A year after first moving from the First Tennessee Bank building to the sixth floor of the Edney Innovation Center, Society of Work is expanding to the seventh floor of its new facility to accommodate another 18 offices for small- and mid-sized businesses.
Kelly Fitzgerald, owner and founder of the membership-based co-working space, said adding the extra floor in the 10-story Edney Building "is a reflection of the growth of our members and their businesses."
Society of Work offers tenants 6-month leases with only a $250 deposit and gives its members access to shared conference rooms, a kitchen, a mailing address and high-speed Wi-Fi, along with other networking, counseling and seminars regularly held in the Edney Building.
The Edney building is the hub of Chattanooga's downtown Innovation District and also houses The Company Lab, a business accelerator program funded by the state, and the Enterprise Center, a city-funded agency that works to promote new technologies and innovate business growth. The building is now about 80 percent occupied, including the recent addition of Tech Town on the second floor.
"Our community is built around collaboration and connections and our members' accelerated business growth demonstrates how effective working together is," Fitzgerald said in a statement today.
A recent membership survey among the Society of Work tenants found that 30 percent had hired new employees and more than 80 percent had professional collaborations with other members.
Andy Jones, founder of Roundtree Agency and one of the Society of Work tenants, said his 4-employee firm works well in the shared office space.
"Our network and credibility has expanded quickly working alongside the talented members of Society of Work," Jones said.