During the workday, Derek Brooks, Jon Thompson, and Andrew Kirpalani run into each other in the break room and chat about the weather. They send office-wide GIF messages about someone making a too-strong pot of coffee. They help each other with those ever-present printer problems.<\/p>\n
But they aren\u2019t co-workers. The three Des Moines-based professionals work for very different businesses \u2014 a non-profit, an e-commerce company, and a couple tech firms. They all just happen to share one virtual office space.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an arrangement that\u2019s becoming more and more common. According to a 2014 study by Freelancers Union<\/a>, an independent worker advocacy group, there are 53 million Americans working as freelancers. Of that, over 20 million are full-time independent contractors. Another nearly 3 million are small business owners with less than five employees. And while many work out of their bedrooms and take meetings at the local coffee shop, a growing number of freelancers, telecommuters, and small business owners are looking to leave the home office behind.<\/p>\n That\u2019s where virtual offices come in. While the name implies they\u2019re odd digital hangouts, virtual offices are brick-and-mortar locations where startups and freelancers can work, collaborate, and meet with clients. These co-working spaces offer all the amenities of a corporate office \u2014 things like Wi-Fi, meeting spaces with doors, and desks with nearby outlets \u2014 but come with a small price tag. According to a study by Deskmag <\/a>, an online magazine covering the co-working industry, at least 110,000 people are co-working in 2,500 different virtual office spaces. Many of them are in the Midwest, at places like CoCo <\/a> in the Twin Cities, Onward Co-working <\/a> in Chicago, and Nebula <\/a> in St. Louis, just to name a few.<\/p>\n In downtown Des Moines there\u2019s Gravitate. Founded by Iowa tech entrepreneur Geoff Wood, Gravitate was designed as a hub for startups in the city. Since opening in the fall of 2014, it\u2019s also become a place for remote workers to call home.<\/p>\n