By Liz Witbeck
Several members of the local tech community
have found a new place to create
and collaborate at Sharatoga Coworking in
Saratoga Springs.
Sharatoga Coworking was opened in June
by Chris Thompson, a local entrepreneur. He
was running his business, WorkOrder.es, a
mobile workorder platform for the real estate
industry, out of his home office.
He said he was having dinner at a Broadway
establishment with friends one night and
they discussed how great it would be to have
a coworking space. They looked over, saw a
space for rent and toured it with the property
manager.
The result is Sharatoga Coworking, at
368 Broadway, Suite 11. It is designed as a
space specifically for the tech community
in Saratoga Springs — product managers,
support specialists, IT technicians, entrepreneurs,
programmers and more.
“There’s a very small tech community here
in Saratoga” said Thompson.
Tech professionals have been meeting
through local events such as Saratoga TechOUT.
Sharatoga Coworking gives professionals
a physical space to gather and collaborate,
on a regular basis. The close-knit
nature of the tech community in Saratoga
Springs was one of the reasons for forming
Sharatoga Coworking.
The coworking space has 20 members
signed up so far.
There are several rooms inside the Sharatoga
suite. In the front room is dedicated desk
space. People can pay a fee to permanently
use it. One such company is Empire Windrush,
a data visualization company for schools.
There is individual working space, where
members can come to work privately or collaborate
with others. There is a lunch and
break area for members to relax and socialize.
“Taking a break is very important” said
Thompson, who remembers too many days
of quickly grabbing a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich in his kitchen before going back to
work in his home office.
A conference room is located in another
section, and is available to rent by the general
community.
Thompson has a large office at Sharatoga
Coworking, from where he runs WorkOrder.es
and his other business activities.
For Thompson and the other members of
Sharatoga Coworking, the space is a way to
bring the tech community closer together.
“This is a place to meet other like-minded
people” said Thompson. “If you wanted to
feel inspired, feel creative, this is the place
to be. I feel like getting more work done when
I am here.”
Ashley Terwilliger, a member and who works remotely as a customer support
representative for Articulate, an eLearning
company, said “being able to connect with
other peers in a similar tech field provided
a needed sense of community and collaboration.
Working at Sharatoga each day brings
something new, exciting, and always a learning
opportunity.”
Thompson said in September, the company
will launch a series of Sharatoga Tech Talks.
Once a month, a panel of speakers will be
brought in to discuss different topics in the
tech industry. The events will be free and open
to the public.
People can buy a day pass for Sharatoga
Coworking, which provides access from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. A monthly membership can
be purchased that provides full-time access
including early mornings, late nights, and
weekends for maximum flexibility.
Those interested in becoming members at
Sharatoga Coworking can fill out an inquiry
form on their website at http://sharatogacoworking.com.