The Forge. CoLab. And coming soon, HQ Greensboro.
Maker spaces, such as The Forge, and coworking sites, such as CoLab and HQ Greensboro, are sprouting around downtown Greensboro.
Coworking and maker spaces represent a new breed of business designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship by bringing together people with diverse talents and ideas.
They’re places where the cool kids bring their laptops, talk shop and bounce ideas off each other. As workplaces, they’re only slightly more formal than the Green Bean.
And they form a promising part of Greensboro’s new economy.
Coworking and maker spaces are just the kind of places economist Richard Florida was touting 10 years ago when he told city leaders here and elsewhere about the importance of attracting the creative class of young professionals.
“I think that’s exactly right,” said Bryan Toney, associate vice chancellor for economic development and corporate engagement at UNC-Greensboro. “I think what we’re finding, particularly with millenials, is that they’re looking for new models for working that enhance communication and collaboration, create synergy and provide the kind of contact you wouldn’t get in traditional office space.”
The spacious brick expanse that is the maker space at The Forge on Lewis Street is filled with an assortment of heavy equipment, including drill presses, joiners, planers, industrial sewing machines and steel cutters. Some are large factory machines that few people could afford to buy or house themselves.
Artist Karen Niemczyk is using a laser engraver to cut acrylic into small blocks with smooth, planed edges. Before The Forge, where standard memberships are $45 per month, she had to pay someone else to do this work.
Members of The Forge — there are 135 since it opened in July — can use the space and equipment 24/7 to create art, products and goods that can jump-start a business.
In the “soft” coworking area of The Forge, a group from the Elsewhere artists’ collaborative is meeting at one of the small tables, and there’s a cosy living-room-type area with upholstered chairs and a sofa. Computer workstations overlook the workshop. There’s a 3-D printer in the corner.
At North Greene Street, on the other side of downtown, Dana Dillehunt is working on her laptop at one of the sweeping workstations at CoLab, a co-working space that hosts early stage entrepreneurs and university/business collaborations.
Dillehunt said the growth of entrepreneurs like her is part of a larger shift away from corporate culture, where she labored for a decade. She and her partner, Kent Bell, now own Maslo, a video production and digital marketing company.
“I’m still performing the same job, but everything about it is different,” Dillehunt said.
CoLab, which started offering memberships in January, gives her a location to work, to have office hours and to meet with clients, as well as to connect with other entrepreneurs who need her digital-marketing expertise.
Before CoLab, she rented an office in Kernersville for $2,000 per month and then tried working from home. Memberships are $99 per month at CoLab.
“I get a lot more done here and have the benefit of networking,” Dillehunt said. “The community support we’re seeing here is fantastic.”
CoLab and The Forge hold workshops and training sessions, but the day-to-day interaction among people of different skills is an even bigger asset.
“The access to networking is more valuable than the access to the equipment,” said Joey Adams, president of The Forge.
Members teach and learn from each other. They exchange and combine ideas. Access to both equipment, expertise and ideas creates a collaborative atmosphere that fuels pursuits as different as coding software and cutting sheet metal.
As some of the entrepreneurs at The Forge and CoLab begin to build their businesses, they’ll be able to rent office space next door to The Forge. That building, once a stable, will become HQ Greensboro, a shared workspace that includes individual offices, meeting rooms, a cafe and bar.
“What’s coming will be a game-changer here,” said Andy Zimmerman, who bought and renovated the buildings that now house Gibbs Hundred Brewing Company, The Forge and, soon, HQ.
He said he believes the synergy of The Forge, HQ and CoLab will create an entrepreneurial community and hub downtown. Toney, who works with all three on behalf of the university, tends to agree.
“There’s place for all of them,” he said. “The sum total will create some buzz in Greensboro.”
That buzz could help to attract and retain students and young professionals.
CoLab offers free memberships to students at area universities and focuses on business/university CoLaborations that help students get real-world experience and provide an incentive for them to stay after they graduate, said Cecelia Thompson, executive director Action Greensboro, a cofounder of CoLab.
“We have good quality of life, and a vibrant downtown now,” Toney said. “Young people like living in urban areas, and they like to live, work and play within couple of miles of each other. Greensboro offers that opportunity.”
Thompson likened coworking spaces to economic gardening, an analogy that occurred to UNCG Urban Geography Professor Keith Debbage as well.
“It’s good to see green shoots in the flower bed,” Debbage said of the growth in coworking and maker spaces, because nurturing talent is one of the keys to a good business climate.
“They (co-working spaces) can have a significant impact on the economy, especially if they create an ecosystem for businesses to be born and thrive,” Toney said.
Even if these spaces don’t produce a steady stream of sustainable businesses, they will provide something just as important, Debbage said: a workforce with transferable skills.
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