CINCINNATI — As the public health emergency surrounding COVID-19 officially ends on Thursday, businesses are working to get back into the office. One Cincinnati business is opening a new office after leaving theirs in 2020.
What You Need To Know
- YARD & Company is re-entering the office space after the pandemic forced them out of their downtown space in 2020
- Right now, employees are working at home or in a co-working space
- The new building, located in Over-The-Rhine, is being developed in partnership with 3CDC
- The hope for the new office is to be a collaborative and creative space
Walking into Andre Johnson’s apartment, it’s more than just his home.
“This is my work-from-home space," Johnson said.
Johnson has been working from his couch since joining YARD & Company, a local urban growth firm. While working from home has its perks, he said there are definitely some disadvantages.
“There’s a lot of nice perks to it," Johnson said. "Like I can wake up at like 8 o’clock and get to work, you know, like half a hour or later or something like that. But there are a lot of, especially in our industry and the kind of work that we do, there’s a lot of downsides to working from home. Like I can’t yell over my should like ‘Hey Joe, I have. Question about this little thing.’”
But he makes sure to stay on track by working on models to help communities thrive.
But soon- Johnson will be able to walk to his new office- just a couple of blocks from his Over-the-Rhine apartment.
“I’ll be walking every day," he said.
That walk- just about 10 minutes at a leisurely pace through his urban neighborhood, will be his new normal.
Working in an office is something the company moved away from during the pandemic, like most businesses. But now, they’re bringing work back to the office. According to a recent survey by The Conference Board, just 5% of CEOs are making returning to the office a priority this year. But for Co-Founder of YARD & Company, Joe Nickol, many factors allowed them to build out this new space.
“We’re not looking to go all the way back to the way things were in 2019," Nickol said. "We’re creating this reality great meet-up spot where our team, our partners, can come together on a regular basis both in planned and unplanned ways to make our work happen. We’re a group that thrives when we’re together.”
This space is being designed with collaboration and creativity in mind. And Nickol says doing it in OTR where people like Johnson lives is the future of business.
“We’re leaving this era of the central business district being where all the offices are and then we go back home at night and we do something completely different," Nickol said. "The last three years have shown us that work and home life are braided together in all sorts of new ways.”
For Johnson, taking in his new office and knowing he will soon work alongside his co-workers makes him hopeful for what’s coming.
The YARD & Company office is expected to open in July, with space for local pop-up shops and collaboration space for their partners.