Business Spotlight: 376 Introduces Co-Working

“Create – Connect – Collaborate”  Opening Monday, May 9 from 3 to 5 p.m.

— by Margie Doyle, updated May 4 at 3 p.m. —

376 Owners Donna Riordan, left, and Sarah Cooper await business owners in the “Three Chairs” of the reception room at their co-working offices.

376Group LLC is a new business entity founded by Donna Riordan and Sarah Cooper. They are introducing a new concept in business office culture, called co-working. The partners plan to offer a space where workers can function efficiently and productively independently and also collaboratively. Essentially, it is offering business people a space where they can work efficiently and productively with other business owners/workers, creating a community of their own — the 376 community.

For those who want to explore what this concept can mean locally, the public is invited to view the office spaces and propositions of 376 at the old Orcas Net building at 596 Main Street (at the foot of Madrona Street) on Monday, May 9 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Cooper and Riordan spent months investigating how workstyles and products have changed for Orcas Islanders. They observed that many were able to work on their computers, tablets, and cellphones at home, or in cafes or the library — even in the library parking lot.

“Business people — including us — have created a work environment where technologically, we’re okay, but something is missing. In the search of that something missing, this environment was created —  a community of business people co-working on Orcas,” says Cooper.

“It seemed as though most people have the space worked out — whether it’s your kitchen, a goat shed, or the library. Our biggest challenge after the internet was the office. As we talked to people in similar situations, to a person they said they felt isolated. What they miss most is connection and the synergy through which they can move from creation to connection to collaboration.” With the co-working spaces in 376, Orcas Islanders and their visitors will be able to work and be in a community and have a richer life, the partners say. “They are like-minded people who want to be in an environment where they’re working in a similar way.

“Technology provides the tools to build community; it’s not a community of itself. 376 is about relationship more than transaction,” Cooper says. “Co-working is now a huge movement. In the last two years, the number of shared working offices has increased by 400 percent throughout the county. 376 will allow people who are part of this economy to have a new way of working, to be creative together.”

The two-story building will house four different environments:

1)  A large, open shared workspace with tables seating three, and facing carrel desks for two persons. that is chatter-free, cellphone-free and food-free;
2)  The reception–lounge at the main entrance, a casual workspace, with sectional furniture where informal conversations can take place without disturbing those in the shared workspace;
3)  The covered deck where 25 signature red chairs provide wi-fi access and more opportunities for connection and collaboration;
4)  Office spaces upstairs which includes a private office for a team of two to three people; two larger offices that are each divided into two semi-private offices; and a conference room equipped with an HDMI projector, large wall-­mounted screen, and video and teleconferencing capability.

There is also a large kitchen social area. and even an enclosed “phone booth” room for those who want to make private calls behind closed doors. Since most people make their phone calls on a cell phone, 376 won’t have a phone system at the start, beyond a local landline (376-6093 and 376-6094 fax). They will have a free land line only for local use, recognizing that most 376 members will have their private cell phones.

The built-­in office infrastructure that comes with membership includes:

• Office furniture and equipment
• Super-­fast Internet
• WiFi + Ethernet ports and cables
• A backup generator on standby
• 22+ on-­site parking spaces
• A business street address
• USPS mail drop-­off and package delivery
• Coffee/tea stations on both floors plus a full kitchen
• Weekly cleaning services
• Global news – delivery of The Wall Street Journal and The New York
  Times and The Washington Post
• Local news – Orcas Issues and The Islands’ Sounder

Additional opportunities to connect and collaborate include brown-bag lunch discussions and monthly 376 social events. Those who wish to become 376 members can choose the level of their participation:

1. Drop-by;
2.  Hotspot: open during business hours, 36-hour per month limit;
3. Hotspot unlimited;
4. Partner office;
5. Semi-private office.

Riordan and Cooper say they are trying not to overthink this for potential members, but to allow it to evolve during the startup phase. “We have the space to be as flexible as possible,” says Cooper. There may be more private spaces and there may even be more 376 locations, depending upon demand. “We want to be responsive to people’s needs before we invest in super-duper machinery or permanent structure changes.”

A weekly visitor rate and tourist rate structure is being worked out to serve part-time islanders and visitors.

Islanders may recognize the building as the two-story office building owned and occupied by Bill Wulff’s OrcasNet. Last year Wulff told Cooper and Riordan, “It’s just time for me [to close the business]. I want to work in my barn.” The 376Group partners bought it from him after introducing the co-working office space concept to him.

The modular two-story building boasts internet amenities such as a 72-foot cell tower, the highest in Eastsound, a separate server room and wi-fi and Ethernet connections that average remarkable download and upload times (24 down for wi-fi, 23.5 down for ethernet; 79 up for wi-fi; 95.75 up for ethernet). The internet infrastructure is “fullly loaded for past, present and future need.”

The furniture and shelving, re-purposed by Mark Padbury from 20-year-old furniture also stays with the building.

The pair conducted a market survey of comparable office space rentals in Eastsound, and found that the costs for a similar workspace rent from $783 to $1,377 per month — without utilities, internet service, furniture or equipment.

“I had three chairs in my house: one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.” Henry David Thoreau

At 376, the “Three Chairs” concept described by Thoreau is put into practice. It’s not just a desk and chair and internet hookup, but opportunities to allow people to connect and collaborate. Riordan says, “We offer “unengineered opportunities.”

Riordan speaks of  Sherry Trukl’s book, Alone Together, and the idea that ‘we’re all plugged in now, but there’s a difference between lonely and alone.’ With Thoreau’s quote, we had a epiphany of what’s needed to create a creative, connected, collaborative work place.”

They’ve experience amazing support, excitement and encouragement in the development of the co-working concept. “It’s been an amazing process. all coming around 3 chairs like the loaves and fishes,” Riordan said

To see what it’s all about, come to the opening on Monday morning, May 9 from 3 to 5 p.m. To contact, call 376-6093, or email Donna@376group.com or Sarah@376group.com