As a blogger and freelancer, I have recently taken an interest in coworking, and concluded that it would be cool to start a coworking space in the Twin Cities.
I discovered in my research, that there is in fact a coworking community here and a few coworking spaces already exist. We're aware of one in downtown Minneapolis, one in St. Paul's Midway area, and one in Lowertown St. Paul. As of this writing, there is also a proposed coworking space being developed on the skyway level in downtown Minneapolis.
Coworking provides a chance for entrepreneurs, freelancers, consultants, and independent business owners to work in a space that provides a collaborative, creative, and productive atmosphere. The spaces are designed to combine the best elements of a professional workspace with a comfortable, communal environment.
Coworking caters to mobile workers who crave a better place to work. The Coworking space takes the best elements of a coffee shop (social, energetic, creative) and the best elements of a work-space (productive, functional, private) and combines them to give independent workers the chance to have their own, affordable workspace.
In the Twin Cities, you can cowork with others at CoCo Coworking & Collaborative Space in Lowertown St. Paul. CoCo is planning and developing other locations as well.
Another coworking space in the area is the 3rd Place, a space with locations at Como Avenue and W. Hillside in St. Paul and one in Minneapolis at Crema Cafe.
These and most other coworking spaces provide varying levels of access for a monthly charge. Some offer free first visits and discounts. You can pay up to $500 or more a month at most spaces for a full time membership with 24/7 access to the space, and many times that gets you access to your own key card, desk, printers, copiers, and other amenities. Part time access can grant you access a certain number of days a month and is priced accordingly. Most have day passes available as well, ranging from as low as $15 up to $50 or so.
Conference and meeting rooms are available at most spaces for an additional hourly charge, and open workspace is usually available to those without dedicated access to their own desk.
For more information about coworking, visit:
http://www.twincitiescoworking.org/
http://wiki.coworking.info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coworking
