Lively hive

Newly founded businesses can get up and running with a stable Internet connection and intense sweat equity from the founder.

But building business relationships can be difficult from a home office. That's one advantage at Cowork Hive, a shared, open-floor office space for small business owners that would generally work from home or a place such as Starbucks. The core of the business is to build a social environment for members.

Cowork Hive, which opened in June 2014, stands out for another reason: It's in North Port, a city in south Sarasota County, near the Charlotte County line, that's not known for its tech-infused startup culture. With 59,212 residents in 2013, according to U.S. Census data, it's the largest city in Sarasota County.

While there are pockets of retail development and new homebuilding activity, the city lags others on the Gulf Coast in terms of being a business hub where co-work spaces tend to thrive. The founders of Cowork Hive, however, want to prove that a co-work space can succeed in a non-metro area.

“There was a lot of talent in the local market,” says David McCarron, one of four cofounders of Cowork Hive. “Since the talent is here, we wanted to provide a place to give our members access to networking. Working at home, you miss out on those water cooler conversations.”

Networking and access to talent are two distinct advantages co-work spaces offer over working from home, McCarron says. Cowork Hive's business plan is reflective of those advantages, and the benefits brought to members can be summed up in one word: collaboration.

Scott Heinis, founder of a software development business called CodeMine Labs, originally looked into a shared workspace because a home office would have been equally as expensive, he says. The decision was easy.

“Cowork Hive offers the whole package,” Heinis says. “It was the collaborative work environment and the access to resources that sold me.”

Those resources largely come in the form of other entrepreneurs. Heinis says he has picked the brains of Web designers at the Hive for help with his website and gotten help from a graphic artist, too.

But CodeMine Labs is a side venture for Heinis at the moment. He makes time to work on the business outside of his full-time job as a paramedic, where he works 56 hours per week.
Despite his busy schedule, Heinis says he has gotten more done with CodeMine Labs in his six months at Cowork Hive than he did in the previous two years.

Heinis fits the mold of an ideal member for Cowork Hive, which is currently at capacity, with 15 members. It costs $299 per month to be a full-time member. For that fee, a Cowork Hive member gets a desk, 24/7 office access, conference and event space, and access to member meetings, along with the collaboration and networking benefits.

The goal for the Hive, currently in 1,300 square feet, is to continue its growth and move into a larger space. No timetable is set for that move. “Our organic growth goal is to develop into an incubator when there are enough members,” McCarron says.

The switch to an incubator would inevitably change the business, though. Incubators typically take an equity stake in startups that use their space.

Before transforming into an incubator, Cowork Hive needs more mentorship and members on the professional side, McCarron says. And he and others with Cowork Hive believe North Port is the best place to accomplish those goals.

“North Port is very open for businesses and wants to foster expansion and development,” says Heinis, a Charlotte County resident. “Charlotte County, despite its slogan, is not open for business.”

Follow Steven Benna on Twitter @steve_benna