Following up from last week's story about Green Street and Paragon Space, the Cannabis-related coworking spaces in Los Angeles, apparently there seems to be a major land-rush for offices, warehouses and retail space in the blooming marijuana field. No surprise really as the stats are pretty eye-opening; by 2020, cannabis will rival the $7bn California wine industry growing to $75bn nationwide in 2030.
Note: as I see it, the opportunity for coworking operators here is to simply offer innovation, technology, and business development. You know, what successful spaces should normally provide.
Forward-thinking mall owner PREIT is opening a coworking space in their upscale property in Cherry Hills, South Jersey. Offering the standard desks, offices, conference rooms, and entrepreneur-centered programming, PREIT considers the space and partnership with incubator 1776 the “wave of the future”. Taking up 11,000 square feet next to the likes of Nordstrom, Apple, Zara, Hugo Boss and The LEGO Store, 1776 hopes to curate a mix of retail-focused startups to give them direct access to retailers and consumers for their ideas.
Not sure about you, but most folks I talk to have never heard of coworking. Which is exciting as an entrepreneur and getting in early is your thing but not so much if you’re trying to attract new members (or even investors) and you need to go through your Coworking101 pitch deck. Finally, some help by way of a short story on coworking on a mainstream media outlet, CBS News. Yay.
Freelancers make up almost 40% of the American workforce and the majority of a coworking space’s membership. Yet government and the employment laws made over 75 years ago, still favor W-2’s over 1099’s. So it’s a good thing that the IPSE U.S. – The Association of Independent Workers – was founded. The organization aims to create a political voice for independent workers—addressing issues such as the high cost of health insurance and the hazards of unsteady income.
Finally this week, Distinctly Creative, a niche-oriented coworking space is expanding its footprint and services in Brentwood, Maryland and they’re taking the crowdfunding path to help make it happen. Howard grad Morgan Davis wanted to create a safe space + community for black creative entrepreneurs to grow professionally & personally and what began as an Instagram Page is heading to a 3,000 square foot space about 1 mile southeast of Washington, DC. Here’s Morgan’s Indiegogo page.