Spaces in New Bedford and Cape Cod Team up to Celebrate International Coworking Day
Four spaces across New Bedford and Cape Cod team up to celebrate International Coworking Day on August 9th, which is recognized as the birth date of community-driven shared workspaces.
NEW BEDFORD AUGUST 5, 2021 – On August 9th, four spaces across New Bedford and Cape Cod will join forces to celebrate International Coworking Day. Participating spaces include Groundwork, Cape Space, South Coast Surface Design, and The Communal Space. The spaces will each host events during the day ranging from open houses to member-focused celebrations.
Coworking is the concept of using shared, flexible workspace instead of a traditional office rental. Coworking space members tend to be remote workers, entrepreneurs, creatives, and smaller teams who do not need an entire office or studio for themselves. Today, as much of the workforce is shifting towards flexible office arrangements, coworking spaces are poised to enter the mainstream.
Sarah Athanas, co-founder and owner of Groundwork in New Bedford explained: “As we emerge from the COVID pandemic, spaces where people can share resources and belong to a community will play a crucial role in both economic and social recovery. While all of our spaces are quite different, we each fill a niche in our respective communities and that is worth celebrating.”
The celebration includes Groundwork in New Bedford and Cape Space in Hyannis. Both are traditional coworking spaces that have been in operation for 5+ years, primarily serving knowledge workers with fast WiFi, meeting rooms, private offices, and perks like bottomless coffee. Groundwork and Cape Space launched a coworking exchange partnership in 2020, allowing members of Groundwork special access to Cape Space and vice versa. “We’re celebrating a lot this year: coming through the pandemic, a five year milestone for our location in Hyannis, a great partnership with Groundwork, and International Coworking Day which raises great awareness for our industry,” said Cape Space founder Robbin Orbison.
South Coast Surface Design and The Communal Space represent new innovations in the concept of coworking, each serving a key component of the creative community. South Coast Surface Design is a design studio in downtown New Bedford providing access to specialized equipment and education for product development of apparel, home decor, stationery, and action sports. Making design accessible, in a supportive community, is the exciting opportunity at SoCoSD.
Adrian Burke, Founder of South Coast Surface Design, explained: “This is a place for people like us, who like to make things, and have a chance to create and explore individual concepts. It is all about sharing resources and knowledge, and a love of materials. Communal inspiration and encouragement goes a long way. Hip Hip Hooray for International Coworking Day!”
The Communal Space in downtown New Bedford is a diverse arts cultivator community space, modern art gallery, and equitable coworking space. Since it’s opening, The Communal Space has hosted vibrant multicultural performances both online and in-person. Says Samia Walker, one of the space’s founders, “It takes a village. This is our mantra, our mission. We are excited to invite the community in, learn from each other, and navigate through our respective creative avenues together. Created with the foundations of Hip-Hop, we open our doors to art, music, dance, knowledge, and the power of our voices!”
New Bedford’s growing community of coworking spaces is a sign of success for Derek Santos, Executive Director of the New Bedford Economic Development Council. Santos recognized the potential value of coworking spaces early on and partnered with Groundwork to secure a grant from MassDevelopment’s Collaborative Workspace Initiative. Santos, speaking to the overall vision, commented: “Developing the Groundwork space from a long-vacant storage area took a bold vision and great partners! Now Groundwork is a cornerstone of our strategy to grow a community of entrepreneurs to become a force in New Bedford’s recovery from the pandemic.”
International Coworking Day takes place on August 9th. All three New Bedford spaces are open to the public from 9-5pm offering tours, free coworking, and special activities. Cape Space will host a member celebration at their Hyannis location. Contact each space for details.
About Groundwork
Groundwork is New Bedford’s first coworking space, launched in 2014. Groundwork primarily serves consultants, entrepreneurs, and small nonprofits. Groundwork provides workstations, private offices, meeting rooms, mail service, and a full schedule of social and educational programming. For more information: http://groundwork.space
About Cape Space
Launched in June 2016, CapeSpace is a coworking facility based in Hyannis that offers fully-furnished private offices, conference rooms, a business lounge, event space, and virtual offices with an array of business amenities including high-speed fiber optic internet service from OpenCape; a gourmet beverage bar; copy/print/fax/scan equipment; administrative services; and more, all available on flexible terms. To learn more about CapeSpace, visit www.CapeSpace.com.
About South Coast Surface Design
South Coast Surface Design (SoCoSD) is a new design studio in downtown New Bedford, MA, founded by Adrian Burke in 2019. SoCoSD customers develop products for the apparel, home decor, stationary and action sports markets. We support regional and global manufacturing programs. Our Featured Artist Program introduces new techniques and emerging talent. The SoCoSD studio provides access to high resolution scanning equipment, product photography, large format printing on paper and fabric, as well as color, technique and trend resources. We provide sewing and flat pattern-making support for sampling, and prototype pre-production printing. Design Workshops coming soon! For more information, please visit: about | South Coast Surface Design
About The Communal Space
The Communal Space is a Diverse Arts Cultivator, Community Space, Black Library, and Modern Art Gallery. The Communal Space represents an equitable co-working and creative environment for multi-cultural communities in the historic Downtown of New Bedford, MA. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/thecommunalspacenb/
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