WHY HOUSE YOUR STARTUP IN AN EXPENSIVE private office when you can get your business going with a tabletop and internet connection? Coworking throws traditional concepts of the workplace sideways, but not all shared environments look alike. Here are a few of the high-profile synergistic spaces in the region. 

The HuB 

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10,000 square feet, two floors and 25 offices  With 10 years of experience under the belt, The HuB was coworking when cowork wasn’t cool. And founder Rick Swier says a history of networking sets the culture here apart. “Over the past 10 years we have created hundreds of jobs, transformed the tech/creative ecosystem of Sarasota and changed how entrepreneurs and young professionals view our city,” he says. “We don’t really view other spaces as competition nor do we believe the actual space is the core of our value proposition.”The right to cowork here costs $150 a month, and you can move into offices that run $800 to $1000 as your business grows. The HuB has moved to multiple locations, most recently to a space near Clasico on Main Street, but Swier says the community depends less on geography than its record of synergy and success.


Connect Bradenton

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10,000 square feet, first floor, nine enclosed offices   Flexibility is the hallmark of this new coworking space in Downtown Bradenton. Started by ‘Senior Doer’ Bernie Croghan, who spent years in the executive suite business as part owner of Comcenter, this space gets divided half and half between offices and open co-work space. You can get a ‘social membership’ here for as little as $49 a month. “That’s probably no more than you would spend on a coffee on the way to work, so why not have that coffee with friends and peers in a friendly atmosphere,” Croghan says.Unlike some other coworking environments already open in the region, tenants still looking for an executive suite-style package can rent an office and pay for an array of administrative support. The largest available offices run for about $1,399 a month, says ‘Connector’ Jean Farmer. There’s even a super-low option of going in for just $25 an hour, an option perhaps for that traveling salesman who only needs a table maybe once a month.

BOLD 

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13,000 square feet, two floors and 32 offices  With an in-house video studio and an office building that also includes the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County as a tenant, BOLD brings some glitz to coworking. As Chief Disruption Officer Raymmar Tirado shows off amenities, he reminds that anybody operating out of Bold can show off the features here as services available to their own prospective clients.

Founder Jesse Biter also says the offices offer the fastest Wi-Fi in Sarasota. Coworking costs $150 a month with the chance to move into a range of offices that run $650 to $3,200. Biter notes if you live in his new BOLD Lofts residential development, you get to cowork here for free, and likewise BOLD co-workers get access to the gym, pool and other amenities at the Lofts. He’ll also regularly bring in expert entrepreneurs for lectures and workshops. All that and free coffee and beer make this the lush cowork spot in town.