Coworking: What is it and where to find it in Skagit County

For freelancers, business travelers and small business owners, the trek to a nearby coffee shop to work is familiar – and one not without its pitfalls. Finding a workspace away from chatty café-goers, less-than-stellar Wi-Fi, and the ever-present hiss of the espresso machine can be a distraction or, even worse, a productivity killer.

Coworking spaces offer an alternative.

The setting of these coworking spaces often falls somewhere between a coffee shop and the office. Think the upscale décor (and often coffee!) found at a nearby coffeehouse combined with office amenities such as a printer, conference room and, yes, reliable Wi-Fi.
 

Coworking comes to Skagit County

Thanks to local business owner Lizzy Millenaar, Skagit County now has its own coworking space, Cowork Skagit, in downtown Mount Vernon.

Millenaar, who also owns marketing firm Baylii Branding, and her husband bought the old Skagit State Bank building across from Mount Vernon City Hall to house the marketing firm, but they also expected Baylii wouldn’t need the entire space. After remodeling, the firm took the newly expanded top floor, which left the ground floor open for office rentals.

“We thought we would just have offices that we would rent out,” Millenaar said, “but several people [said], ‘I just need a desk, and want to spend $200-$300 a month.’”

After talking to Mount Vernon Downtown Association Director Ellen Gamson, who saw a need for a coworking space in the city, Millenaar decided to devote part of the remaining office space to coworking. The remainder of the space is offered as long-term office rentals.

The space offers nine workstations plus access to two private phone booths for calls or video conferencing. Access is available through a monthly membership of two, three or five days per week. Membership also provides access to the conference room for one hour per month, and access to the coffee bar and office amenities such as a printer. 
 

Why coworking?

Coworking spaces first appeared in the early 2000s and have slowly gained popularity as remote work has become less of a technological hurdle, along with the cultural shift brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Many self-employed people report having the flexibility to get away from their home office is beneficial. Whether it’s distractions of home life or just the need for a change of scenery, having the option of a coworking space to work from can be a game changer for productivity. 

A less obvious benefit of a coworking environment is the coworkers. Millenaar says the social aspect can be a welcome change from working alone or only interacting with people via Zoom. 

“A couple of times a week seems to be the sweet spot,” she said.

And coworking can have a benefit to the local business community as it brings people to the downtown core.

“Coworking spaces can give Skagit County the best of both worlds: they keep our remote workers and entrepreneurs rooted – and spending – right here, while offering the high-speed connectivity, shared resources, and spontaneous networking you’d normally find more commonly in a big-city office,” said Aaron Weinberg, EDASC economic development manager. “That combination sparks new business ideas, fills our downtown storefronts during the workday, and ultimately drives more local investment and jobs.”

Another benefit to a coworking space versus renting an office is cost. According to the website OfficeinAmerica.com, costs such as security deposits, office set up (think furniture and computers), and utilities – not to mention rent – are all expenses to factor into an office rental. For a startup or solopreneur, a flexible coworking membership pencils out to be more cost efficient. 

For those interested in seeing the Cowork Skagit space, Millenaar welcomes them to come for a tour. And she encourages interested parties to act soon:

“We have room for about 20-22 members only.”