Factory Co-Working Space Coming to Downtown Grand Junction

A Center for Collaboration, Work and Ideas in Grand Junction

A long vacant building at 750 Main St. is now undergoing a transformation to a hub of creativity called “The Factory”.   This venture made possibly by leaders who have taken on the challenge to provide the next economic push for growing jobs and possibilities on the Western Slope.

This is the first collaboration of its kind in the community, a nucleus for productivity, ideas and business opportunities and a center of innovation and learning for existing businesses that are already located in Grand Junction or would like to be here.

The Factory is brought to the community by several partners, Launch West Co, Proximity Space, the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance, Mesa County Public Libraries and corporate sponsor Alpine Bank.  Proximity Space which was started in Montrose was highlighted as the t op co-working spot in the world by Forbes magazine this year.

Co-working spaces have become more popular in recent years as part of the “shared office movement”.  The idea is that freelancers, creative workers and other professionals can use communal hubs to get their work accomplished.  Co-working spaces provide a professional, vibrant work environment for people who work for different companies or themselves.

Co-working spaces offer amenities such as lightning-fast internet, a common creative environment with low membership fees compared to the cost of leasing private office space, and a sense of community with other individuals.  “We’ll have the art community, the manufacturing community, the library, the tech community and all of these different industries working together under one roof:, said FACTORY Co-Founder Brian Watson.

Tim Heaton, director of the Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance is using grant money to establish a high-powered videoconferencing center called Fuse within Factory, which will allow remote collaboration and presentations between companies, workers and clients.

Factory is about building community, offering a space to make connections, and making a space that thrives with learning.  Factory is expected to be open for business in November.  Factory already has several member lined up to occupy the 4,700 square-foot work space (which could eventually expand to encompass 8,999 total square-feet), and is signing up members at Factorycoworking.com.  (I tried the website and it is not up yet) Memberships will be starting at $99 a month, however, anyone who wants to drop by and try out the space when its open can have up to four days of access per month with a Mesa County Public Libraries card, and can enjoy the access to gigabit internet while they network with others in the creative atmosphere.

Factory is expected to be open for business in November and membership is $99 a month.

The partners in Factory, a New Co-Working Space

Proximity Space

Launch West Co.

Mesa County Libraries

Colorado Advanced Manufacturing Alliance

Alpine Bank

This post is condensed from an original newspaper article by Eric McIntyre at the Daily Sentinel.  You can read Erin’s article about Factory here, which includes more information about the partners and the companies involved in Factory.