Jamie Simchik is reimagining bland, traditional office spaces, where employees sit in rows working silently at their desks.
Instead, he pictures young graphic designers, entrepreneurs and start-up employees from different companies working collaboratively on projects in a bright room on plush chairs and tables.
Local beer and coffee will be served, as well as other amenities. Speakers will come in to deliver regular programming on marketing and financial planning.
Members will also be part of a virtual community, similar to LinkedIn, which can be used for networking with other members of the space.
This is all part of HRKNSScowork, a new co-working space Simchik plans to open by the start of 2020 on the second floor of the Capital Commons building, owned by his father, Michael Simchik.
The name “HRKNSS” is a play on Phillips Exeter Academy’s Harkness method, which involved students sitting around a table discussing issues in a collaborative fashion. Simchik is a graduate of Phillips Exeter.
The project is inspired by the work being done by WeWork and other co-working spaces opening up in larger cities, like Boston.
Simchik thinks it’s something that will flourish in Concord, a place that has an appreciation for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“I think the idea is really to serve as a basis for that entrepreneurial, small-business community in the area,” he said. “There’s that brand in Concord, or the greater Concord area, that we’re open to those kinds of businesses, not just your big, corporate tenants.”
Simchik said he and his father have been considering looking into co-working for years, but it wasn’t until they opened The Hotel Concord last year that they were really able to leverage the staff there to look into it. They said they think the co-working space will fit well into Capital Commons, a mixed-use space: the hotel is located there, along with the offices of several business groups, a restaurant, O Steaks & Seafood, and an independent movie theatre, Red River Theatres.
The Simchiks are now in the process of redesigning a 2,400-square-foot space previously occupied by Casey Family Services for the headquarters of the co-working space.
HRKNSScowork will be accessible to members who can use a keycard to enter the building from the parking garage. There will be different tiers of membership – some people will rent office spaces, others will have a membership to work in an open space for a certain number of days a month where there will be “hot desks,” the location of which might change from day to day.
Day passes will also be available to people just passing through town, like lobbyists working at the State House or people staying at Hotel Concord who want to access a working space.
A conference room will be available for those who want to hold meetings or make presentations.
He said he’s hoping that members might want to graduate through different tiers as they expand their businesses and add employees.
“The idea is, there might be some established small companies with offices and there might be people that have an idea and they’re working on it and just getting it started,” he said. “They might grow over time from one, to a few ‘hot desks’ to getting a private office down the road. We’d like to see people in various stages of a company because someone doing something on their own might get insight from someone more established.”
Simchik said he’s not yet sure what pricing will look like to join HRKNSScowork – it’s hard when there haven’t been a lot of other similar operations open in the area to compare with. He is attending a co-working conference in Washington, D.C., this month to learn more.
One co-working space, Work Nest, was opened in Concord by real estate developer Ben Kelley in 2015. It is no longer open. Kelley did not return a phone call asking why he closed his space.
Simchik said where he thinks his co-working space will be successful is in offering programs, a virtual community and amenities, not just office space.
There will likely be at least one employee in the space, a community manager who will make sure that everything is running smoothly, and plan and promote more informal social programming, like a craft-beer tasting.
For now, Simchik is hosting community events at The Hotel Concord to promote the co-working space. John Clemente, co-founder and president of Echo Ridge, will be speaking there Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Ice skating has returned for the season at the Everett Arena.
Ice skating hours are Sundays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday hours will begin Oct. 19 and will also be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ice skating will continue through March 13.
Admission is $5 (kids ages 3 and under are free) and skate rentals are available if needed for an additional $5 at the arena’s pro shop.
The Concord Parks & Recreation Department also offers ice skating classes. Find more information at concordnh.gov/skating.
(Leah Willingham can be reached at 369-3322, lwillingham@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @LeahMWillingham.)