The Southeastern Utah Business and Technical Assistance Center (BTAC) is open for business. The BTAC recently received grant funding from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development through the Rural Coworking and Innovation Center Grant Program. Other philanthropic organizations also contributed, including the Sorenson Legacy Foundation and The George S. and Dolores Dore’ Eccles Foundation. These funds have combined to create a revitalized and techy environment for the new coworking space located at 375 South Carbon Avenue in Price, Utah.

The BTAC now offers one day, week long and monthly subscriptions to the coworking space in addition to the leasable office space in the building. Amenities include free parking, security, a professional business address, 24-hour access, fiber internet, mail service, printing service, phone booths, an event space, conference meeting rooms, easy monthly billing and a coworking lounge. The general public can rent conference rooms or the large event space for half or full day events.

What does the future look like for the BTAC? More improvements and amenities are planned for the building. Presently, the restrooms are getting a makeover to be more user friendly with touchless fixtures and a modern design. Even more exciting is the current renovation of the kitchen space located at the BTAC. It is in the works to become a commercial kitchen that can be leased by the day or week for those aspiring culinary entrepreneurs within the community that have a recipe they want to make and sell.

Other enhancements in the works include partnerships with other coworking spaces within Utah, training events for entrepreneurs and new businesses, an A-Z business resource alliance to foster growth, business mentoring, virtual reality room, homework hub and more.

This article is brought to you in part by the Utah Coal Country Strike Team (coalcountrystriketeam.com) and Silicon Slopes East (siliconslopeseast.com), which is a chapter of Silicon Slopes (siliconslopes.com).

The Business Technical Assistance Center (BTAC) debuted its new co-working space to the community following a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday afternoon.

Led by the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce, Carbon County Commissioner Larry Jensen and Price City Manager Nick Tatton shared the golden scissors as they snipped the ribbon.

Michael Bryant of the Southeastern Utah Association of Local Governments then led those in attendance on a tour throughout the remote work hub/co-working space. The center features a remote work lounge, a board meeting space, a large meeting space and privacy cubicles. By the end of 2021, the BTAC aims to have a commercial kitchen constructed to accommodate more startup businesses.

Members of the community are able to use the hub with the ability to rent spaces on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

By Kade Lyons

The BTAC’s remote work hub/co-working space is open for business now with a grand opening soon to follow. The remote work hub includes daily, weekly and monthly rentals of the location’s services as well as storage lockers, a large meeting space, a conference room and privacy cubicle rental. By the end of 2021, the BTAC will have a commercial kitchen constructed to accommodate more startup businesses.

Remote Work Lounge

Comfort is the key to the remote work lounge. The lounge has an open layout with relaxed seating and built in laptop desks. Power for your laptop or phone won’t be a concern with the numerous power outlets lining the walls that include USB ports built in. A 70” screen TV is mounted on the eastern wall for tenant enjoyment. Remember, if you plan on watching TV, please be mindful of anyone else taking advantage of the lounge. A communal bulletin board is available in the lounge for community and business advertising usage.

Board Meeting Space

The board meeting space is suitable for up to 12 individuals. Modular desks are available to make sure the space isn’t too crowded and to meet social distancing needs. The large TV is available for adding virtual attendees to your meetings and for presentations. Reserving the board meeting space is on a first come, first serve basis.

Large Meeting Space

If you are holding a large training or seminar with upwards of 50 attendees, the BTAC can accommodate you in the large meeting space it has available. Access to a host of desks, chairs and a projector will be of a benefit to any use you are looking for. The large meeting space also has direct access from Carbon Avenue with a nearby entrance to load and unload any equipment that you wish to bring. As with the board meeting space, reservations are on a first come, first serve basis.

Privacy Cubicles

When privacy is your big need, the 20 ft² privacy cubicles are the way to go. Each cubicle is set up with a desk and power outlet, again with USB ports, and a door for privacy. The privacy cubicle area also has a communal bulletin board that can be used the same way as the remote work hub bulletin board. The privacy cubicle area has two access points, one being through the board meeting space and the other entering through a hallway in the center of the building.

