How co-working spaces are shaping South Carolina’s workplace > GSA business.

When Shannon Wilbank and Joe Erwin, managing partners at Endeavor, left their advertising firm in 2015, they collaborated on how to provide office work environments with the power, technology and training opportunities available at larger agencies. It is possible to find being in business as a sole proprietor or a small business.

Based on this concept, they realized that they are talking about cooperation.

“We weren’t planning on being in a co-op game,” Wilbanks said. “It really grew from that[concept]. Our mission is to do everything we can to help our members succeed, and that comes from a genuine place.

Coworking is the use of a collaborative workspace that offers an alternative way of working. In collaborative spaces, people work individually or in teams to complete projects. This concept is popular, as it provides a sense of community and a comfortable work environment that you may not get if you work for a large company.

And in the post-Covid world, co-working spaces are growing in popularity, as the pandemic changes the nature of people’s perceptions of the workplace, with remote work and hybrid configurations becoming the norm.

“It was inspiring to see all these people trying to do their jobs and having a ‘I’ll figure it out’ attitude despite all the challenges of COVID,” Wilbanks said.

As Wilbanks and Erwin entered the co-working industry, the Wilbanks realized that there was a wide range of people who needed such a work environment. If someone works in a small business and needs access to their office 24/7, for entrepreneurs and sole proprietors, for people who work remotely for another company and don’t need a private office but one place to work, for people who like to work at home but want to leave home one day a week, or solo business travelers.

Launched in May 2016, Endeavor is a membership-based collaborative community that provides a space for diverse peers to offer a variety of services and experiences, and provides business professionals with training opportunities, networking events, and business consulting.

Wilbank said they decided on the Greenville One Center location in downtown Greenville for this collaborative vision, because of its convenient downtown location with 24/7 doorman security, LID-certified features and the location’s private gym for members. .

“When people step off the elevator and into our space, they light up, they’re amazed at what we have here,” she added.

The ‘future’ of workplaces

Unicom Media Group President Ramon Nieves Lugo founded and directs a successful Hispanic marketing agency of 12 employees and has been a member of Endeavor Day by Day since its inception.

For Nieves-Lugo as an office space choice, he said the main reason he chose to work with a traditional office layout was the cost advantage.

“Initially we had an office for a few members, but since Covid it has changed and not everyone works in an office anymore,” he said. “Commercial space is also expensive, especially downtown. In a prime location, the appeal of this location is high, especially for sole proprietors and small businesses. There is also the opportunity to meet other individuals in the area.

Even if a business has many employees, Nieves-Lugo, but does not need 30,000 square feet of office space, this co-working option may be suitable for them as well.

“This kind of work seems to be the future,” he added.

Every company’s journey is different, Wilbanks said.

“The interesting thing about co-working, especially if you’re in an office, is that people are increasingly valuing and living their lives at the cost of rent for their office space. If you have an office here, you pay one monthly fee, which includes your office, internet, coffee, cleaning, office machines, everything you need. So it’s not just the things you pay for, it frees you up to do what only you can do because all those costs are covered, which removes the administrative burden to some extent.

Endeavor Greenville isn’t the only coworking concept in the city addressing similar questions not only with local entrepreneurs and sole proprietors, but also with remote workers in industries like web and technology.

The mind of an entrepreneur

In the year In 2007, Atlas Local Managing Partner and tech entrepreneur Chris Merritt said he and his managing partners were only looking for office space at the time. They had no idea that the collaboration they had created would lead to a collaborative business, which is still unlikely even for Merritt’s business, he said. In the year In 2016, at West Village Lofts in Greenville’s West End, members moved into one of the mill’s renovated loft apartment buildings, where they can enjoy the full range of amenities the property has to offer.

“Even though we’ve grown, we still like to keep that collaborative spirit,” says Merritt, who has a desk with a private office in the common space. “Of course my name is on the lease, but everyone here is equal.”

Being surrounded by like-minded people who aren’t your colleagues is the best and best situation for him and other members, Merritt said.

“When I want to resign, I’m in an environment where I can easily do that (versus a traditional office setting),” he said. If I’m fired up and I want to make a pot of coffee or sit on the couch and draw, no one is going to bother me about a report or something.

Because Atlas Local is connected to residence halls, members can leave work early and go to the pool or have the ability to host an after-work game of corn hole or pool as well as networking events.

