Boutique-style coworking space opens in Monett

Although construction delays pushed back plans for a summer debut, a coworking venture is now open in downtown Monett.

Cowork Collective LLC, a boutique-style coworking space and flex office owned by Brett Heman, held an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 14 at 308 E. Broadway St. The 3,100-square-foot business incorporates two buildings in the town of roughly 9,800 residents.

“It exceeds what I thought it would become. The space looks really nice,” Heman said, noting Craftsman Construction and Woodworking LLC was general contractor for the project designed by R.E. Werner Architect LLC.

Cowork Collective includes 11 private offices, 12 open desks, a phone booth for private calls, an executive-style conference room, a kitchen stocked with unlimited coffee, a lobby to greet guests and a courtyard to allow outside work.

“We had construction delays. It was an old building, so when you’re busting through and cutting open walls, you just don’t know what you’re going to find,” he said, adding startup costs were a little over $300,000. “We just had to be nimble and flexible with that.”

Heman also co-owns real estate investment company Heman Houses Asset Management LLC with his father, Bruce, and earlier this year became executive director of the Monett Area Chamber of Commerce, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Cowork Collective also provides mail services, which Heman said offers home-based businesses, freelancers and solo entrepreneurs a professional mailing address.

“It definitely provides a new opportunity that hasn’t previously been there as an option,” he said. “You don’t have to have a spare bedroom in your house to be able to have an office space for your business.”

Access to the venue is available via memberships or day passes and offers small and large office suites. Day passes are $25. Memberships to access one of the desks start at $100 per month, while the office monthly rates begin at $400 for small and $500 for large. Heman said while he’s yet to sell his first membership, interest has been expressed from several unnamed businesses.

“They are in the information-gathering phase,” he said, adding there’s capacity to hold around 40 members.

He said Tammy Graham was recently hired as community manager to aid coworking space users and host networking events.

“I believe there is going to be demand because I wouldn’t have done it if I had not thought that,” he said. “To have a storefront with a mailing address in the center of our downtown is really compelling for why it makes sense for people to utilize this space.”