Nine years ago a web development firm held daily meetings in a local coffee shop. After getting fed up with unreliable Internet service and crowd rushes, the group decided to take out a lease on an office space so that they could finally have a more reliable place to launch their new business. Then came the birth of the Affinity Lab. It was not long before the group of five realized they had leased more space than they needed. This is when the idea struck to find entrepreneurs with similar personalities and business structure to share their space and culture.
Coworking began in Washington, DC.
The Affinity Lab—started in Adams Morgan— recently opened a second location on U Street. “After being at capacity for eight and a half years, we felt we needed another location. We are here to support DC’s small businesses and we felt that we weren’t doing that by turning down people who needed office space,” said lab Director Philippe Chetrit.
Chetrit said two locations service over 50 businesses, all of which “do amazing things and work on amazing projects.” And what exactly is it that makes the lab so successful? “The great collection of great people working on great projects,” Chetrit said. Being in business for nearly a decade, the lab has seen more than 100 small businesses pass through the shared office space—85 percent of which are still in business today. This is far over the national average notes Chetrit.
The group was finally able to open the new location after winning the 2009 PremierPlan business plan competition’s grand prize of $100,000. This was the group's first time applying to the competition.
In order to keep the lab dynamic, the collaborative environment also hosts many group meetings, panel seminars and guest speaker lectures. “The value here is tremendous because we offer a collaborative and inspiring culture, and that is a big selling point to our members,” Chetrit said. The lab’s members are comprised of 50 percent consulting or freelance businesses, 25 non-profit groups, and 25 percent start-ups. “It’s really exciting to come into work every day,” Chetrit said. “It’s very inspiring.”
Although the concept of a shared office space may be new to many people, the lab has been gaining members for years through word-of-mouth recommendations. The space not only offers a dynamic environment for creative DC businesses to strive, but it also removes the stress of starting a new business for members. “We are as flexible as possible; we really just want to see our members succeed,” Chetrit said. “So we work with everyone’s needs to make sure that happens.”
To make sure that a potential member is right for the space, and that the space is right for their business, a thorough process takes place. The first step is a lab tour, Chetrit explained. The next step is to do a test run and spend the day working at the lab. If all goes well, the tour and test run are followed by an application process, and in just a couple of days a new business can have a space to call their own.
“The Affinity Lab is just one of those places that you really have to see it to believe it,” Chetrit said.
Coworking – a style of work which involves a shared working environment, sometimes an office yet independent activity. Unlike in a typical office environment, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization. Typically it is attractive to work-at-home professionals, independent contractors, or people who travel frequently who end up working in relative isolation. Coworking is the social gathering of a group of people, who are still working independently, but who share values, and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space. Source: Wikipedia
Affinity Lab
Adams Morgan Location
2451 18th St NW
2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 518-6181
U St. Location
920 U St. NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 332-1360
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