• New Coworking Space in Marquette Caters to Locals, Out-of-Towners

     
    BY Kathy Gibbons
    POSTED July 10, 2022
     
    CoLAB in the Upper Peninsula city of Marquette is offering flexible coworking spaces for locals as well as out-of-towners.

    CoLAB is offering flexible coworking space in Marquette.

    Photo credit: Courtesy of CoLAB

  • New Coworking Space in Marquette Caters to Locals, Out-of-Towners

     
    BY Kathy Gibbons
    POSTED July 10, 2022
     
    This floor plan shows how space is allocated at the CoLAB coworking space in Marquette.

    This floor plan shows the various uses of space at CoLAB in the Upper Peninsula city of Marquette.

    Photo credit: Courtesy of CoLAB

Before founding The Technologist, a members-only, app-based technology advising service, Tony Mars ran a boutique technology advising firm in Chicago for more than 20 years.

During that time, his company utilized a variety of co-working spaces — WeWork and Industrious among them — in several locations that included downtown Chicago and San Diego. Today, he’s renting office space at CoLAB in downtown Marquette for his own business and says it’s “just as world class as what is offered by the big players in major cities.”

“We are able to plug into a fully functional office without any of the burden associated with setting up or maintaining the infrastructure,” Mars says. “This allows us to focus on our business and not our office.”

Just opened in April 2022 by Veridia Group in renovated historic buildings, CoLAB offers flexible working space without the commitment of a long-term lease. According to Manager Vicki Snyder, it’s geared toward professionals who need a quiet place to work whether they are local or traveling. 

“We designed CoLAB with the professional remote worker in mind,” Snyder explains. “Unlike typical coworking spaces, we elected to create private offices along with open work areas that cater to a wide range of office needs.”

“There are a lot of professionals that are from other locations around the country and while they’re here, they have a space to land and even meet with other professionals if they want to.”

CoLAB  also provides conference and meeting rooms, audio-visual equipment for remote meetings, high-speed internet, printing, a phone booth for private conversations, kitchenette, and private wellness room.

It all works for Mars, who says it’s a relief not to deal with building maintenance and management himself.

“Having run a company-owned office in the past, I know that it takes a tremendous amount of consistent effort to keep it in good shape and properly functioning, let alone aesthetically pleasing,” he says. “All of this is taken care of by CoLAB for us now and it’s hard to consider ever going back to a traditional office space where all of that burden falls on us … by being able to take internet, AC, cleaning, and a fully-stocked kitchen for granted, our bandwidth is freed up to focus on our enterprise.”

For more information, visit colabmqt.com.

 

Bees on the Roof Leads to Tours for Guests at the Daxton in Birmingham

The Daxton in Birmingham is creating a buzz over bees.

Bees in the D has put two hives on the roof of the upscale hotel. The nonprofit works with multiple partners to maintain hives in some 70 different places around metro Detroit that include several with green roofs — the Daxton being one. 

“Our green roof is nearly 2,000 square feet that is largely covered in sedum and garlic chive,” says Daxton Marketing Director Josh Griffin. “The green roof has been part of our hotel since we opened in April 2021 and is a great place for the bees to reside.”

 
MPI Michigan Chapter Announces 2022-2023 Board of Directors

The Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Michigan chapter inaugurated a new board of directors during its Celebration! gala at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa in Traverse City in June 2022. 

The organization of meeting professionals offers education, leadership training, scholarships, and professional development for its members. Each year, MPI Michigan also hosts industry events and networking forums, including a Mid-Winter Symposium and the MIP Great Lakes Education Summit.

The 2022-23 board members are:

 
Urban, Wild, and Infinitely Appealing

Anchorage is a city like none other—making it a popular choice for hosting meetings and events.

Through the tall windows of the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage, meeting attendees can gaze out toward Cook Inlet, which stretches all the way to the Gulf of Alaska and toward mountains—some snow-capped—representing several ranges. They may even see an eagle fly by or see one of the 1,500 moose that are said to roam Alaska’s largest city. It’s easy to see why it’s said that Anchorage is a city like none other in the United States.