BEAHIVE Albany Expands Its Hive

We partnered with Tracy Metzger to open the Albany hive, the Capital Region’s first such coworking space, in early 2012. Two years later, the “beas” have moved upstairs into a larger space.

“BEAHIVE’s success outgrew its home,” explains Tracy, whose real estate brokerage firm TL Metzger & Associates is located within the hive. “We are expanding to accommodate the growing community of entrepreneurs, creatives, microbusinesses, and consultants in the Capital Region.”

The faces of BEAHIVE success stories are of those like entrepreneur Keith Bulatao, whose business, Better World Fundraising, flourishes within the hive, and the New York home of technology-consultant giant Sanborn, Head & Associates, who first rooted in BEAHIVE before growth relocated them to a larger office in Clifton Park.

“BEAHIVE provided us an excellent location from which we were able to enhance our presence in the Capital Region and develop professional relationships with clients and potential clients,” recalls Eric Steinhauser, the firm’s senior project director and senior associate principal. “Being located in downtown Albany was important to us because it provided a central location relatively close to our existing clients, state regulators, and others involved in our industry.”

Coworking is the growing worldwide movement in collaboration where people work in shared space, alone and together. The ethos behind BEAHIVE and its expansion, however, is not merely about space. “The new way to work is not about competition, but about collaboration,” BEAHIVE founder Scott Tillitt shares. “A group of mostly strangers become peers sharing input. We start breaking down walls, literal and figurative, to build community, to build trust.”

The success of BEAHIVE and its growth is catching the eye of prominent business partners in the community. “As our Downtown becomes a technology hub for entrepreneurs, the BEAHIVE concept is positioned to meet the needs of a creative and collaborative workforce and management,” states Georgette Steffans, Executive Director of the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District. “Their expansion is right on target with national trends and representative of the small business base in our Downtown.”

Stay tuned for an open house and networking event for current and prospective members in early September.