Mark Anders and Randy Mueller collect the ribbon after Annalee Tobey cut it to celebrate the opening of the Chehalis Coworks.
Annalee Tobey holds up the ribbon from the grand opening ceremony with the business cards of everyone who attended.
Annalee Tobey cuts the ribbon to signify Chehalis Coworks’ grand opening on Thursday. Also pictured from left are Mark Anders, Edna Fund, Gary Stamper, Larry McGee, Bobby Jackson and Randy Mueller.
Chehalis Coworks, a collaborative workspace in downtown Chehalis, is officially open for business.
The new space is the result of a partnership between the Port of Chehalis and the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team (CCRT), which hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday. The event included free food and speakers from both the port and CCRT.
“It’s been an incredible partnership,” Annalee Tobey, executive director of CCRT and official ribbon-cutter told The Chronicle. “When we started, this building had orange carpet.”
The port owns and will maintain the building, while CCRT will handle the day-to-day operations. Randy Mueller, chief executive officer for the Port of Chehalis, said this is the first time the port has worked with CCRT.
“It’s gone really well,” Mueller said. “We were able to do a remodel on a shoestring budget. Now we’re going to focus on recruitment.”
Tobey said that although the 100-year-old building needed aesthetic updates, it had a great structure.
The port purchased the building in 2017 for $115,000 in funds allocated through the distressed counties fund. Another $10,000 of distressed counties money was earmarked for remodeling costs.
Chehalis Coworks launched its website on Wednesday, where people can buy a daily, weekly or monthly membership for $20, $40 and $75, respectively. Chehalis School Board President Joe Clark signed up to be the first member at the ceremony.
The idea for a space to house mobile professionals and freelancers in the area originated two years ago in an Economic Restructuring Committee meeting when a single professional was looking for a workspace.
“The idea that came up was a coworking space,” Mueller said. “Then everyone said ‘sounds good.’ Then it was a just a question of where would we have it. For coworking, you want a large, open common area, so we started looking downtown at buildings for sale.”
The building has a dozen designated workspaces, a kitchen, a copy room, a conference room and outside seating in the back with a fire pit. The point of the space is for solo professionals — described in some Chehalis Coworks promotional materials as “solopreneurs” — to have a space where they can meet other people working independently to potentially collaborate.
“The benefit is in the ‘co’ part of coworking,” Mueller said.
The building is located at 478 N Market Blvd. and memberships are available at chehaliscoworks.com.
