Creative co-working

By their nature, co-working spaces allow individuals and businesses a way to share resources and network.

How does that model continue to work during a pandemic?

John Foster is the community manager at Vault CoWorking Space in Cedar Rapids. For him, answering that question has required some creative approaches, and a belief that the co-working community would survive the long stretch of quarantine.

“It was an environment, and a community, that I really enjoyed,” Foster said. “But as soon as the pandemic hit, and everyone started to work from home, we had a lot of members leave.

“But we had a handful of members who stayed with us, and we found some new ways to put the space to use.”

Co-working spaces such as Vault are available for rent on a daily or monthly basis. Vault features amenities such as printers, conference rooms, a recording studio and a large kitchen with complimentary cereal dispensers and coffee.

The space serves as a home for entrepreneurs, remote workers, and even entire teams and businesses such as e-commerce agency 50 Pound Boson.

Jo Miller, book author and CEO of Be Leaderly, has worked out of Vault since 2016.

“I think the Vault is the perfect spot for small business owners like myself,” Miller said. “You never know when a random hallway interaction will turn into the opportunity to do a podcast guest appearance, meet a national political figure or volunteer for a meaningful cause. … I came for the Internet, but I stayed for the community.”

When the coronavirus pandemic forced offices to shut down, however, the Vault was left empty for months. Foster said the organization waived membership fees for April and May while they figured out what to do next.

Even with that waiver, there were some who opted to end membership and work entirely from home.

Videographer Fred Ebong wasn’t one of them. As the owner of Fred Ebong Studios in Cedar Rapids, Ebong said that working from home simply wasn’t an option for him.

“If I stay at home, I don’t accomplish anything,” he said. “For me, when you are home, the hours just blend together. I need to leave the house. So the moment the doors at Vault opened back up, I made sure I returned.”

Others did as well, including 50 Pound Boson, graphic designers and a few new clients who needed a space to work from now that their corporate offices were closed down.

“Like most people, I did what I could to limit time spent in the building,” Miller said. “But I needed a place from which to deliver virtual workshops, keynotes and book talks.

“And when I did come onsite it felt very safe. Everyone was respectful of social distancing, and it was nice to see some fellow humans.”

After the Aug. 10 derecho damaged Taft Middle School in August, the Vault opened its doors to teachers and administrators to work remotely from its facilities. Multiple private offices, conference rooms and even the recording studio became makeshift virtual classrooms for several months.

To maintain safety, the Vault maintained a mask policy for all shared spaces such as hallways and the kitchen area, but allowed workers to remove their masks once at their desks. Tables also were rearranged to allow for social distancing, with a limit of one person per pod.

Even with the limited numbers of people at Vault during the pandemic, Ebong said being in a co-working environment has been critical for building his business.

“The networking capabilities of this building are a big part of why I’m here,” he says. “You have financial advisers, marketing agencies, website creators, graphic designers, people who write books … . Just having that network there, I am not exaggerating when I say that 70 percent of the jobs I’ve gotten have been because of co-working.”

With federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention restrictions relaxing — as well as the increased availability of the COVID-19 vaccine — Foster said that going forward, the Vault’s biggest goal is to rebuild its community.

“Now that things are starting to open back up, I’m getting a lot more calls, and we’ve given a lot more tours,” he said.

“Which I’m really glad about. Because I’ve missed this community.”