A new co-working office space has opened in downtown Pittsfield, Massachusetts. WAMC followed Mayor Linda Tyer on a recent tour.
Scott Moraes and Tim Burke have created a 5,000-square foot contemporary office space in downtown Pittsfield. The professional hub at Framework on North Street has an open floor plan designed to allow startups and established businesses to work, meet and collaborate.
Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer says the space fits in well downtown.
“Having Framework, and a co-working space, in the downtown corridor is an amazing complement to all of the other lively activities that are happening downtown,” Tyer says. “We’ve got to have a lot of diversity within our economy if we are going to have a stable community. So, this is another example of a small scale economic development engine for that individual who is maybe starting up with an idea – who needs a space, wants to come downtown where there is a little bit of a vibe, network with others – this provides that.”
Framework has spent about $100,000 renovating the former site of the Ferrin Gallery to make the open floor plan work.
The company opened its doors in late September to a group of 20 early members. In October, it opened to the general public, but hours and amenities are still being expanded, Tim Burke says.
Burke is also the founder of Mill Town Capital, which provides private capital investment and guidance to companies in Berkshire County.
“Kind of a good buzz of activity since then,” Burke says, “both a mix of members and people stopping in for the day, getting day passes and people having meetings.”
On any given day, about a dozen small businesses operate out of the co-working space. Three of four standard private offices in the back are already rented. Two larger private suites are still available.
Also available, according to Scott Moraes, are printers, Wi-Fi and high-speed internet, a kitchen, bathrooms and conference room space.
“So, and we want people to come and enjoy their time here – find different educational programs or just simply networking opportunities,” Moraes says.
Moraes also operates Radiance Yoga in Pittsfield and Great Barrington.
The city’s Director of Community Development Deanna Ruffer says startups and small businesses often miss out on collaboration opportunities.
“Office space is usually a challenge for companies. You know, you look at a lot of our small business and that they started on their dining room table or in their garage and as they start to grow they have a need to develop more space and work in a collaborative environment,” Ruffer says.
Moraes agrees. The co-working space is also home to freelancers, independent contractors, and telecommuters.
“The two play to each other rather than spreading out, which I think sometimes the challenge can be things get spread too thin and then people end up getting isolated when things, in my opinion, best grow when there are higher levels of connectivity and collaboration,” Moraes says.
Burke is working with LEVER, a business incubator in North Adams, on weekly economic development strategy seminars for startups. LEVER has operated out of co-working space Cloud 85 since early 2015.
“The other thing is that there is different professional backgrounds here that have a lot of resources like that,” Burke says. “So for example someone at Guardian could go to a training in New York that has all of this HR professional development training that he or she might want to give back to other people in the community – so we can host a night around certain topics and speakers and things like that.”
Framework’s grand opening is November 9th.
