Sometimes, working from home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Oh sure, it may be cozy to peck away at your home computer in slippers and sweats, but there’s more to it than that. Often, it’s about working around household noise that can drive even the most dedicated worker to distraction.
Just ask Jon Nixon, principal and creative director of Nixonmedia and father of three young children, about the trials and tribulations of running a home business.
“The garage door is right across from my home office,” said Nixon of Lower Paxton Township. “The bathroom is right there, too. When my children are home, I hear them going in and out all the time while I’m trying to work.”
Fortunately, there’s now a quiet haven for professionals like Nixon in the Harrisburg suburbs. In March, Coworking at The Park, a new venue offering professional office space for rent, opened in Swatara Township.
The Park rents co-working space to professionals, small business owners, entrepreneurs, sales agents and freelancers, allowing them to work, collaborate and make their professional enterprise flourish, according to company president Jaime Novinger-Toigo. The business offers day passes, private desks or private offices, plus a conference room that seats up to 65 for training, events or product pitches.
“It’s a perfect fit for me,” said Nixon, who uses a rented office at The Park three days a week. “I like that I can have a quiet space to work anytime. I like that it’s open on weekends. It looks professional when I have clients come in.”
Novinger-Toigo actually came about opening her new business in an indirect way. When relocating her other business, Service 1st Restoration & Remodeling, from Lower Swatara Township last October, she realized that the new building on East Park Drive had much more space than she needed.
“We had 20,000 square feet of storage areas,” Novinger-Toigo explained. “When we saw this, that’s when the concept of Coworking in The Park came to fruition.”
Over the next several months, workers gutted the much of the building’s interior to create six private offices, private desk areas, conference and training rooms and a working kitchen, all meticulously detailed. Walls are painted with handcrafted notations such as, “Great things never come from the comfort zone.” Even the restrooms are uniquely hued with shiny aquatic blue floors in recognition of Novinger-Toigo’s fire and restoration business next door.
After all the preparation, Novinger-Toigo said the hard work is starting to pay off. Business at Coworking at The Park is growing quickly.
“A janitorial business came in over the weekend and used the training room,” she said. “It was really cool. A marketing business is coming in today. A lawyer came in here, too, to meet with his client.”
Networking is another of Coworking in The Park’s benefits. When professionals using the facility meet and socialize, opportunities often blossom.
“Jaime and I believe we’re going to attract people who want to grow personally and professionally,” said office coordinator Emily Gilroy. “I believe it will be people who are driven and want to make a better community for themselves and their families,”
As a self-employed journalist, I can personally vouch for the serene refuge of Coworking at The Park as I’ve used it myself recently after writing from my home on a freelance basis for 22 years over the clamor of four children, a television perpetually set to Nickelodeon or MTV and cats taking territory on my papers.
Three of my four children are grown now, but they’ve since been replaced by a retired husband with his own television agenda and kitchen activities. At times, phone interviews are suddenly ruined by a lawnmower’s roar or the fire horn’s call, causing me to leap from my chair and close windows and doors. All this while maintaining a coherent phone conversation, of course.
Therefore, I felt quite tranquil while sitting undisturbed on a recent morning at Coworking at The Park, my trusty laptop and iPad in tow at one of the facility’s spacious desks. As a gentle spring breeze floated through the window, I inwardly relaxed, realizing that nobody there cared what I was making for dinner that night. Instead, Novinger-Toigo and office coordinator Emily Gilroy asked if there was anything that I needed.
“No,” I replied. “I already have everything I need right here.”
Coworking at the Park is located at 330 East Park Dr., Harrisburg (Swatara Township). For more information, visit www.theparkcoworking.com or call 717-232-5444.
Author: Phyllis Zimmerman
