The Joy of Working in Community
In March 2019, my colleague and I were reporting in Cherokee Village, Arkansas, a city in Fulton and Sharp counties in the Ozarks, where an innovation incubator was taking root. We toured the Spring River Innovation Hub’s co-working space that includes high-speed Internet, community events, professional development, and mentoring for our American Communities Project study on rural America.
At the time, Jonathan Rhodes, community developer of his home community, told us, “We’ve got to make sure that we are supporting small business. And we’ve got to create platforms for anyone who’s got an entrepreneurial passion or an idea, or home-based business, or job dependent on technology.”
It’s a sentiment that carries more weight after three years of pandemic isolation. Innovation hubs, co-working spaces, and the like have been springing up in many towns around the country. Now, I’m seeing Rhodes’s ideas coalescing in my exurban Pennsylvania hometown.
At the end of March, the co-working space FZ Works opened on Main Street in downtown Yardley, standing among mom-and-pop businesses, shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, and yoga studios. FZ Works renovated the second-story space that was most recently a body spa and, earlier in the 1800s, Seplow's Department Store.
In the past two and a half years, FZ Works owner Charles Barrett used his design eye to transform the storied location, blending its history with a fresh sensibility — it has ample open space; comfy couches; and a sleek, functional coffee bar as well as multimedia nooks and videoconferencing. During construction, Barrett’s team unearthed the building’s natural wood, which they reused on the ceiling. Original wood from Seplow's Department Store was cut into tiles for the coffee bar. Philadelphia Table Company, whose owner lives nearby, provided beautiful dark wood tables. A one-of-a-kind, snaking counter, perfect for tech devices, was sourced from Barrett’s connection in Costa Rica. I marveled at how a village helped Barrett realize his vision for a communal working space, an idea he started developing after seeing a robust co-working center in New York’s Hudson Valley, he said.
The village is growing. Since opening, FZ Works has hosted near-weekly free socials with food and drink as it builds its membership. Local businesses are giving discounts to members and supplying food and drink. A couple of weeks ago, FZ Works introduced creative professional development sessions to members and nonmembers, drawing on Barrett’s connections. FZ Works is part of FZ Creative, Barrett’s creative marketing agency in Yardley.
Last week, I went to a Coffee Lab Workshop given by local resident Lesley Geller, a professional coach, author, blogger, and podcaster. Six of us from different professional backgrounds — education, corporate communications, executive recruiting, and journalism — casually sat around the table, generating topic ideas and titles that pop. Some of us shared, spurring new insights. Geller showed us how to create striking cover art. We asked questions about getting started for real. I was most amazed at how little technical skill is needed as Geller demonstrated the basics of using Podcasters on Spotify. I enjoyed the generative session and meeting like-minded professionals as I consider starting a podcast.
This week, Barrett and his colleague, Shawn Walker, are hosting a workshop on the design tool Canva, then Evolution Apps will run six weekly sessions on how to build an app.
I’m intrigued by how FZ Works is coming together and creating community organically. A new energy is brimming in Yardley — and it’s wonderful to be part of it!