Everyone Can Cowork {Even Corporate Companies}

Have you ever wondered who you have to be or what industry you have to be in to cowork? We’re here to put that question to rest because the answer is simple: all you have to be is you, no matter the industry. It is an option that has a one-size-fits-all type style.

Let’s start with some name dropping to give you an idea…

  • The company our printer is made by, Ricoh, had their innovation team work out of a coworking space called NextSpace in Santa Cruz for several months to observe how people work and where they hit pain points. They were able to use the members in the space for focus group opportunities and therefore later launched their Smart Presenter, a globally used paperless meeting solution.
  • Instagram was developed in just eight weeks in Dogpatch Labs, a coworking start-up hub in Ireland.
  • To bring it back home locally, artist Sarah Gust of Folk Sense Arts, coworks out of Ment where she creates, meets and comes to get inspired.
  • IBM, Microsoft, and Verizon, all use coworking spaces for their employees so they can be close to and easily interact with innovative startups.
  • For some even bigger names, WeWork memberships include Salesforce, Starbucks, Facebook, and Bank of America all choosing to have employees cowork.
  • Lyft, Pandora and Pinterest all have worked or are working out of Industrious locations all around the world.

As you can see, many different people are choosing to give coworking a try. Why? There is no simple one reason, but it has been proven that for corporate companies, spending time away from the office at a coworking space can spark new ideas and become part of the company’s strategy. It can help your people and your business thrive which is the point to doing it all, right? For those starting businesses, it is a chance to network and meet new clients within arms reach. And for those who work remotely, it gets them out of their at-home office or what we like to call the procrastination hole.

Being a part of this cultural shift to mobility is also about being a part of a social movement. It is no longer about just going to work to do a job. It is about supporting a healthy work-life balance, creating inviting atmospheres in a workplace, encouraging collaboration amongst departments and building community. This shift in our society is catching CEOs’ attentions as much as it is attracting freelancers and small business owners. It is altering ways of business function by giving employees the option to work remotely from a coworking space. It is promoting everyone to be their authentic best selves. The result from doing so is employees who feel more committed to your organization, and are more likely to bring their best energy and ideas to the office each day.

Article used: Why People Thrive in Coworking Spaces

 

Who is Coworking and How has it Become an International Phenomenon?

The stats are in and proving coworking is more than a global trend, it’s an international phenomenon. According to an article released earlier today by Coworking Resources, in 2020, 40 percent of coworking members will be freelancers, independent contractors and part-time workers. These members range from the usual digital nomads, to startups, small businesses and even healthcare professionals and lawyers. And by 2022, there will be over one million coworking members in the U.S. alone and over six thousand spaces in the U.S. Can you believe it? What is even better is those who are leading this exponential growth are independent business owners and entrepreneurs entering the market for the first time such as our owner JD Haase.

Bringing the coworking concept to Bowling Green was a decision made to fulfill a need that was becoming more apparent. People are starting to need more flexible work environments to get their work done in. Not only are they needing it, they are wanting a more collaborative, productive space to work from instead of a traditional office. Corporate companies and enterprises such as Microsoft, Verizon and IBM are jumping on board with coworking as well by having some of their teams stationed in cowork spaces to promote creative thinking as well as innovation. So it is not just freelancers or digital nomads who are occupying our space which is the beauty of Ment – we welcome all industries big and small.

So, what changed and where did this need to kick the 9 to 5 M-F office job out the door come from? One big reason is the cultural shift to mobility however, some would say it is the millennial generation who shifted the workplace. A generation of questions being asked, working diligently in our own way and on our own time while constantly hustling on the side. A generation of change and it just so happens that this certain shift is being picked up and widely accepted across the world.

Though seen as millennial driven, all generations are partaking and adding to the accelerated serendipity that occurs in these types of spaces. A small business owner could bump into their new PR firm at the coffee station, their new graphic designer in the cowork lounge and then even their new legal representative in the next office over – accelerated serendipity. We can see why it has become an international phenomenon – it’s a one-stop-shop!

If you would like to see for yourself, swing by any time for a free tour and trial day. We have the space, you bring the ideas.

