New Murrieta Company Offers Meeting, Office Space

Working from home has its benefits and its drawbacks.

Just ask Adam Ruiz, a home loan consultant based in Temecula who was been working from home for more than five years.

"Sometimes I just go stir crazy at home," Ruiz said.

Meeting with clients also poses a problem. Reluctant to give out his home address, he often opts to meet them at a local establishment.

Many of those problems are now solved with Ruiz's membership to Coworking Connection, a newly-opened 5,000-square-foot office suite in Murrieta.

Owned and operated by longtime Murrieta resident Dione Moser, Coworking Connection offers productive, flexible workspace, conference rooms, Verizon FiOS internet and plenty of coffee. Memberships to use the space start at $75 per month.

The concept is attractive to work-at-home professionals, independent contractors or people who travel frequently who end up working in relative isolation.

The $75 basic membership includes a mailing address, access to a meeting room and one-day-a-week use of a desk. Memberships levels increase, with the most comprehenisve at $800 per month. With that, the member has full use of the facilities, including full time access to a private office, meeting/conference rooms, unlimited faxes and printing services.

"It is everything you need to get your work done," Moser said.

Coworking Connection is the fulfillment of a dream for Moser. She has owned a marketing business for several years, and wanted a way to bring small businesses together to feed off one another, creating community.

There were six founding members, and as of Wednesday, Coworking Connection had 10 members. Moser expects it to only grow.

"I see it as being the 24 Hour Fitness of cooperative work environments," Moser said. "It can be so many things for so many different people, that is what I love about it."

For Joe Von Gerichten, it offers places to host training seminars. Von Gerichten teaches business owners how to use social media to their advantage.

"Part of my business is training 25 to 50 people at a time, so now I have the space to do that," said Von Gerichten, a founding member of Coworking Connection.

Dane Wunderlich is a realtor with an office in east Murrieta. He became a founding member of this new venture, opting for a one-day-a-week membership. Wunderlich said having the additional office space on the west side of town provides one-on-one time with those he already does business with, such as Ruiz. Instead of being in constant contact on the phone, they now meet in person at Coworking Connection.

"These are my peers," Wunderlich said. "The energy is really encouraging and the synergy is fantastic."

The city of Murrieta Economic Development Department welcomed Coworking Connection.

“Murrieta and the Twin Cities area of Murrieta/Temecula have a strong entrepreneurial focus, with many new start-up companies, telecommuters and home-based businesses," said Kim Davidson, business development manager for the city of Murrieta.

"(We are) pleased that the Coworking Connection has been established in our community to serve the larger region. The Connection will also serve telecommuters who work in San Diego and Orange counties, but would like a place to work a few days a week here where they live," Davidson said.

Coworking Connection is located at 25185 Madison Ave., Suite A, in Murrieta, next door to American Tire Depot. For more information, call 951-677-4060 or 800-762-1391, or visit Coworkingconnection.com.