Coffee shops have always been the familiar haunts of intellects and self-employed professionals situated with open laptops at a table designed for two.
But lately, such communal places have become rather crowded.
That’s when entrepreneur Heather Langendorfer decided to market the latest trend for the self-employed in Golden since the happening of coffee houses — co-working spaces.
It’s called Perc and Langendorfer is offering to rent out office space carved out of the 2,600 square foot space she rents at the American Mountaineering Center. Located on the first floor, her office space is complete with two large rooms used for shared space and one private office. Spaces can be purchased for as low as $21 a day or $200 month. The office comes equipped with shared office supplies, a full-service kitchen, eating area, faxing machine, internet access as well as meeting rooms.
Langendorfer’s tagline for Perc is “Brewing Success” a tribute, in a way, to all the coffee shops who have opened their doors to the hard-working digital business owners who are running global businesses from a laptop.
“But it also represents a “perk” of working for yourself, and for living in Golden, a “perky” place to work and as an abbreviation of percolate — it represents what happens when you put smart people together in a shared work environment and give them an opportunity to collaborate — great ideas percolate and turn into great successes,” said marketing consultant, Heather Langendorfer.
That is the selling point of co-working spaces: not only is there a cost benefit to renting a business-like studio but young professionals from business start-ups to veterans in the field are offered the chance to meet and possibly collaborate with one another.
“Just because you work for yourself doesn’t mean you have to solve problems on your own,” Langendorfer said.
She estimates that up to 40 businesses rotating within a month could be accommodated. She is currently serving 10 businesses with at least two tenants that have taken up two out of the three private offices on a somewhat daily basis. Typically, those renting a space are seeking temporary alternatives from working at home and may stay half a day as opposed to all day, five days a week.
Take for instance Alyson Stanfield, an art business coach. She rents a private office for an employee who will be utilizing the rented space in the mornings, four days a week. With Stanfield’s headquarters located in her home on her laptop, Perc allows for a professional environment for Stanfield’s business. “I have other assistants that are virtual,” Stanfield said. “I didn’t want her (the employee) to be alone in some random office without no one around.”
“There are some really cool businesses here in Golden,” Langendorfer said.
Among them includes powerhouse Bridging Culture Worldwide, global consulting firm dedicated to market entry into Korea’s business economy. CEO and President Don Southerton relocated to Golden permanently from California with his wife.
“There was a U.S. Korea free trade agreement two years ago and it has really magnified a lot of the projects that go on, so my work load has increased with that,” Southerton said.
Like Stanfield, business is either hands-on or managed virtually.
“I needed dedicated space to work from,” he said. “We like a collaborative work space, it’s a beautiful facility and there’s nice energy here already.”
Perc is located in suite 170 at the American Mountaineering Center at 710 10th Street, Golden, CO 80401. For more information, go to www.percgolden.com  or contact Heather Langendorfer at My_workspace@percgolden.com or via phone at 720-600-2028.