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β Coworking impact.
π Firms announce strategic partnership to spur coworking health leadership #
The International WELL Building Institute (the firm behind the WELL building standard and certifications) announced a partnership with The Instant Group to "encompass a range of joint efforts aimed at elevating health, including opportunities to advance innovative solutions to better support people-first spaces for all users of coworking and flexible workspaces".
An interesting announcement in principle, but I’m not sure exactly what kinds of joint efforts this will include. Will keep an eye out and let you know.
π° Coworking news & views.
π 5 Community Managers on How to Excel in Your Role #
We (Optix) asked 5 of the very best coworking community managers in the biz, what does it take to be an exceptional community manager?
Mitch Reiss from The Village Hive noted you should get to know your members. Suzie Gebrayel from Flex Coworking says you should foster inclusivity. Nicole Looney from Modus recommends creating an exceptional experience. Katie Cartwright and Elena Webber from Downtown Works treat each member like a friend, and build genuine connections.
π¦πΊ What one CEO hopes to achieve on the board of the FWA #
Jessie Glew, CEO at WOTSO, shared that their mission in joining the Flexible Workspace Australia board is "to change the rhetoric of long lease good, short lease bad" noting that the way we value office buildings is broken in wrongfully assuming that 1 long-term lease is more valuable (or less risky) than 100 short term members.
Yes Jessie, yes! We’re following along so we can share notes, setbacks and successes with other groups pushing for similar changes in other countries.
π How to celebrate your alumni members’ coworking journey #
Alkaloid Networks shared the member-inspiring story of Atl Bitlabs, who started with a shared desk, and over 5 years grew to graduate from the coworking space into their own community hub.
Celebrating the members who grow from within your spaces is a fantastic way to celebrate coworking, and attract aspiring entrepreneurs and growing businesses into your space.
ποΈ Small town operator seeks other small town operators #
Ε½eljko CrnjakoviΔ reminds us that "for many small coworking spaces, the true value and meaning of coworking is in the community. In the support, exchange of ideas, creativity and offer of an atmosphere where you are surrounded by entrepreneurs and people who can help, give advice, critique, give you ideas, partner with you or just chit-chat during coffee breaks."
Ε½eljko is looking to connect with operators of other community-focussed operators running spaces in towns with 70k-200k people to exchange ideas and experiences with.
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π Coworking data.
π‘ Insights on Income, Education & More for American remote workers #
CoworkingMag just published a report focusing onΒ an in-depth look at the demographics, education, incomes and other relevant characteristics shaping the U.S. remote workforce.
A few highlights include that by the end of 2022, over 15% of the total workers aged 16+ were working fully remote or in a hybrid setup (representing more than 24M Americans). The largest concentration were in the Western US with 17.4% of workers being telecomuters, followed closely by Northeast and South regions with 16% and 15%.
Demographically, more than 51.4% of teleworkers are female and Millennials made up almost 39%. 61% of remote workers have a bachelor’s degree or above, while 24% have an associate’s degree or some college experience.
With a median income of $70,000 per year among all U.S. teleworkers, 46% of them earn $75,000 or more annually. Furthermore, 12% and 11% earn between $50,000 – $64,999 and $35,000 – $49,999, respectively. 27% of the country’s remote workforce is employed by the professional, scientific, managerial and administrative services industry, followed by sectors providing social services, health care and education, which account for 16.2% of the total share of remote workers.
π€ Coworking market moves.
π Manchester, UK getting 5 new flex workspaces #
Joe Averill shares a teaser of what’s coming to the flex market in Manchester, United Kingdom. From Junction (in Central), to Campfield (in Castlefield), and London Road Fire Station (in Piccadilly) to Pall Mall (Central) and Soho House (Enterprise City) these additions are set to bolster some interesting amenities including one of them touting a rooftop pool.
Things have come a long way since I studied in the city, and from 2013-ish I advised or helped launch some of the city’s first collaboration-focussed coworking and flex spaces. I do wonder if the weather has changed enough to warrant a rooftop swimming pool though.
π΅π± Polish operator adds 270 desks in Poznan #
Skanska group’s Business Link is expanding in Poznan, adding 2k sqm (approx 270 desks) to their network of 6 existing locations across Poland.
πͺπΈ Local operator raises β¬10M to fund expansion #
Barcelona-based Aticco have raised a round from several family offices as well as GCO Activos Inmobiliarios, part of GCO (Grupo Catalana Occidente). The capital is expected to be deployed to continue their expansion in Spain and elsewhere in Southern Europe.
The minority stake sold still keeps founders Gabriel EspΓn (CEO), Franz Palleres (security director) and Juan Carlos Morales (financial director) as majority stakeholders.
πΈ Nashville to get 5 more coworking spaces in 2024 #
e|spaces share that they’re set to open 5 new locations in the greater Nashville area in 2024, including Green Hills, Midtown/Music Row (2), Goodlettsville and Murfreesboro.
This under-the-radar-for-most brand already operates 8 locations across Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Orlando.
πΉπΌ Operator hints at growing landlord partnership opportunity #
Chao Ching C, JustCo‘s VP and Head of Taiwan, shared the he believes the next big opportunity in the region for the operator is in the upcoming completion of more office building developments over the next few years that may spearhead asset-light landlord partnerships.
π¬ More coworking + residential projects in Europe #
Coworking Europe shares two more examples of multifamily residential construction projects, including how Dutch real estate group EDGE integrating living and working spaces across two buildings and how STAY by Kronos in Spain is doing a similar project mixing residential offerings and coworking services.
π¬π§ London gets a new operator #
James Hennessy (prev incspaces, flow and domain office search) shared that they’re starting a new brand called iconomy. The first space will be a 13,400 sqft location between Marylebone and Paddington.
π Two Barcelona startups partner to create remote worker destination #
Earlier this year two Barcelona start-ups partnered with the idea of creating a new destination for the growing number of remote workers and digital nomads visiting the city where they could connect with local remote workers and entrepreneurs enjoying the beach and city life. They are turning a famous beachfront hotel into the first coliving space on the beach in Europe just 45 minutes from the city centre and only 7 seconds from the beach.
Happy Working Labs and CoWorking Days have invited remote workers from around the world to help them co-create the space. After 190 people applied for the unique opportunity, the project started on the 1st of April with the arrival of the first 10 remote workers with a total of 30 staying before the 1st June 2024.
π Coworking conversations.
Best-selling author and economics professor RenΓ©e Mauborgne joins Guy Raz on the How I Built This podcast to share how "too many entrepreneurs focus on the wrong thingsβconsumed with making their companies outperform one another as they fight for a greater share of a crowded market space", and what they should do instead. Required listening for everyone in coworking, IMHO.
Caleb Parker discusses how few calls from landlords wanting to "do the WeWork thing" prompted Jonny Rosenblatt to launch Spacemade to help landlords get into the flex office business on the #WorkBold podcast.
Brandon Houston, founder of the Collingwood Foundry shares his entrepreneurial journey from running a web development agency to pioneering a coworking space that has grown into a central hub of community and innovation in a town of 20k in Ontario.
π Coworking events.
π¬ Convo: Staying Engaged and Inspired as a Community Builder #
April 26: βBuilding community in a coworking space is hard! So how do you stay engaged and inspired? βLet’s chat about it!