Award-winning business incubator Affinity Lab opens new space in the U Street corridor

Affinity Lab doubles its size in new location and reach to support member businesses and organizations

WASHINGTON DC – The city’s most nurturing environment for new businesses isn’t on K Street or in Georgetown. The top space for growing a business is at Affinity Lab, a workspace in Adams Morgan and now at its new location on U Street. Affinity Lab businesses and organizations thrive at an astounding rate. The success rate of member businesses and organizations housed at Affinity Lab is 82%, eight times the national average for new businesses.

"Affinity Lab has a unique model of bringing together diverse small businesses and organizations who work together, creating a new cooperative network that is greater than the sum of its parts," says Charles Planck, CEO of Affinity Lab. "That is the magic that makes our members thrive.”

Affinity Lab is expanding with a new space in the U Street corridor, at a spacious 4,000-square-foot location near popular shops, restaurants, nightclubs, art galleries, music venues, and the Green Line metro stop. The Affinity Lab is taking new member applications, and have already signed up five new members who will make the new location their office home. Affinity Lab staff will be giving tours to interested parties starting this week, and prospective members can take a day to "test drive" their new office home. New members will be welcomed into a community of established businesses and organizations that operate out of the Adams Morgan location. The U Street location was featured last week in the Washington Business Journal.

“We are investing in U Street in the same way that we’ve invested in Adams Morgan. We’re here to stay," says Planck. "In this tough economy, DC needs fresh approaches for job creation. Small businesses are job creation engines, driving our economy. What we know is that many new business are launched right out of peoples' homes. Affinity Lab will attract those U Street community members who need professional office space." Members rent space and share infrastructure, such as wifi and printers, for their office homes. Monthly rates are based on the space needed for a business, starting at $235 for a space to plug in a laptop, and $995 for full membership with a large desk and some storage.

“Affinity Lab members are diverse, and it's that strength in diversity that helps to foster success,” says Philippe Chetrit, Chief Operating Officer of Affinity Lab. “Affinity Lab members reflect the many faces of DC businesses." Affinity Lab at Adams Morgan is the office home for an author finishing his latest business book, a graphic designer who designs law school magazine layouts and album covers for music labels, a nonprofit that helps DC youth to stay in school and get a quality education, any business or non-profit leader who thrives on community. Everyday interactions at the Lab, often as simple as swiveling an office chair and asking a question to the businessperson renting the desk next to you, provide members with an open community of skills-sharing.

Affinity Lab was the winner of the 2009 PremierPlan Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Washington DC Economic Partnership. Part of the $100,000 loan is being used to launch the new Affinity Lab location.

Operating out of the hottest, most vivacious DC locations like the heart of Adams Morgan and the center of U Street is what gives Affinity Lab members the flare that they often need to stay inspired and stay active. This is the signature Affinity Lab approach to launching entrepreneurial ventures, getting a small nonprofit to grow, or giving a small company legs. The invigorating atmosphere inside the Lab is inspired by the energy of the neighborhoods outside the door.

“We are really a space for inspired, engaged people more than just businesses and organizations,” says Berit Oskey, President of Affinity Lab. “The Lab houses an ecosystem of professionals whose expertise, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial spirits complement each other. When people are able to derive knowledge and skills from the environment around them, they grow. It’s almost an organic process, and their businesses and organizations grow with them.”

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Tours of new space available