The BTAC is running a discounted promotional rate to begin usage of the remote work hub. The promotional daily rate is $5, weekly rate is $15 and monthly rate is $50. Students may use the space for free beyond the promotion. You may find the regular rates as well as feature list for each rate at btac.business/pricing.

Applications for the space may be filled out online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe_ZaoXeQWqDBeg8GJByJZJ__856t71LtwdgUUO2g4acISbJA/viewform

Silicon Slopes East has been hard at work to create a co-working space within the Business and Technical Assistance Center (BTAC) in Price. This project is being made possible by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED). BTAC Manager Michael Bryant stated that the progress is going well and it is anticipated for the Price location to be completed within the next two or three weeks.

In the space, there will be five privacy booths and 12 lounge chairs with tablet desks. In addition, there will be 20 rolling fold-up tables for various configurations of work settings as well as a lounge area and a small conference room that accommodates eight to 10 people, or four to six with social distancing. A larger meeting room will also be constructed to accommodate 50 to 60 individuals.

Bryant stated that the project is anticipated to be available fully within the next two or three weeks, with hopes of scheduling a grand opening in August. However, at this time, that date is yet to be determined.

The privacy booths will feature a counter-top with power for devices as well as a desk chair and door. The lounge area will feature lounge chairs and tablet desks as well as customizable rolling tables and a large screen television. Additionally, the conference room will have tables, chairs and a large television.

“We plan to have a homework hub and virtual reality room. The large meeting room has folding chairs and rolling tables. Other features will be added in the future too, such as printing, scanning, copying,” Bryant stated.

The fees for using the space will be utilized through a flexible schedule with daily, weekly and monthly rates.

The BTAC is located at 375 South Carbon Avenue in Price. For more information on the upcoming space, please call (435) 613-0035.

By Kade Lyons

Co-working spaces are already well established throughout the nation, and now we have an option in Eastern Utah. The Business and Technical Assistance Center (BTAC), located at 375 South Carbon Ave. in Price, has been working to develop a co-working space/homework hub for the area’s residents and visitors alike. This space is being provided by Utah’s Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

Co-working spaces are a product of the modern era; all that is needed is a WiFi connection and a professional work space. As many people are working remotely due to recent restrictions related to COVID-19, remote work and co-working are likely to become even more prevalent in the future as both people and organizations understand the benefits and ease of working remotely.

“The location will include privacy booths, a conference room, a large meeting room space/homework hub and a networking lounge,” Michael Bryant, Manager of the BTAC, said. “The BTAC is an ideal location for our co-working space since it is centrally located in downtown Price and it already has leasable office space for local businesses.”

The privacy booths are intended to give quick and easy access to private work space for a single person. There will be storage space lockers to rent adjacent to the privacy booths. Each of these booths will contain its own power and access to WiFi with desk working space.

The conference room will be able to accommodate approximately 8-10 people and will be located near the privacy booths. The large meeting space has a room capacity of 60 occupants with an entrance fronting on Carbon Avenue and will double as a homework hub for local students to study and work together on projects. There are plans to add additional technology features such as video conferencing, projectors and desktop computers for the homework hub.

The networking lounge will be a relaxed, open environment with comfortable seating and access to WiFi, power and optional desk space. Future plans include a WiFi enabled copy machine, potential beverage and snack machines, an online payment portal, and 24-hour building access.

The BTAC’s upcoming co-working space is an excellent fit within the Silicon Slopes East network. Silicon Slopes East is a branch of Silicon Slopes, which is a Utah-based organization designed to grow Utah’s tech presence. Silicon Slopes East events will be hosted in the networking lounge or large meeting room.

Co-working in Eastern Utah is just one element of the economic shift that is taking place. Others include manufacturing expansions, aviation education through USU Eastern and fiber networking options to each home and business in the region. Eastern Utah is a great place for an active lifestyle that is also suitable to the working professional.

The technological infrastructure of the region is on par with, and even surpasses, that of much larger urban areas. Remote work is the way of the future and Eastern Utah is primed to embrace it.