Coworking space slow to fill at Bitwise
Sep. 17—Amid the flickering screens and beckoning furniture, things are a little quiet around the coworking space Bitwise Industries has opened at the corner of 18th and H streets. Maybe too quiet.
Chalk it up to tough timing during the pandemic, or the building's relative newness — even a sign of the company's success in reaching tech students in the relatively new world of mass online instruction. Bottom line is, the coworking trend has been a little slow getting off the ground at Bitwise.
Two buildings to the west, space has begun to fill up at the company's more traditional office setting at 1723 18th St. But at the well-appointed first floor and mezzanine at the company's corner building, rarely more than two people at a time can be spotted inside the flexible coworking atmosphere that opened in April at half capacity because of COVID-19 concerns.
There's been improvement: Sign-ups doubled at the coworking space, 1701 18th St., between mid-July and a month later, Bitwise's vice president in Bakersfield, Natasha Felkins, said at the time.
She couldn't share numbers but said people signing up for memberships costing as little as $29 per month has ramped up noticeably. She noted a beer and wine taproom is expected to open soon on the ground floor.
Felkins and spokeswoman Katherine Verducci said by email Friday outward appearances can be deceiving, and that one reason coworking tenants may escape notice is that the place is now open 24 hours per day, so members working outside 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedules come and go at odd hours.
Yes, the pandemic has shifted how people work, their email said, but coworking is still "an important part of creating a tech ecosystem" such as Bitwise intends to see blossom as happened at the company's downtown Fresno properties, and which is planned at other cities it is working in around the country.
Bitwise's business model does not revolve around coworking as much as it has incorporated that mode of unassigned seating as a way of building an informal community of small-business collaborators. Similar, nontraditional office environments have helped build up startup hubs around the country.
Four blocks away, coworking and other nontraditional business setting are humming at MESH Cowork, a 7-year-old series of rentable spaces on the north side of 20th that recently expanded from the west to the east side of Eye Street. A manager at the building on the east side of 20th said the building is fully leased.
At MESH's original home above Dagny's Coffee Co., small-business owner Michael Smith has upgraded his membership from a $100-per-month roaming office to a $250-per-month lease allowing him a permanent spot that offers a dedicated workspace.
He signed up for the coworking arrangement more than five years ago, he said, because in addition to a physical address, it provided a business atmosphere away from the distractions of home.
"It gives me the advantages of brick-and-mortar without brick-and-mortar," said Smith, owner of online shoe reseller Cassius Kicks.
Amanda Shaffer, co-owner of The Studio Bakersfield, which teaches sewing classes above Dagny's at MESH, said Bitwise's coworking space probably just needs a little time.
She participated in Bitwise training online for six months, and during that time, "we didn't go in at all." The way she sees is, the company's space along 18th is a place waiting to be discovered.
"I don't see it being empty forever," she said, adding that the company needs time to host events, as MESH has done.
"It's a lot of word of mouth and a lot of relationship-building," Shaffer said.
