Local Hoboken Business Mission 50 is helping fill the need for coworking places as part of a national trend. Read below for details…
BEYOND TECH STARTUPS, INTEREST IN COWORKING SURGES
Shared Office Environments Attract a Diverse Workforce with the Opportunity to Collaborate and Connect
By Greg Dell’Aquila, co-founder and president Mission 50 Workspaces Hoboken, N.J.
Fledgling tech startups and budding entrepreneurs have gravitated for years toward co-working spaces both for financial reasons and as a means to network with other like-minded individuals. Today, this work environment is breaking out of its niche, drawing a wide range of professionals in all age groups looking for an affordable, flexible place to work, grow a business, meet with clients and become part of a collaborative community.
According to DeskMag’s 3rd Annual Global Co-Working Study, the diversity of the movement is on the rise, resulting in a higher number and variety of coworking spaces. The study indicates there are now more than 2,200 co-working spaces worldwide and the number grows on a daily basis.
While coworking environments can cater to those in a certain field, many today are designed to accommodate a wide range of professionals looking to share each other’s energy and ideas. Corporations also are starting to consider coworking as a viable place for their workforce, recognizing that you don’t need to work from a cubicle to be productive.
In short, coworking today appeals to anyone who is working independently. Take for example, Mission 50 Workspaces. Technology startups have been a mainstay since our inception in 2011, but our membership today runs the gamut. Of Mission 50′s current 160 members, there’s not one target market of worker who utilizes this space.
The environment attracts business professionals, lawyers, accountants, financial specialists, interior designers, nonprofit consultants, creatives, and even mothers of young children needing space that’s conducive to writing and establishing a business. It’s all about breaking the habit of working alone. In a coworking environment, not only do you know the people working next to you, but you can achieve a synergy that wouldn’t exist elsewhere.
The range of ages found at these shared work environments is just as diverse. While the average coworker traditionally has been a 34-year-old male, that’s changing as well. Coworking has become a way of life with mass appeal. It has truly redefined how we work. Offices – as we know them today – will no longer exist.
Coworking’s affordability and flexibility is particularly paramount for Generation Y and Millennial populations, the fastest growing segment of the workforce. Theirs is a mobile world of cell phones, tablets and notebook computers; they work anywhere and collaborate with colleagues and strangers around the globe. As a result, work is a moving target, even for those employed by larger companies, where productivity and inspiration are supreme goals that transcend age, business and work hours.
Nearly three-quarters of the coworkers reported in a recent DeskMag poll they felt more productive in shared space, and 71 percent experienced a boost in their creativity. Most of this improved productivity is a byproduct of the environment. A good coworking office has the true buzz of a workspace rather than the relaxed atmosphere of a home or the distractions of a café.
As the owner of a vibrant coworking space where I also operate with my fellow members, I am not surprised; I feel that same “rush” of excitement, every day.
About Mission 50 and Greg Dell’Aquila:
Greg Dell’Aquila is the co-founder and president of Mission 50 Workspaces, a premier coworking space in Northern New Jersey. He has deep experience in commercial and residential real estate, having served as president of the JDA Group LLC and its privately-held companies – JDA Development and Planning LLC, JDA Construction LLC and JDA Management LLC for many years.
