Downtown Myrtle Beach is slowly getting a facelift, and I recently had the opportunity to get an inside peek into just one of her plumps.

The private tour of the new HTC Aspire Hub on 9th Avenue North, which opened its doors in January 2022, showed me the possibilities of another “new norm” of the workplace and our local workforce. 

The coworking concept is all a combo brainchild of the City of Myrtle Beach and eMYRge, a nonprofit community of small business owners, techies, creatives, workshops and co-workshops passionate about building innovative businesses with the potential to scale nationally and internationally. 

Located just around the corner from the new Grand Strand Brewing Company, the Aspire Hub will feature cool, industrial office surrounds, complete with an open floor plan for floating desks (sitting and standing), small pods that businesses can use for more privacy and a large conference room. Overall, the hub can probably house up to 55 people looking to grow their local businesses in a professional office space, the result of Mashburn Construction.

What this means for downtown Myrtle Beach, however, beyond the opening of the physical Aspire building, is the larger blueprint of opportunities this offers small area businesses. It’s an exciting turn that’s usually reserved for more metro-savvy areas. And it’s an exciting resuscitation of the shells of the vacant buildings on this block. 

Coworking isn’t anything new out there, of course, but it’s refreshing to see it here. More benefits of coworking here in Myrtle Beach include:

• Flexible hours. You can come and go as you please because, after all, you are your own boss. The Aspire Hub offers varying memberships, from daily to monthly to annual, to reserve your personal space.
• You are not alone! After business offices shut down because of the pandemic, forcing us to isolate and work from home in some sort of makeshift workspace amidst our kids’ home school classrooms, we’re all craving that sense of community. Many folks still work remotely from home, but coworking spaces offer an option to reconnect with others. 
• Networking opportunities. Sharing a community office in one room also opens the door to more networking opportunities. What better way to market your business to other professionals by just sitting at your desk?
• Location, location, location. You and your clients have one central location to meet, and this revitalized area of Myrtle Beach is not a shabby place to grab coffee, lunch or a beer at happy hour–and it’s practically oceanfront, so you can take a walk on the beach to refresh. 
• Increase in productivity (and happiness). Coworking eliminates those distractions we all face while working from home. It increases motivation, production and overall happiness because you’re surrounded by professionals with the same passion. 

For more information on the HTC Aspire Hub, and/or to sign up for office space, visit https://www.emyrge.org/.