Page 48 - BusinessWest April 4, 2022

Getting Reconnected
Greenspace CoWork Launches Business Networking Series
By Joseph Bednar
While the past two years haven’t exactly been kind to co-working spaces, Jeff Sauser said, the long-term view is much rosier.
“COVID has really accelerated the trend toward remote work,” he explained, noting that the busi- ness world was already taking steps in that direc- tion, but at a much more gradual pace. “One silver lining from COVID is that co-working spaces and other shared spaces are seeing a golden age moving forward.”
Jeremy Goldsher, who opened Greenspace CoWork with Sauser in downtown Greenfield sever- al years ago, agreed. “We’ve managed to keep every- thing afloat during the last few years. Its definitely been a challenge, but Jeff and I have both devel- oped a lot of creative avenues through the co-work model that we might never have considered.”
Specifically, the pair wanted to do more to con- nect the Greenfield business community, and one way is through a new monthly series of networking events called Business Breakdown.
The idea came out of internal conversations about how to bring people back together and give them a chance to reconnect, Goldsher said.
“I know I’ve spent the better part of two years isolated, and I was excited to find a good reason to be in person with my peers and understanding all
the challenges everyone else is going through.” In addition, he noted, “a lot of new businesses
have opened up during COVID, and there hasn’t been much opportunity for anyone to present themselves. We wanted to give a platform for new businesses to come down Main Street and meet fel- low business owners and market themselves and speak to the community.”
Each Business Breakdown session, which takes place at Greenspace, on the third floor of the Hawks & Reed building on Main Street, begins with an informal presentation from a new local business. The sessions also explore topics like transparency, resource sharing, and recovery in a disruptive cli- mate; the challenges business people face both pro- fessionally and personally amid the pandemic; and inventive ways they can overcome those challenges.
The sessions meet the first Wednesday of every month. The April 6 event will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“Our model is to be more of a resource to our community, rather than just our membership,” Goldsher said. “It’s something we’ve thought about a lot over the past couple years, as the world changed.”
With Greenspace membership back to pre- pandemic levels, Sauser said, “events like these are symbolic for us — people are opening their doors
back up, and we’re seeing a lot of good interactions from the business community. They’re anxious to get back together. It’s been tough psychologically for business owners.”
The guest speakers for the inaugural Business Breakdown last month were the head brewer and taproom manager at Four Phantoms Brewery.
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resource to our community, rather than just our membership.”
“They spoke at length about how local flora and fauna ave really influenced their ingredients, and how they use local artists for their cans,” Goldsher noted. “It was spectacular.”
Future sessions will collaborate with Coci-
na Lupida, a restaurant on the first floor of the Hawks & Reed building, which houses Greenspace CoWork. That includes April’s session, which will feature the partners from Madhouse Multi-Arts, which offers collaborative, accessible art spaces on Main Street and helps aspiring artists and musi- cians access resources and skills they need to reach
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