A Message to Our Members: Update on COVID-19 Concerns, Policies, & Actions

For the most up-to-date policies, please click here.

TPC Members,

Our team has spent the weekend scrambling to keep up with information and remain proactive in our decision-making with regard to the coronavirus fallout. It seems like the challenges are multiplying and evolving by the hour, but if we can learn anything by the missteps of our country’s leaders when dealing with this epidemic, it’s that we need more transparency and clear communication in uncertain times. As a community of coworkers, we can learn from each other in times of crisis, generate new ideas through collective wisdom, and build empathy and solidarity through shared experience.

The past two weeks have been very trying. Like other small businesses around the state, TPC is hurting. We’ll have plenty of time to analyze the impact, but for now I want to focus on our immediate plan for weathering the storm.

Our company goals in order of priority are:

1. Keep members and staff safe by complying with expert recommendations and official policies

2. Stay in business so that we can:

   • Provide a place of refuge during the crisis where our members can safely catch up on work, get away from the news, or just relax

   • Keep our staff employed and insured

   • Support our vendors and suppliers in the community so they can do the same

   • Provide a place of productivity after the crisis passes where we can all start the momentous task of debriefing and recovering

We don’t have all of the answers, but I’m confident we’ll make it out of this smarter and stronger. Other businesses surely will not be so fortunate. If you are in a difficult financial situation right now, are unable to get value from your coworking membership due to school closures, a compromised immune system, or a duty to care for others, please let us know. Part of what we sell is flexibility, so if you’re on a month to month membership and need to cancel, we understand. That being said, we would love to find a way to keep everyone a part of the community, so if you choose to stay, here are some temporary changes we will be making to adapt to the crisis.

Membership measures

1. We are extending all Community Unlimited Memberships to 24/7 access for free. This will allow us to spread out the flow of members into the space for safety reasons, and allow parents to use evening and weekend hours to catch up. Email team@thepioneercollective.com for access passes.

2. We are implementing automatic rollovers for all Community 5 and Community 10 memberships through June 1st. If you know you can’t use your days for the next few months, just let us know and they will be added to your account to be used any time before the end of the year. We’ll probably all need to log extra time once restrictions are lifted.

3. Resident Desk members can pause their membership through their June bill date and pay 30% of their normal dues while keeping their desk and their items in the space

Safety measures

1. We will be closing both member kitchens immediately through May 1st to encourage distancing. When restrictions are lifted, we’ll make up for it by hiring some great espresso carts and hosted bars, I promise.

2. We are encouraging a one person per communal table ratio until May 1st

3. We are instituting a no guest policy until May 1st. Any visitors must be a registered member of your company

4. We are reducing staffed hours to our holiday / weekend hours through April 1st. We will be doing regular facilities work but everyone needs to help chip in and keep the space tidy. Please do your part! Our staff will be available via email and phone during standard business hours, but will be working on projects remotely. The space will still be accessible using Brivo. Please email team@thepioneercollective.com if you are in need of a pass. 

Finally, we want to live up to our company values by being a resource, a platform and a connection point for our members and other local businesses and organizations. Our team will be launching a new website next week called The Remote Work Survival Guide. It will feature:

• Exclusive member discounts for our favorite local businesses (e.g. buy $100 a gift card for $70 at Elm Coffee)

• Links to and summaries of COVID-19 related resources for businesses (we’ve researched them all this week)

• Space for members to share their experiences during the crisis and promote their initiatives, products, services

• Pandemic playlists

• Written interviews (hopefully audio and video too) with entrepreneurs, city leaders and experts

• Fun and inspiring words of wisdom like:

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

-Marcus Aurelius

Please reach out to me or any of the TPC staff if you have any questions,

Christopher Hoyt | COO
chris@thepioneercollective.com
(425) 442.5119