What is Industrial Coworking?

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL COWORKING?

Coworking + Work Shop = Collaboration and Innovation

Most people are familiar with traditional coworking spaces and tech hubs – especially due to their impact on the social and economic fabric of our lives. We have taken inspiration from these models and brought them to product-based business. We provide the tools, equipment, space and training to help today’s makers transform their passion into a viable, thriving business.

Traditional coworking spaces have grown famous for the combination of high-speed internet connections, desk space, strong coffee, and a sense of community that encourages innovation and new business development.  Industry sectors were created and fortunes made in these incubators of innovation and creativity.

The pace and impact of these software and ‘app’ innovations that were conceptualized, created, and perfected in traditional tech hubs has begun to slow.

Success is now being driven by innovation in areas such as defense, outdoor recreation, medical devices, aerospace and small batch ‘artisanal’ manufacturing.

Enter UNION, the INDUSTRIAL COWORKING SPACE. We provide the tools, equipment, programs and space to conceptualize, innovate, collaborate, and CREATE the specific prototypes and production capacity maker members require and which is, for the most part, cost prohibitive costing in excess of $500,000.

Maker members conceptualize, innovate and create in our numerous fully outfitted labs/shops including:

By adding the industrial component, we provide makers, product innovators, inventors, and creators with access to otherwise cost prohibitive equipment necessary to conduct their work, while retaining the incredible benefits of traditional coworking including collaboration, teaching and mentoring.

Of equal importance, is our business development and incubation, which assists our makers in developing and successfully launching their business. To read more click here.

Our world has experienced numerous important and interesting developments from collaborative work environments.

The glassblowers on the Venetian island of Murano are a fascinating example.  The fall of Constantinople in 1204 set a small community of glassblowers to sail to Venice, arguably the most important hub of commerce in the world at that time.  By its nature glass blowing tended to burn down the city’s wooden structures so the city sent the glassblowers to the island of Murano.  “Unwittingly, the Venetian doges had created an innovation hub: by concentrating the glassmakers on a single island the size of a small city neighborhood, they triggered a surge of creativity that lead to the discovery of clear glass, eye glasses, reading and the printing press to provide reading material that the newly spectacled population demanded. The density of Murano meant that new ideas were quick to flow through the entire population. The genius of Murano was a collective affair.  Steve Johnson, How We Got to Now, 2014.

The Square payment processing solution was created at San Francisco’s Workspace and now has a valuation of over $560 million.

Research and experience have demonstrated that a certain degree of planning significantly increases the likelihood of success for a new business or product.  

Our innovative Development Lab (Dev Lab) provides classes, workshops and mentoring to help our maker members define their product, their market and path to profitability.

Promising, viable concepts are mentored and incubated to help them successfully navigate start up.  

Venture funding may be available for promising concepts.  We are witnessing a shift in venture funding’s definition of success as more investment is being made in the food industry.

Lastly, promising concepts that are moving through incubation and start up are paired with a motivated and successful Weber State University business graduate to run the day-to-day operations and to provide a business specialty missing in the maker.

We project 5 successful startups by Year 2 which will stimulate the Ogden economy, tax base, and employment.

The addition of business development support dramatically increases the chances and scale of success for our members. In combining these elements, UNION catalyzes innovation, economic development, creative achievement, and community bonding.