Dozens gathered at 1050 Queen St. on Wednesday morning to celebrate the opening of the largest co-working space in Hawaii.
Impact Hub Honolulu’s 14,000-square-foot office space is now open for Hawaii professionals to share from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The co-working space has an 80-chair capacity for workers in its common areas and 27 private offices of varying sizes.
“It feels great to be able to provide,” said George Yarbrough, co-director of Impact Hub Honolulu. “That is what this space is for; it’s to provide a space and platform for others to realize their impact and realize their dreams.”
Over the past two years Yarbrough and the local Impact Hub team worked to get the franchise set up at a long-term space in Honolulu. Impact Hub Honolulu is a part of an international network of co-working spaces that includes 80 such hubs around the world that have a combined membership of more than 15,000 professionals.
The team announced in 2015 that its pilot, ProtoHub Honolulu, was ready to expand. ProtoHub Honolulu launched in 2014 and had been in place for nine months. The pilot had 160 members representing more than $12 million in collective annual revenue, and hosted more than 300 events, training and workshops.
After working to secure funding and a lease for the space at the closed World Gym, Impact Hub Honolulu announced in June that it would be ready to open its doors in the coming months.
Co-working memberships at Impact Hub Honolulu range from $30 for two days a month to $215 for a monthly membership in the common areas, and from $450 to $1,300 for a private office. The offices vary in size, with spaces that can accommodate from two to six people. All members have access to Impact Hub Honolulu’s services, which include Wi-Fi, private phone booths, bike storage, showers and complimentary coffee.
Members of the startup community said co-working centers like Impact Hub Honolulu are necessary to help build the innovation sector in Hawaii.
Chenoa Farnsworth, managing partner of a Honolulu-based startup assistance program called Blue Startups, said the global network that comes with the Impact Hub franchise will help local businesses make connections outside the state.
“This is a good platform to share to the world what is unique about Hawaii,” she said. “We don’t have anything quite this large … that also has such a purpose and mission, and is globally connected.”
Anne Weber, co-working community manager of Impact Hub Honolulu, said the team is looking to “specifically build communities around sustainability and education.”
Weber said Impact Hub Honolulu’s space will be used to host different events related to that mission. Impact Hub Honolulu held a screening of the film “Most Likely to Succeed” last month, and tonight the space is hosting a free screening of “Racing Extinction.”
Ulupono Initiative, a Honolulu-based investment firm, and High Technology Development Corp., a state agency created to facilitate the development and growth of Hawaii’s commercial high-tech industry, were founding partners of the space. The co-working space has also partnered with American Savings Bank, Hawaii Investment Ready, Elemental Excelerator and Level 3 Communications.
Over the last six years, a handful of similar co-working spaces have opened doors in the state.
BoxJelly, a co-working space in Kakaako, opened in 2011 and KouWork opened earlier this month.
