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Date: 9/2/2021
HOLYOKE – A new coworking space in Holyoke is offering residents and entrepreneurs a space to work in a unique environment.
Venture X on 98 Lower Westfield Rd. is owned by Ned Barowsky. He said the 16,000 square-foot coworking space has been “open for a number of months.” He said, “It was a real trial and error in the beginning and early with COVID[-19]. We had to hold off on the grand opening until September.”
Barowsky said when he began building the coworking space in 2020, he had the advantage of being able to incorporate extra safety and hygiene measures. “I built the space out starting last September and through March, so it’s all during COVID[-19]. When you think about it, it’s crazy to do, but I put in a special air filtration system,” he said.
He went on to say that even the bathrooms had been designed to accommodate for sanitary measures. “I thought we needed touchless bathrooms. There’s no paper around. There’s toilet paper, of course, but not to wipe your hands with,” he said.
Outside of that, he said keyless entry systems were added to doors. “There’s an app on your phone, we can activate or reactivate. I don’t have to go with a key anymore,” he said. “Hand sanitizer, there are 30 or 40 wall mounted all around. We’re always wiping stuff down.”
He said there were about 65 private offices which had started to fill up with occupants. “We’ve had a lot of interest up to this point, we have rented out a number of offices,” he said.
Barowsky said the space was made up of “mainly smaller offices,” but there were some bigger spaces. “We do have a physical therapy practice that took a large office. We just had a nurse who took a five-person office, they’re doing some procedures in there. So I’ve got healthcare, some staffing agencies in there,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of people working from home just wanting to get out of their house.”
He explained while the spaces had been open for several months, a grand opening was planned for Sept. 9. This, he said, was in conjunction with a 50 percent off sale they were hosting “for the first people that take an office.”
Barowsky went on to explain Venture X was a franchise of coworking spaces. He said while he did not know the exact number of franchises open currently across the country, he guessed it was “in the 40’s somewhere.” Owning the property, he said, helped him speed along the process of building the space and “saved me three or four months.”
Venture X, he explained, changed his perception of coworking. He said prior to owning a franchise his perception of coworking spaces were an open space with no privacy and activities such as ping pong tables. “Venture X is much more professional, upscale,” he said.
He explained there were “211 seats in those private offices combined,” and “maybe 20 people that are out in the open spaces, shared seats or dedicated desks.”
“When I think about coworking, I consider our Venture X location and what we have to offer. We’re basically a business center,” he explained. Barowsky went on to say services offered by Venture X for members include furnished offices and spaces, “white glove service, 24/7 secure access,” free internet, a “gourmet coffee bar,” a lounge area, three conference rooms, and “event and networking space.” He said Venture X was a good environment for “internal networking.
Those interested in renting space or an office at Venture X can call 252-9500 for more information or visit the Venture X website for a video tour. Additionally, Barowsky invited people to reach out to him directly via email at nborowsky@venturex.com. More information and a video tour, people are encouraged to visit https://venturex.com/locations/massachusetts/holyoke/