Tired of Working in Your Laundry Room? | News

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A brand new company has moved into downtown Jacksonville.  CoWork Jax is designed to help other small businesses get off the ground by offering a professional, shared office environment. 

Clay Smithers just moved back to Jacksonville last year after living and working in Tampa for a decade.  He tried looking for an office space on his own, but it was too expensive for a one man business.  So, Smithers joined CoWork Jax and shares a desk space with others a few days a week. 

The office also includes things like meeting rooms and video conferencing equipment. 

"[CoWork Jax has] those business features that, I mean, a traditional office has that Starbucks doesn't have or my laundry room doesn't have," explained Smithers. 

Web designer Jeff Charette launched his new company, "We Are Charette" in just the last couple of weeks.  He saw CoWork Jax as not only a great place to work, but a way to avoid the pitfalls of working from home, including dealing with household chores and the family dog.

"I'm like twice as productive," Charette shared.

CoWork Jax Co-Founder, Elton Rivas, said one of the best features of the space is the relationships that "coworkers" forge.  They can network and meet professionals they would never have the opportunity to speak with when working from home.

"When you get stuck on something or you just want to talk about what you're doing, you have other people that you can use as a sounding board," said Charette. 

The office has several membership packages from which people can choose.  They range from sharing a desk a few days a month, to setting up a dedicated office for two to four people. 

"I can have this desk for a day or two a week and then by the time the company gets to two or three people, there's the other conference rooms and other larger offices that are really fantastic to be able to grow into," explained Smithers.

For rates and other information, visit CoWorkJax.com.