LET’S GET BACK
TO BUSINESS, WESTSIDE.

Creative businesses sharing interesting spaces that allow them to focus, innovate and grow.

Coworking Westside is re-igniting the vibrant local small business community to return to safe co-working spaces and engage with each other. Supported by a grant from Maribyrnong City Council, Coworking Westside is offering a limited number of free or subsidised co-working opportunities from Monday 11 Jan to Friday 7 May 2021.

We are proud to be part of the dynamic business community that calls the Inner West home and want to get your creative juices flowing in our unique co-working spaces. Working in isolation isn’t great for business, and we’d love to welcome you into our creative small business community and support your business recovery.

HELPING SMALL BUSINESS GET BACK TO WORK

Melbourne’s Inner West is full of creative and unique small businesses ready to create more magic in 2021. And we are thrilled to be able to offer an innovative way to get businesses back to work with a program that includes coworking and opportunities to collaborate with other business owners.

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SUPPORTED BY MARIBYRNONG CITY COUNCIL

We know that coworking is an effective way to get small business owners back to work, and Maribyrnong City Council agrees with us. As a successful recipient of a Business Improvement District (BID) Grant, we are delighted to be able to use that financial support to be able to offer coworking scholarships to more than 24 small businesses and not-for-profits to support their recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.

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THE TEAM

The Coworking Westside initiative includes five local businesses engaged to create and deliver the program.

FIONA JOHNSTON

Seddon Coworking & Peach Business

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Fiona is co-presenting the project and providing content, coworking and ongoing support to the participants in the initiative.

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Fiona is the facilitator of Seddon Coworking and a Chartered Accountant. She works with local businesses to help make their businesses more profitable, and sustainable. Her practice focuses on business mentoring, business planning and forecasting for small and medium businesses. She has lived in the City of Maribyrnong for five years and operated Seddon Coworking for two years. It is a space for local businesses to work, run workshops
and learn from.

LIANA LUCCA-POPE

The Idea Collective & Hello Idea

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Liana is co-leading Coworking Westside, designed the brand identity, and is providing coworking and networking opportunities to the participants in the initiative.

Liana is the founder and facilitator of the Idea Collective with two Footscray premises at Nicholson St and Paisley St. She opened the Idea Collective (Nicholson) in 2013, and it was the Inner West’s first coworking space - winning the 2016 MCC Innovative Business Award. The Idea Collective was expanded in late 2019 with the opening of 80 Paisley Workspaces. Liana is very engaged in the local business community and was a key figure in the reinvigoration and relaunch of the Footscray Traders Association in 2016, also serving on the FTA Committee for a further two years. Liana has a passion for the arts and has been involved with West Projections Festival and One Night In Footscray arts festival for several years - also serving on the ONIF Committee.

COWORKING SCHOLARSHIPS

>    24+ scholarships for small business owners

>    Four months

>    11 January - 7 May 2021

24 coworking scholarships are available during the four month Coworking Westside Reactivation. This has been made possible via a Maribyrnong City Council Business Improvement District (BID) grant. The funding allows free or subsidised access to coworking for small businesses, and provides a COVID safe environment with a daily touchpoint cleaning crew and PPE provisions. We want you to feel safe to come back to work and get back to creating your business magic in 2021.

COVID Safe

An integral part of the initiative is our commitment to COVID safe spaces. We see this as essential to getting small businesses back to coworking. All DHHS advice is followed including square meter rules per person. This allows our coworkers to feel safe and supported in the space, while managing their own health and wellbeing. 

PPE

Coworkers will be provided with appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including disposable masks and access to hand sanitizers and soaps. Thermometers are also available at each location.

CLEANING

With the support of our local cleaning partner, Cleanable, the spaces will be kept clean and COVID safe. The three coworking spaces will have common touchpoints sanitised and wiped down every week day for the four months of the program.