"Ironfire is a hospitality-driven workspace that offers great amenities," said Ironfire CEO and founder Josh Rencher. "I like to say that we're your home office away from home."
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Rencher said freelancers, entrepreneurs and small business owners have been connecting, collaborating and coworking at Ironfire since 2017.
Earlier this year, Rencher said the coronavirus pandemic impacted Ironfire in a big way.
"By the beginning of April, we've lost over half of our members," Rencher said. "Overall, we lost 70 plus-percent of our revenue if you compare February to April."
In June, the City of Long Beach announced its Open Streets initiative, waiving permit fees for restaurants and other businesses to build parklets in public spaces as a way to increase seating capacity while maintaining social distance.
Rencher jumped on the opportunity.
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"I got approved two days later, despite being the only non-restaurant in Long Beach to have been approved," he said.
In early August, the city set up barricades in front of the Lakewood Village location. Rencher and his team installed turf, WiFi and canopies.
"It's been a buzzworthy addition to Ironfire and it's something that's encouraged people to come back to who are a little bit hesitant to be indoors in a shared space right now," he said.
Rencher said the indoor offices are open at limited capacity while enforcing social distancing and sanitizing protocols. As for the future, the CEO remains hopeful.
"I'm very confident that post-pandemic, there's going to be more remote workers than ever before on a permanent basis," Rencher said. "My hope is that Ironfire can ride out this low time and still be around when that wave comes back."
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