Page 49 - BusinessWest April 4, 2022
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 their creative and professional goals. “We’re very excited to have them. It’s
a new business started by two young Hampshire College grads. They’re very much in the vein of our co-work space, but focused more on the arts,” Goldsh- er said. “We’ve watched as they took a historical building on Main Street that had been dormant for many years and brought it back to life.”
He added that the event series is “definitely evolving,” and that partici- pation and feedback will help deter- mine what future events will look like. But for now, he and Sauser are encour- aged — and excited to hear what Mad- house brings to the table.
“How do you take arts and crafts and turn it into a business? How do you make a living doing those things? We have so many creative people around here — how do you take art and turn it into your livelihood?” Sau-
“It’s amazing to shift the process away from being
a tradititional co-working operator to take a more in-depth approach to supporting local businesses and business leaders.”
ser asked. “We want to get a good vari- ety of different business perspectives, not all of which are bricks-and-mortar companies.”
Greenspace is also working with Greenfield Community College and the Franklin County Community Develop- ment Corp. on a pilot series they hope to launch this spring, Sauser said, a handful of workshops on topics like how to start a business, how to write
a business plan, getting financials
in order, obtaining a bank loan, and more.
“We’re not reinventing resources that don’t exist, but providing an addi- tional outlet to do them,” he explained. “We’ll gather data while we’re doing it and, moving forward, may evolve that into something more substantive and cohort-based, with classes you can go through, a program like LaunchSpace in Orange. We’re looking at opportuni- ties to grow something similar here. We’re thinking about Franklin County holistically.”
And the region’s business owners could benefit from that kind of collab- orative approach to growth, Goldsher added.
“A lot of people are just not commu- nicating openly with each other — it’s almost like people forgot how to be honest, and they’re a little bit unsure about how much they’re willing to discuss about their trials and tribula- tions. But it’s amazing to shift the pro-
cess away from being a tradititional co-working operator to take a more in-depth approach to supporting local businesses and business leaders.”
Sauser agreed. “This was something we always wanted to do, and if not for COVID, it might look a little different. I’m excited — it feels like we’re emerg- ing from this situation and respond- ing to what the community needs. We want to have an impact on Greenfield’s revitalization, so we’re looking at it through that lens. And we believe it can be a model for other communities.” u
Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]
Jeremy Goldsher (left) and Jeff Sauser say the Business Breakdown is just one
of many
new ways Greenspace CoWork
is forging connections within the business community.
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APRIL 4, 2022 49
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