There is a new coworking space in the Biggest Little City.
Fusion@Midtown is a new locally owned coworking space, based within the CUBE@Midtown and located at 800 Haskell St. The more than 9,300-square-foot space opened this past October and is already humming with entrepreneurs hard at work.
“We want to provide a premier coworking experience,” Jonathan Sarmenta, community builder and resident storyteller at Fusion@Midtown, said.
Fusion@Midtown includes a multi-purpose room, two conference rooms, a private call center, an area for quiet workspace, a kitchen as well as four massage chairs. It joins several other coworking spaces in Reno such as Reno Collective, the Innevation Center and more.
“People need spaces to launch their business,” Sarmenta said.
However, he explained that Fusion@Midtown offers more than just a place for start-ups and entrepreneurs to conduct business. Coworking spaces are also platforms to network and collaborate with other entrepreneurs.
According to Sarmenta, many of their members like the coworking space because it is close to many restaurants and unique businesses in the Midtown area.
“Midtown is exciting and Midtown is growing,” Sarmenta said.
Sarmenta is a recent graduate of UNR’s Reynolds School of Journalism. He previously worked as a public relations intern at Adams Hub for Innovation, a business incubator and coworking space for entrepreneurs in Carson City, where he learned about running and growing a coworking space. He has been working to steadily grow the number of members since Fusion@Midtown’s opening.
“We are starting small and growing slowly,” he said.
There are already several businesses operating out of the coworking space such as The Golden Choke, Reno Web Design and more.
Fusion@Midtown is also partnering with other Midtown business. They are currently partnering with Wood-Fire Roasted Coffee Company LLC to supply their coffee and local artist Tony Walker who provided 40 pieces of art that are being displayed around the coworking space.
“We just want to showcase all that Midtown has to offer,” Sarmenta said.
Sarmenta is working to grow according to the needs of Fusion’s members. He is also working on developing events and workshops to benefit entrepreneurs.
“This all just goes back to being a resource for people,” Sarmenta said.“… It is all about the community.”
Megan Arneson was Fusion@Midtown’s first member. She described herself as a “serial entrepreneur.” Her current venture is being a consultant and business coach for other entrepreneurs through her company Here + Now. She has worked in a number of coworking spaces in Truckee, South Lake Tahoe and the Bay Area. However, she said she was drawn to the fact that Fusion@Midtown not only provided her a space to work but also an opportunity to help shape the community as well.
“That was the part of what is really exciting to me,” she said.
She said that Fusion@Midtown is already fostering a lot of sharing and reciprocity between the members there, aspects that are important for entrepreneurs.
“I think this place is awesome because one of the things that entrepreneurs struggle with is living in a vacuum,” Arneson said.
Fusion@Midtown is open Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The early bird cost for the coworking space is currently $99 per month, $75 per month for students or $24 per day. They also offer virtual memberships, which allows start-ups to use Fusion@Midtown as their business address, for $29 per month with $10 per day discounted drop-in prices. Tours of space are available.
For more information, visit www.fusionatmidtown.com.