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COWORKING COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER — June 4, 2014

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Maybe it seems just a bit quieter than usual on 17th Street. School's out, and plenty of folks in the nearby office buildings are clocking out for vacations down the shore. However, at Benjamin's Desk, we're seeing phenomenal growth among our member companies—even as we head into the summer:
* Our spotlight member company, Springboard Collaborative, keeps adding passionate team members.
* TriNet's helping member companies scale their staffs without HR hassles.
* Comcast Business is getting ready to send two local entrepreneurs to the finals of a national competition.
* Members can expand their footprint through network of 45 coworking communities around the world.

If you thought running a Philly business in the summer means slowing down, our members, sponsors, and partners are ready to help heat things up. (But don't worry—our newly installed Nest thermostats are keeping our workspaces at a very comfortable temperature.)


** Springboard Collaborative Scales Up at Benjamin's Desk
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** Coworking streamlines operations and helps a social impact startup influence families throughout Philadelphia
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Springboard Collaborative (http://springboardcollaborative.org/) wants to help close the reading achievement gap by coaching teachers, training family members, and incentivizing learning so that students can acquire the skills they need to succeed. Harvard graduate Alejandro Gac-Artigas founded the company after he realized the long-term value of encouraging students to read over the summer.

The startup's primary offering is an intensive, five-week summer literacy program for Pre-K through 3rd grade students and their families. Recently, the Philadelphia School District picked up its program, designed to eliminate the literacy gap of Philadelphia school children.

Besides Gac-Artigas, the team includes COO Christina Houlahan, and Chief Programming Officer Aubrey White. While Houlahan brings a track record as a serial entrepreneur, White's background includes over twelve years experience as an elementary school teacher in Philadelphia.

Through its Benjamin's Desk membership, the company has been able to operate from a central location, enabling staff members to easily travel to schools throughout the city. The coworking space also offers a flexible office space, perfect for training large groups and hosting team collaboration exercises. "Benjamin's Desk is helping Springboard grow by giving us a central, flexible location that meets our rapidly evolving needs," said Gac-Artigas. "Whether we are having a leadership team meeting for three or a Site Manager training session for 50, Benjamin's Desk adapts to our needs. Having started with flexible desks and recently moved into a private office, it has been with us every step of the way from start-up to scale up."

Passionate about teaching, Gac-Artigas was a first grade teacher before becoming an entrepreneur. He founded Springboard in 2011, recently was honored as one of Echoing Green's "world's best emerging social innovators," a leading social investor that selected 20 start-ups from 3,500 global applicants, and has earned a place on Forbes Magazine's 30 Under 30 list (http://www.bizjournals.com/profiles/company/us/ny/new_york/forbes_magazine_/213790) .
[ SPONSOR MESSAGE ]

Most startups have incredible ideas.

Most entrepreneurs want to focus on them.

What they don’t have is HR expertise. That’s where TriNet comes in.

TriNet provides startups with an instant HR infrastructure that allows them to manage and scale their business. We structure healthcare benefits, manage payroll, and reduce HR liability risks so you can concentrate on what’s most important: growing your business.

TriNet works with many startup firms in technology, financial services, and professional services. That means we know your language, understand your objectives, and deliver the premium HR services that highly compensated employees expect.

We’re uniquely positioned to solve such challenges as:
* Maximizing time and resources
* Attracting and retaining talent
* Managing rising HR costs
* Minimizing exposure to risk.

To learn more, contact Bill Suriano at bill.suriano@trinet.com (mailto:bill.suriano@trinet.com) or 732.243.3328.


** Startup Federation Opens Borders
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** Our coworking community now extends to 45 entrepreneurial hubs throughout the world
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As a member of the Startup Federation (http://1776dc.com/startup-federation) , a global collaborative of the world’s top entrepreneurial centers, Benjamin's Desk members now have even more access to creativity, capital, and collaboration. Since the entrepreneurship ecosystem has grown beyond U.S. borders, we're expanding your access to other parts of the world. Our Startup Federation alliance enables Benjamin's Desk to work at other member locations when traveling. When combined with our existing membership in LEXC, the League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces (http://lexc.org/) , our latest partnership expands our network to forty-five entrepreneurial hubs across eight countries (http://www.benjaminsdesk.com/Newswire/article.php?Startup-Federation-Expands-Benjamin-s-Desk-Community-to-45-Locations-Worldwide-32) .

Your Benjamin's Desk membership now allows you to "check in" at world-class communities like New York's Grind, Austin's Capital Factory, D.C.s 1776, and London's Warner Yards. Likewise, Startup Federation and LEXC member companies will now call the historic Allman Building their home away from home when they’re in Philadelphia. Just as our members build great relationships with fellow founders and entrepreneurs on the 7th and 8th Floors, you can start developing connections with global visitors who come to Philly for conferences, business meetings, and fact-finding missions.

The next time you're booking travel for work or for leisure, check out the map of network destinations on our website. Most of the coworking spaces and entrepreneurial communities in our network are convenient to major city centers and travel hubs, making them ideal for a quick visit or an extended "home base" operation. Contact our office for an introduction and for more details about how to activate and maximize a reciprocal coworking membership.


** Comcast Celebrates Innovative Businesswomen in Philadelphia
RSVP for our special event on June 19!
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In just a few weeks, two of our region's most innovative entrepreneurs will face head-to-head competition from thirty more of their peers from around the country in the ** Comcast Business (http://business.comcast.com/)
Innovations 4 Entrepreneurs contest.

Julie Goldman from ** The Original Runner Company (http://www.originalrunners.com/)
earned Philadelphia's finalist slot for "Improved Employee Experience" for her essay about bringing technology into the wedding industry. Linda Farquhar stores her customers' body measurements in the cloud at her business, ** entreDonovan (https://www.entredonovan.com/)
, earning her distinction for "Improved Customer Experience." ** You can read the essays that impressed judges and voters at the I4E website. (http://business.comcast.com/i4e/vote)

Expert judges are now deliberating whether Julie, Linda, or one of the finalists from 15 other Comcast Business service regions will walk away with a grand prize package worth over $40,000 in cash and services.

We're sending Julie and Linda to the final judging round in style with a special event hosted by our friends at Comcast Business, with free food, drink, and the opportunity to connect with C-level leaders from throughout the Philadelphia region. Rob Wonderling, President & CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber, will deliver a special keynote alongside presentations from the finalists.

The 8th Floor @ Benjamin's Desk
Thursday, June 19, 2014
5:30PM - 7:30PM

** RSVP now, before the guest list runs out of space! (http://ccbc.dtgbiz.com/index.php?option=com_dtregister&Itemid=50&eventId=355&controller=event&task=individualRegister)

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If you're not already a member of Benjamin's Desk, June's a perfect time to join. Contact our office today to arrange for a tour or a complimentary day pass, so you can experience the benefits of coworking for yourself