The leaders of The Sphere Northampton.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
NORTHAMPTON — A new central coworking space that empowers women and nonbinary entrepreneurs is on the verge of opening in Florence at 82 Maple St.
According to Megan Allen, a co-founder of The Sphere Northampton and founder of The Community Classroom, the Sphere Innovation Lab will be a place where business owners, particularly women and nonbinary entrepreneurs, can congregate and collaborate on finding ways to propel their businesses forward.
The new lab will also be a space where entrepreneurs can come and get silent work done.
“One thing we found in our research two years ago was that about 40% of the business owners that we surveyed were still working from home and didn’t have a brick and mortar, especially after the pandemic,” Allen said. “So that’s part of the hypothesis behind the space is how can you build that space for creativity and innovation that propels businesses and professionals forward.”
According to Christina Webster, an educator, entrepreneur and another co-founder of The Sphere, the new lab will have 28 seats available for women, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming professionals to use including couch seating, standing desks, ergonomic seats and outdoor spaces for flex seating.
“A lot of planning has gone into this space,” Webster said. “But it’s all been coming together really quickly.”
The space will not only be collaborative, but supportive. Erica White, the designer of the new space from White Hollow Yard and Home, said a bell will be hung up on the wall for people to ring when an entrepreneur breaks some kind of barrier.
A canvas will also be plastered near the basement stairs for people to celebrate any milestone that was reached.
“We’re trying to celebrate the community,” White said.
Allen noted how there are different levels of memberships for entrepreneurs who want access to the space. She said there is a monthly membership service that gives 24/7 access to the space, or entrepreneurs can also acquire a flex pass to use the space five days per month or a day pass if they only need the space for a day.
“If an entrepreneur has kids and they can’t come in [the space] until 10 p.m., that’s okay,” Allen said. “They’ll have a safe and secure space to work in.”
Allen and Webster added that the programming schedule for the next year is already set and will include networking events, professional learning and drop-in office hours, workshops and a reader’s roundtable.
“All of these events will be led by professionals in The Sphere network,” Allen said.
The hope is to also use the space as a way to connect aspiring entrepreneurs in high school and college with professional entrepreneurs in Northampton, Leeds and Florence. Allen said The Sphere network is working with the Lazarus Center for Career Development at Smith College on a grant that accentuates the entrepreneurial pipeline.
“We’ve had five interns from Smith already,” Allen said. “It’s been a really nice partnership.”
The new innovation space was made possible by a Collaborative Workspace Grant from Mass. Development, which Allen said cost $100,000.
The hope for the future is to apply for a second round of funding to build out the basement and turn it into a private podcast studio, private offices. In the meantime, though, Allen said that the lab will provide marketing materials right above the basement stairs as a resource for entrepreneurs along with other technology tools to help propel their business.
“We’ll have those things that business owners want to have access too might not be able to afford,” Allen said. “So, we tried to listen carefully to the community about what they needed to support their business, and then how we could provide those resources.”
The goal of the lab is to also keep the money flowing in the local economy. Allen said those who are members at the space will get discounts at different small businesses in Florence and they will also be able to use one of the two community bikes provided by Full Circle Bike Shop in Florence for anything they need.
“We’re trying to keep the money spent locally,” Allen said. “The other Florence business owners have been so amazing.”
The Sphere Northampton started over a year ago as a way to provide a network of support built by and for female and nonbinary entrepreneurs in the greater Northampton area.
The Downtown Northampton Association received $200,000 to support The Sphere and all the present and future work involved with the movement, including bolstering an entrepreneurial ecosystem and sparking entrepreneur-led economic development throughout Northampton.
The Sphere hosted an Open House on Sept. 15 to showcase the new space. As of press time, Allen said they were waiting for a certificate of occupancy to officially open, but she said that was going to happen any day as of Sept. 11.
Readers can learn more about The Sphere through prior Reminder Publishing coverage: tinyurl.com/hyt2hbnv.
