The HUB turns one!

THIS BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON

Brought to you by these community-minded organizations because they recognize that
good business is good for everyone:

By Graham Thompson

On Friday, October 21 we celebrated The HUB’s one year birthday. It has been amazing seeing how enthusiastically people have rallied around our vision of cross-sector collaboration and social innovation. In just one year, almost 70 entrepreneurs, organizations and groups have joined The HUB, a co-working space that not only offers networking and collaboration opportunities but meets the practical needs of businesses such as affordable and professional office and meeting space, shared resources, and opportunity to be a part of a community of innovators with a desire to see Muskoka grow and prosper.

The HUB was strategically placed in Muskoka. After living and working in the community for two years we noticed two things: a very large number of entrepreneurs and small businesses, and a great need for social and economic innovation. We wondered how we could help connect the entrepreneurial spirit with the needs that exist in the community, and promote a type of innovation that builds the strength of the community.

We recognized the need to create a place that provides a combination of practical, interpersonal and creative support.

We recognized the need for a place to house conversations and brainstorming sessions that focus on innovative solutions for the social and economic needs of the region.

We recognized the need for a place that provides an affordable and versatile working environment that helps businesses and organizations thrive.

We recognized the need to facilitate collaboration between the public and private sector because without each other services are less effective.

Cross-sector collaboration has been shown to not only boost creativity, but generate innovative solutions for the complex needs facing Muskoka.

The HUB is a co-working space with an accelerating environment for innovative solutions because professionals are physically closer together, interacting and collaborating more naturally and seamlessly.

Co-working is community, openness, collaboration, accessibility and sustainability. It represents a fundamentally new way of thinking about how we work and share with one another.

The HUB was established by Erin Horvath and Graham Thompson of New Vision Unlimited (New VU), a nationally registered, not-for-profit community development organization that has been working in Northwestern Ontario since 2006, and Muskoka since 2014. New VU aims to empower people to step out of the confines of their day to day reality and move forward with a newly inspired, directed and energized sense of who they are, and how they fit into the needs of the world around them.

Through strategic partnerships with professionals, community members and organizations, they work to identify opportunities for growth, offer logistical and planning support where needed, and teach skills that equip people to address complex community problems in a way that addresses underlying issues and results in stronger organizations, businesses, schools and communties.

Visit www.thehubmuskoka.ca for more information about The HUB.