The Putnam County Development Authority and the Putnam Chamber of Commerce are exploring the idea of moving to a new location and launching a new co-working space for the Putnam area.
Ashley Alford, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the co-working space will allow people who work from home a chance to get out of their house while working in an office that has a professional feel.
The co-working space would also benefit local small business owners and professionals meeting in Putnam County to use a communal location rather than a restaurant with Wi-Fi, such as Panera Bread or McDonald's.
"Being in between Charleston and Huntington, we have a lot of people that come here that somebody wants to do business with somebody in Huntington that is actually in Charleston, so they come here and meet. We definitely don't want to take any business away from our restaurants and things like that, but sometimes a restaurant environment is not conducive for the type of business you want to do," Alford said. "So this is going to give those people [a place to work]. It's going to reach more than people in this county, it will reach the surrounding counties as well."
The location in mind is the old PJ's daycare building on Teays Valley Road, in between the BP Gas Station and Holiday Inn Express off exit 39 on Interstate 64. Board member Mandy Curry said the daycare building has the open concept the chamber was looking for.
Curry said the chamber is preparing for the incoming workforce of the millennial generation, who is looking for flexible work spaces with a modern feel.
"It's a very different concept, and that open office space is definitely different, but that's what the trend is going toward," Curry said.
Alford was unsure of the cost of membership to the co-working space, but said it would be available at a reasonable price.
The building would host a large conference room, that can be divided into two smaller conference rooms. One of the daycare's two kitchens would be turned into a digital studio with a green screen, podcast equipment and other tools that would allow small businesses to get a digital edge. The second kitchen would hopefully be turned into a coffee shop by one of established coffee shops in Putnam County, Alford said.
The rear of the building would be a general co-working area, where business owners can meet with clients or simply work in a space other than their home or company. There will be small, private conference rooms in addition to the one large conference room.
All anchor tenants would have a secure locked location with 24/7 access via key fobs. Co-working tenants will only have access to open spaces. Rent will not change much from the rates tenants currently pay. Additionally, there will be a larger parking lot with 27 spaces.
Currently, the Chamber of Commerce and the Development Authority share a building with 3,500 square feet of space. The potential new building is 5,600 square feet and would house the Chamber of Commerce, Development Authority, possibly the Visitor's and Convention Bureau and space for new anchor tenants.
One of the concerns of the Development Authority was finding a secure space for confidential records. However, Alford said there will be locked areas for these documents.
Curry said the Chamber of Commerce would sell its current building and list it as For Sale by Owner.
Reach Laura Haight at laura.haight@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4843 or follow @laurahaight_ on Twitter.