There’s no shortage of coworking spots in the D.C. metro area, and especially no shortage of government contract work. But what happens when you combine the two?
Eastern Foundry has done just that in NoVa, with coworking spaces in Crystal City and Rosslyn that cater to startups and small organizations seeking federal work.
The veteran-owned company’s Rosslyn location opened on the 10th floor of 1100 Wilson Blvd. in January 2017 and has since added much of the building’s ninth floor to its domain. The 25,000-square-foot office space certainly doesn’t scream “government work.”
Brightly colored chairs and communal desk space fill a wide-open area in the middle of the 10th-floor layout, surrounded by smaller, one- or two-table offices and conference rooms that line the walls. A blue and yellow mural takes up one wall, highlighting cornerstone efforts of government tech like Navy data science, the Hoover Dam and GPS.
“We want to get rid of that stigma that government contracting is so serious,” Chief of Staff Regina Burke said, adding that the space allows startup members to open up and find out about contracts and opportunities from one another.
The best conversations though, she said, happen in the kitchen, where a Commonwealth Joe cold brew kegerator and Bevi flavored water machine steal the show.
Eastern Foundry was the first direct customer in D.C. for Bevi, which is rapidly expanding in the area after launching in Boston five years ago. Its aim is to reduce the number of cans and bottles people use in the office. The machine, similar to Coca-Cola Freestyle fountains, dispenses filtered tap water from the building, with the option of making it seltzer water.
It has several flavors, which the internet-connected device tracks, along with water usage. Since Eastern Foundry installed its four Bevi machines in March this year, it has saved 31,000 12-ounce cans/bottles.
Burke said the relationship with Bevi is a great way for Eastern Foundry to support other small startups, and saves time that previously was spent thinking about cans and recycling.
And water demand is high at the Rosslyn coworking space, which boasts 96 percent capacity and just one available private office.
Burke said it has about 300 members, who also have access to the Crystal City location. About half of those members use Eastern Foundry as their sole workplace – the other half as a satellite office. Marketing firm Targeted Victory’s headquarters takes up the most space of its members, with branding on slightly less than half the 10th-floor space.
“Virtual” members pay $250 monthly for access to the open workspace and 4 hours of conference room usage, and rates go up to $1,000-plus for private offices.
Let’s take a look around the Eastern Foundry space…
