The “Innovationsquartier Penzberg” association has been in existence for a year.
He has set himself the goal of creating a coworking space in Penzberg, but has so far been unsuccessful in finding a large office space.
Now the association is going a new way - towards many smaller coworking places, a booking platform and a real meeting place.
Penzberg – Away from a single, large, rigid office space towards a more flexible solution: This is the new plan that the “Innovationsquartier Penzberg” association is pursuing.
This was discussed at an event in Penzberg's "Bürgerbahnhof".
There, Christian Kopsch presented the concept in a lecture on “New Work” – new working environments.
Much more flexible: Lots of smaller coworking places
In principle, the concept is about having many different, smaller coworking places that are available at times and flexibly, be it in a workshop or studio, a free individual or shared office, a seminar room in a hotel, a Place in the café or an outdoor meeting place.
These places should be bookable via a digital platform - a bit like "Airbnb" or "Uber".
Real meeting place: Citizens’ train station or Rathauspassage?
In addition to the internet platform, there should be a real meeting place with a contact person as a "guide for coworking".
According to Yannick Timo Böge, chairman of the Penzberg Innovation Quarter, the "Bürgerbahnhof" would be a "perfect place" for this, as would the Rathauspassage if the city library's "wohnzimmer" project is implemented there.
Christian Kopsch sees it that way too.
"A cool initiative," he says of the "wohnzimmer" idea.
Suggestions will be collected over the next few weeks
The club still has a lot of work to do to make this happen.
According to Kopsch, the goal is to collect suggestions for coworking locations in the next four to six weeks.
Two internet surveys on needs and on “New Work” were also started.
We are also looking for new collaborators.
According to Böge, the interest in Penzberg is very high, as are the expectations.
"But the willingness to lend a hand is manageable."
A year ago, the “Innovationsquartier Penzberg” association started with a lot of enthusiasm
A year ago, the association “Innovationsquartier Penzberg” around Böge, his deputy Christine Mayr and treasurer Andreas Franke started with a lot of enthusiasm to create coworking spaces.
These are workplaces equipped with the necessary infrastructure that company founders, the self-employed, employees or students can use very flexibly, for example on a daily or hourly basis.
There is nothing like this in Penzberg so far.
A survey confirmed that the demand in Penzberg is very high.
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Christian Kopsch: "Coworking" expert.
© Wolfgang Schorner
At that time, the Penzberg trio went looking for a large room and went through several options: the old dairy, the former city library, the Zörnerhaus on Bahnhofstrasse, the former Montessori school or the Rathauspassage.
According to Böge, there were offers from the city and from private owners, including shop and commercial space in the city center and on Seeshaupter Strasse.
However, it failed for various reasons: On the one hand, massive investments would have had to be made for only a limited use, on the other hand, the rental and ancillary costs would have been too high with a only long-term lease, a risk that, according to Andreas Franke, the club could not take and wanted.
"Maker Space" variant will not be pursued further
That is why they are now pursuing the other concept, says Böge, i.e. the more flexible variant.
According to him, what has now also been ruled out is the so-called "maker space", the craftsman and workshop variant.
She, according to Böge, “cannot be lifted”.
But the enthusiasm is always there.
The association can now count on Christian Kopsch and his experience in the coworking sector.
The networking evening, where he presented the idea for a decentralized solution, was a kick-off event about "New Work".
Kopsch advised against a rigid concept in the countryside.
It would need 40 full seats to make it work financially.
In Weilheim, he said, while the need was extremely high, it was so diverse that it couldn't be covered in one building.
Therefore, according to Kopsch, Penzberg should try out “a decentralized solution with a central pilot function”.
Coworking info: The association collects suggestions for coworking locations: "www.innovation-penzberg.de".
The two surveys on needs and "New Work" can also be found there.
The next open network meetings on the topic are on Tuesday, March 14th and 28th, starting at 12 noon in the "Bürgerbahnhof".