Business chamber getting ready to start a coworking space in Swift Current
Modern workplace arrangements offer more flexibility and options to achieve organizational goals and a work-life balance for employees.
The Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce will be adding to the options available to the business community when it opens a coworking space in early 2024.The Chamber is preparing to move to a different location in January, which will make it possible to accommodate the creation of a coworking space.
It will remain in downtown Swift Current, but it will move from Central Avenue North to a larger space on the second floor of the Innovation Credit Union building.
Chamber CEO Karla Wiens said this initiative to establish a coworking space will fit in well with the organization’s goal to foster connections in support of economic and community prosperity.
“It’s an intriguing idea that we started exploring,” she mentioned. “We are constantly striving to provide tangible benefits to our membership and also provide opportunities within our community. We can add this to our toolbox of another thing that the chamber actually does in the southwest Saskatchewan. We really want to encourage success. So the idea was born over lots of conversations at the board level.”
She noted one of the Chamber board directors has experience with the use of a coworking space elsewhere. It is not a new concept, but it will be new for Swift Current and southwest Saskatchewan.
“It is a space that will support a group of people from different companies or organizations working independently or collaboratively,” she explained. “So it’s for individuals or groups, depending what they’re going to do.”
The coworking space at the Chamber’s new location will include one private office space for rental on a monthly basis. There will also be three partitioned work spaces, known as hot desks, for rental on a daily basis.
“What it means is the desk is not a specific dedicated space,” she said. “It can be booked daily by different people. So that’s why the term hot desk applies there.”
The coworking space will offer meeting room and event venue booking options. It will provide a convenient place for collaboration, networking and opportunities to connect. It will be named the Chamber Hub, but Wiens expects it will not be long before it simply becomes known as the Hub.
“We’ll welcome anyone,” she said. “Any individual and any kind of organization is welcome to use the space. This is not for Chamber members only. It is for our entire region and indeed for our entire province. If people are coming through Swift Current and don’t want to work out of their hotel room or they’re just in for the day from surrounding communities, they are welcome, as long as space is available, to poke their head in and make the Chamber Hub one of their visits in Swift Current.”
The Chamber identified the need for a coworking space in Swift Current after hearing from potential new entrepreneurs, existing Chamber members and people in the community.
“Sometimes a barrier to either entrepreneurship or working is the overhead of a bricks and mortar type space to work in,” she said. “So that started the conversation for us.”
The changing nature of the workforce and the need for different workspace options also played a role in the Chamber’s decision to create a coworking space.
“Many people have not gone back to the office full-time,” she said. “Many people want to have the option to work from home, but just because they can, doesn’t mean that they want to. Our current workforce has changed. There’s a lot more laptops set up in coffee shops, in restaurants, wherever it happens to be.”
A coworking space will therefore provide an additional option for situations where people need a place to work or connect with others.
“They perhaps don’t need it all the time, but this will give the flexibility and enable people to have more privacy if needed and also a professional environment, should people want to connect with other people who are working,” she said. “It’s really about providing opportunities for various needs.”
A coworking space provides a convenient option for individuals, for example business travellers, freelancers, remote workers or consultants. It can also offer a work or meeting space for startups or small businesses that don’t have a budget to spend on permanent office space.
“We have lots of calls looking for a meeting room space,” she said. “So we’ll have individual desks and group options. Not everybody has a boardroom or some people have downsized. Whatever the case happens to be, our primary goal is to provide opportunity that facilitates business, commerce and connections. We want to remove barriers to success to ensure that we’ve got a thriving economy here in southwest Saskatchewan.”
Coworking spaces are typically privately operated initiatives. The one in Swift Current will therefore be different, because it will be operated by the Chamber. Wiens felt it will be an opportunity to add additional value to the way the coworking space functions.
“We’re hoping to bring a whole different element to the co-working space,” she said. “If you need a space to work, we welcome you to come in. But are there other things that we can help with? So that’s the element that we are looking to bring to the traditional coworking space. It’s got lots of potential and we will pivot and adjust as we need to, based on what the community needs.”