{"id":236390,"date":"2013-08-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-04T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/co-merge-working-outside-the-box\/"},"modified":"2013-08-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-08-04T07:00:00","slug":"co-merge-working-outside-the-box","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/co-merge-working-outside-the-box\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-Merge: Working outside the box"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local company gives telecommuters a place to call home<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dave Fidlin | Downtown News<\/p>\n

Recent advancements in technology have changed conditions for professionals \u2013 inside and outside the traditional workplace. The working world has grown progressively global, and the number of remote workers \u2013 or telecommuters \u2013 has grown exponentially.<\/p>\n

\"Co-Merge<\/a>
Co-Merge Downtown offers shared workspaces to telecommuters (Photo by John Durant)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As an increasing number of employees and independent workers perform their tasks from home offices, coffee shops and even their cars, the scenario of renting out professional workspace has followed suit as a growing trend in recent years.<\/p>\n

Downtown San Diego hosts one such option, Co-Merge Workplace, a venue geared toward telecommuting professionals in a wide variety of industries.<\/p>\n

A year-and-a-half ago, business partners Robert Conrad and Michael Kenny opened Co-Merge after renovating vacant office space at 330 A St. The location, Conrad said, was strategic \u2013 it is in the midst of San Diego\u2019s financial district.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also liked it because it\u2019s very close to the Civic Center, the courthouse, Little Italy and Cortez Hill,\u201d Conrad said. \u201cWe found that there are a lot of young, remote workers in the Downtown area, and we felt [Co-Merge] could be a good resource.\u201d<\/p>\n

Co-Merge features both indoor and outdoor amenities and offers private offices, conference rooms, a dedicated area for video conferencing and a rooftop space for networking events.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A rooftop space is the perfect place to entertain clients or conduct a mixer. (Photo by John Durant)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since opening in early 2012, Conrad said he has discovered workers use the spaces for a variety of reasons, and the mix of independent, entrepreneurial people compared to employees who work remotely for a company is close to evenly split.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re offering highlights the urban lifestyle that a lot of people are longing for,\u201d Conrad said. \u201cFor employees working remotely, this gives employers an added level of accountability. There are companies who like this because it takes care of the real estate burden. There\u2019s a reduction in the amount of space that\u2019s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some professionals use Co-Merge as a place for peace and quiet \u2013 and to get away from the voluminous distractions within their home \u2013 Conrad said others have benefited by networking with fellow professionals inside and outside of their industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a true cross section of people working out of here,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to look too far outside Co-Merge to find what you need, in terms of expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conrad said he and Kenny have deliberately created a wide-ranging price structure, with flexibility in mind. Those looking for a one-time, drop-in visit of one hour can pay $8, while monthly users pay between $450 and $500, depending on whether a dedicated desk or open work space is selected.<\/p>\n

\"Conference<\/a>
Conference rooms and classrooms are also available. (Photo by John Durant)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Regardless of the package and price plan selected, Co-Merge offers such amenities as high-speed wireless internet, networking opportunities and coffee, tea and snacks as standard.<\/p>\n

Since the company\u2019s inception, Co-Merge has partnered with a national company, LiquidSpace, in recruiting professionals to work out of the facility.<\/p>\n

Palo Alto-based LiquidSpace touts itself as an online marketplace that offers professionals more than 2,000 workspaces in more than 250 cities across the United States. At the moment, LiquidSpace has relationships with 157 California companies that offer remote workspace.<\/p>\n

A recent study by the International Data Corporation, an intelligence and advisory organization, revealed there are currently more than 1 billion professionals working remotely across the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness professionals of today are more empowered to choose how, where and when they work,\u201d said Mark Gilbreath, CEO and co-founder of LiquidSpace, explaining the rationale behind his company.<\/p>\n

For more information about Co-Merge Workplace, visit co-merge.com, call 619-255-9040 or email info@co-merge.com<\/a>. For more information about LiquidSpace and its partnerships with other workspace companies, visit liquidspace.com.<\/p>\n

Dave Fidlin has been a professional journalist for more than a dozen years. Throughout his career, he has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites across the nation. He has a special affinity for San Diego and its people. Contact him at <\/i>dave.fidlin@thinkpost.net<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

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Local company gives telecommuters a place to call home Dave Fidlin | Downtown News Recent advancements in technology have changed conditions for professionals \u2013 inside and outside the traditional workplace. The working world has grown progressively global, and the number of remote workers \u2013 or telecommuters \u2013 has grown exponentially. As an increasing number of […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Co-Merge: Working outside the box","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}