 

Article Used: https://www.coworkingresources.org/blog

Video Used: How coworking is changing how and where we work 

 

HYGGE

Go look up hygge on any image search engine and notice how you feel when doing so. As Winnie-the-Pooh said, “You don’t spell it, you feel it.” I have recently begun reading this book called The Little Book of Hygge, courtesy of one of our coworkers here at Ment and although not too far into it yet, I can already tell it is a factor that comes into play in the lives of many when they are trying to live a better, more self-caring life balance. (Remember our little New Years resolution we made?)

So what is it? Hygge is the Danish lifestyle concept of cozy, comfortable and quality living. Think comfy sweaters, fuzzy socks, a warm cup of tea and the crackling of a wood burning fire. Chief executive of the Happiness Research Institute and author of this little book, Mike Wiking, describes it as being to the Danes what freedom is to Americans. This concept goes right along with our coworking wellness month. We don’t take any responsibility for desk fire-hazards, but having lit candles in your workspace, keeping your favorite sweater hanging on your chair or making an office playlist could all be deemed creating hygge in the workplace.

The Washington Post did an article about hygge as well as five other imported lifestyle concepts that have the potential to reach hygge status in the States. To read more, click here.

Work-Life Balance: Coworking Wellness

We all are familiar with the hopes and dreams a new year brings. For some, it acts as an excuse to reinvent themselves, for others it may bring disappointment when looking back on past failed attempts. No matter how the start of a new year is viewed, it is still just that: a new year. 365 days that we have no idea what they will entail.

We decided here at Ment that we are going to play into the New Years resolution mumbo jumbo because we found a resolution that we feel it completely 110% worth making an effort to stick to. In 2019, we are going to promise to ourselves to find our own work-life balance and let our coworking space promote just that. We feel that it is our job to spread the light and be the lighthouse for all who are out there struggling to start their “not-so-typical” careers and those who are creators and self-starters, those who don’t thrive in the old ways of having a traditional 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday work week, those reinventing themselves.

Coworking wellness is something you will see us bringing up this year and we are thrilled to begin sharing it with you, our community. From mastering the art of hygge, to collaborative coworking studios and community-focused working, we will be covering it all.

From our team to you, cheers to a Happy New Year and an even Happier New You!

Ment Cowork Ribbon Cutting

A Cowork Ribbon Cutting

8.23.18 Bowling Green, KY – On a Thursday afternoon, Ment Cowork in collaboration with its parent company, Ewing Ford Properties, opened their (elevator) doors to the city of Bowling Green in celebration of their grand opening.

Their coworking concept, first of its kind in town, began development in December 2017. After construction was completed in June of this year, owner JD Haase & team curated 3,800 sq. ft. of workspace with the future member in mind. As their mission statement reads, they are here to unite community and creativity for the success of your idea.

Introductions during the ceremony were made by Chamber Vice President of Partnership Services, Maureen Carpenter, complimented with speeches given by JD and Ment’s Community Manager, Hayley Hoback.  The space was showcased throughout the open house as well as more than a few local Bowling Green businesses. Mary Jane’s Fine Chocolates, Spencer’s Coffee, Mission Catering just to name a few, as well as an out-of-town guest Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company out of Louisville, KY who sponsored the bar and beverages.

With the ribbon being cut, Ment is ready to take in its members. To book a Coworking Day Pass or sign an office space lease, head to www.mentcowork.com to fill out a contact form today.

About Ment

Ment is a coworking office space located in the heart of Downtown Bowling Green. This shared, coworking office space is in a completely remodeled 130 year old building with plenty of hardwood floors and exposed brick. The idea of “coworking” first came to the US in 2007 with offices opening each year in cities across the United States and around the world. Ment offers dedicated office spaces along with common space for all. In its first phase, the space can occupy up to 30 persons total. The concept is ideal for start-up businesses or businesses that have outgrown their current space or their home office.  Along with its many features, Ment will allow reserved parking, free coffee and snacks, monthly meals, a private kitchenette, a private conference room, high speed internet and furnished offices in a social/team building atmosphere.

