HADLEY — Beer and business, bars and marine science. While these concepts might not seem to be an obvious fit, three business partners believe they’re ingredients for a coworking space that stands out from the competition.
The new space, called Tapwork, is a collaboration between Pioneer Valley Coral & Natural Science Institute’s (PVCNSI) Executive Director Roderick Anderson and Chief Science Officer Lily Rajic, and The Taproom’s owner Joe Eckerle. The institute and bar share space in Mill Valley Commons, a retail and office space at 1 Mill Valley Road.
Through this collaboration, the Taproom’s bar will open earlier in the day to accommodate the Tapwork coworking space. Then at night it will function as a traditional bar.
The institute moved into its current location about a year ago with the goal of creating “a space where the labs were conducive to more marine science and education access for historically marginalized communities,” Anderson said.
Anderson and Rajic initially hoped to include a coworking space in the PVCNSI facility, but the neighboring Happier Valley Comedy occupied the space that the company was looking at for expansion, leaving PVCNSI without the necessary room for a coworking area.
Although The Taproom space was also taken, Eckerle, Anderson and Rajic saw an opportunity for collaboration.
“This space here isn’t used throughout the day,” Eckerle said. “We open up currently at 5 o’clock in the evening, so what a great opportunity to use some space that is sitting idle for the first eight hours of the day.”
While drinking at an office space may seem like a foreign concept to some, coworking spaces around the country are serving alcoholic beverages to patrons in cities from Boston to San Francisco.
“So much business happens in a very personal setting,” Anderson said, “so having that kind of contact where you can meet with a client or meet with a potential client, have a beer, talk in a semiprivate environment where you don’t have to worry about random people coming in and disrupting… I think that’s one of the more appealing aspects of what we have to offer here.”
Membership plans include a shared desk for $90 per week or $190 per month, or $220 per month for an individual desk. Patrons can also pay $40 a month for a mailbox.
Monthly memberships include a $50 card for beer purchases per calendar month, and all plans also include free daily coffee and pastries, Wi-Fi, free off-street parking and printer and scanner access.
The addition of Tapwork to The Taproom is also an opportunity to mitigate some business hurdles, Eckerle said.
About a year ago, Eckerle wrote on the Taproom’s Facebook page that the business, which was about four months old at the time, was down $275 but “paying the bills,” although he had expected better business from The Taproom with its location just off of Route 9.
The Taproom’s business is “still not hitting it out of the park,” Eckerle said, but is on the rise.
“This year’s sales, after we got a full year behind us, every month has been higher in sales than the same month last year,” he said, “so we’re definitely seeing some year-on-year growth here, so that’s great.”
“Hopefully ventures like this will help as well,” Eckerle said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re working together as well, trying to improve business for both of us.”
Tapwork has just started seeking members, but Anderson and Rajic are confident that the space will attract new business.
Rajic said that the business partners have looked to other bars in New York and Boston that successfully rent out their locations during the day, some to coworking spaces, which have provided a “proven concept” of success for the business model.
Anderson also noted the popularity of nearby coworking spaces, such as Click Workspace in Northampton and AmherstWorks, and believes that Tapwork’s beer, wine and spirit offerings will provide a competitive edge.
“There’s definitely a need and demand for it, and we fit in right between Amherst and Northampton, so we’re a prime location with a lot of space,” Anderson said. “And we have beer.”
Tapwork is slated to open on Thursday or Friday of this week, and will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekends.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.