“I think this is a sustainable approach to work, which I personally want with the younger generations entering the workforce,” he said. Being part of a fun work environment with autonomy leads to higher work productivity, according to Merritt.

People need to be with other people, but being close to each other in the workplace isn’t necessarily a healthy model, Merritt said.

More people are being pushed into contract roles or starting their own businesses and there are fewer W-2 workers, Merritt said, and fewer people want to find that traditional full-time job.

“Being with other people who share your passion encourages an entrepreneurial mindset,” he adds. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t surround myself with people like that. Our community here tends to organically support each other, not something we push, it just happens and it makes sense when you’re with other intelligent and creative people.

Another is that remote work and co-working allow the opportunity to hire from anywhere. Merit: For the average job these days, people can work remotely, which doesn’t allow physical proximity to limit the talent pool.

He added, “Limiting your company to only hiring employees who can drive to your physical office, I think this mentality will disappear completely in the coming years.” “I see less and less of that.”

A place for everyone

Co-working spaces in Columbia run the gamut from small spaces in historic buildings to large buildings converted from traditional offices to co-working spaces.

There is something for everyone. FemmeX, a co-working space and social club dedicated primarily to women-owned startups and entrepreneurs, is located at 1501 Richland St.

SOCO offers co-working in two locations: SOCO 80808, an 11,000-square-foot space located in a post-industrial building at 808 Lady St., and SOCO BullStreet, located in a historic building in the city’s booming residential and Bull Street District. Business communities.

One of the largest coworking spaces in Columbia is Expansive, a Chicago-based company founded in 2012 that currently offers coworking and other flexible workspace options at 48 locations nationwide. In the Carolinas, the company has offices in Charlotte and Columbia.

Expansive at 1122 Lady St. It purchased a 12-story building in 2021 and currently offers a variety of work options in a 159,013-square-foot space. The site includes everything from SmartSuites, high-tech office spaces for large groups, and smaller rental office space options for small businesses and individual workers.

Jeff Barnes, Expansive Area Sales Manager for the Carolinas Midlands office, said clients come from all ages, demographics and occupations.

“I have everyone from students to remote businesses to startups who can’t do their work in their dorms,” ​​Barnes said. “We see a little bit of everything. We have insurance companies, law firms, technology companies, you name it, using our slots. If you can do business from a laptop, you can use Workplace.”

Like most workspaces, Expansive offers clients the option of simply paying at a table or couch in one of the building’s open lounges, which includes high-speed Internet and access to copiers and other office supplies.

Sharing space doesn’t seem to be a problem for many, Barnes says.

“Our special tables are now sold out,” he said. “This is our most popular option because members always have access to the space. It just depends on their schedule and when they want to do business.

Barnes believes co-working will continue to expand as people accustomed to working from home during the pandemic look for alternatives to commuting to the same office every day.

“The age of the traditional workplace is starting to go away, because people realize the amount of money it takes to rent an entire building, outfit it and get people to come to a traditional workplace,” he said. “That’s not what people want anymore.”

A fundamental change

Compared to Endeavor and Atlas Local, FemmeX, and Expansive, Industrious is a national co-op opening a location on King Street in Charleston, which will open in early December.

Melissa Bessler, a South Carolina native and director of the Midwest and Southeast industrial areas, said the company wants to provide a unique and inspiring place for other companies and employees.

“Charleston is a rapidly growing business community, and we believe our environment has a significant impact on the way people work,” Bezler said. “We want to support that concept by building and changing the way people work. We want to adapt as a community grows, which looks different in every community we serve.”

Like the rest of his fellow company’s thinking, Bessler says that while COVID has accelerated many of the trends we’re seeing, there’s also been a fundamental shift in the way people now choose to work.

“People want more autonomy because they want to work their own hours. With a job, you have flexibility and a place to go,” she said. “People also don’t want to travel long distances and physically go to work for a few days.”

The new industrial area and building is attached to a bike shop and yoga studio and boasts a premium and sleek, modern design in Charleston’s historic district, Bessler said. The workplace takes 2^Th and 3^rd A Class A building at 677 King Street, featuring abundant natural light and great amenities designed to make for more productive workdays – every day.

Whether you’re coming into the office once a week or once a month, it has memberships built for hard-working mixed workers so they can find the space they need.

“It’s very doubtful that we’ll see people go back to the normal, eight-to-five kind of work environment, always in the office,” Bezler said.

SC Biz News reporter Christina Lee Knauss contributed to this story.