourish. This space will be “more focused on business and not on coffee,” Eggers said.

            As well as providing a space for people to work, Osterdahl said she hopes to provide a safer environment for emerging small businesses. “What we hope to do is have small businesses launch out of here, plant themselves in the community and grow.”

            The space will provide many different kinds of areas for use in different situations according to Osterdahl. These areas include general “flex areas” that can be manipulated to the needs of the people using the space to work in groups or separately, a business center, phone booths, conference rooms, a micro-gym and even a café. The café have a walk up window to service the neighborhood, as well as the co-workers inside.

            Membership will be based upon daily or monthly fees, but rates have not been released yet. Members will also benefit from business building type workshops, Wi-Fi and Skype capabilities and can use the space as a business address with a mail slot, Osterdahl said.

            The ability to connect with other people and expand relationships that can help to grow businesses is a large goal of the space, Eggers said. There is also an idea for a visa program between workspaces in different areas that would allow for members of other co-workspaces to come in and utilize the space while on business trips. The idea would help to create a more connected system of co-working, he said.

            The Workspace will help to co-sponsor the TEDx Here By Choice event on Nov. 12 and will open for public use on Jan. 1.