For more information, visit https://mentcowork.com

 

Contact

Ment Cowork

911 College Street, Suite 203, Bowling Green, KY 42101

(270) 775-0525

[email protected]

 

For Press Inquiries Hayley Hoback

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coworking space bowling green

It’s Ment to Be

It was two lines from an Observer article on coworking that made a lightbulb go off: One solution is for coworking spaces to trade on their own brands instead of the word “coworking.” Another would be for the coworking purists to come up with a new way to describe what it is they do so they don’t get lumped in with the rent-a-cubes. 

Our space has been under construction since December 2017. The team did an amazing job with a complete renovation wrapping up right about the time I was brought on board back in April. I knew my job would be fun because the great work everyone did would easily sell itself. So, I had a finished coworking space, it was like nowhere and no other concept I had ever seen in Bowling Green and it was sitting empty as my own little hidden treasure. We obviously did not want to keep it that way but we needed a name and a brand that reflected the space because it is exactly what makes us unique.

While researching names, I came across many great articles about coworking concepts and what has worked for others, but none struck me like the one above did. To trade on our own brand, which was not even established yet, meant that I needed to come up with what made our space desirable and efficient as a coworking space and then sell that. Following my online research, I asked our interior designer (Sarah Smalling Interiors) to give me the words she would use to describe our space:

Knowing that we wanted to stick with a four letter word, I began digging. These words fresh, elemental, biophilic, oldly enough began to remind me of a mint leaf. So for about a day, I let Mint cowork pay around in my head. “Mint Cowork, Cowork Mint, The Mint, I’m going to Mint.” All of this I kept practicing saying to see if it would work. Then I went back to the drawing board. What if I used ment instead? It is in so many of the words our space brings to life: achievement, commitment, advancement, enjoyment, refreshment, compliment, and elemental as Sarah stated.

And so we had it! Ment Cowork, where you can enjoy the ‘ment within a community for the success of your idea. It is a play on words but more importantly, it is a representation of what we aim to give our members. We want to give you a space to succeed in and achieve those actions that can be turned into real people, places and things. It is what the suffix ment does to words and it is what you can do to your careerIt’s as simple as that and I like to believe it’s just ment to be. 

Written by: Hayley Hoback, Community Manager

Benefits of Coworking Spaces

Why Cowork?

The Benefits of Coworking

Though they have been around for going on 12 years, coworking spaces are still a concept that many are not familiar with. Sure maybe you are if you live in a big city. But for those of us “small” town folk, it’s brand spankin new. Ment is here to give you the why and maybe that will help with the what.

  1. Flexibility: Who likes signing their life away and committing to a 3+ year lease for an office space – especially when you are just starting out your business venture. Coworking is perfect for those of us who are living our best creative life & with that, we might never know what’s going to come next. At Ment Cowork, we get that. Of course we want to be the tank to your think forever, but constantly changing members is a part of the process and also keeps coworking fresh. Leases start as short as a day pass all the way up to a full year.
  2. The Network is REAL: We have all heard about the importance of networking – in today’s world more people than not have gotten their job this way. In a coworking space, it is a 24/7 opportunity to network. Granted we don’t want to encourage people to bug others while they are working, but the occasional coffee pot breaks might be a good time for introductions and such.
  3. Did someone say coffee pot? FREE COFFEE Y’ALL: At Ment, we feel it is our duty to our country to supply our members with the best caffeinated drinks out there (aka Spencer’s coffee). Afterall, America consumes the 8th most coffee of any country out there. It is a fact that coffee increases energy levels, improves physical performance, Lower levels of depression and higher levels of happiness, and even FIGHT OFF DEATH. So in a nutshell, coworking = coffee and we offer it to our members for free.
  4. Diverse Community: The beauty of working in a coworking space is being immersed in a very diverse community. One neighbor could be a magazine and the next could be a travel agent. There is never a dull moment this way and there will always be new exciting hustle and bustle popping up.
  5. All-Inclusive: We value your time and money so we just cut through the hassle of opening up utility accounts. All you pay a month is for your membership and we handle the rest.

These are just a few of the reasons we think coworking is your next step to success. Whether you are a local or an out of town visitor, we welcome you to come find your own reason for why cowork.

Email [email protected] today to set up your FREE trial day before you begin your coworkment.