New coworking business offers a desk for anyone

As a remote business owner, Drew Fortner realized he could do his job from anywhere with a solid internet connection.

So he chose Whitefish.

Now, he’s opened Basecamp Whitefish, which caters to the fellow digital workers he thinks will make the same decision. Basecamp is located in the old Masonic temple building above Loula’s, in the office space formerly occupied by Old Towne Creative.

Basecamp offers a productive workspace for remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs or even anyone passing through needing a desk. The coworking idea stuck with Fortner and his wife, Petra, after discovering it in Prague.

“That was a large inspiration. There was a sense of community, it was an interesting mix of remote workers, freelancers, entrepreneurs — everyone kind of carving out their own lifestyle, all under one roof,” Fortner said. “I always liked the concept. I was hoping one would open in Whitefish, and by the time I bought this space and it was bigger than we needed, it was like, ‘Why don’t we just launch it?’”

Basecamp offers dedicated desks for $325 a month, which includes access seven days a week, dedicated locked storage, kitchen access and guest passes.

Hot desks, more open and informal spaces, start at $200 a month, and full private offices at $600 a month.

Fortner admits the coworking idea is still new to many locations, including Montana.

However, he thinks as remote work becomes more popular in the digital age, more people will choose to make their living in beautiful locations like Whitefish.

“It’s definitely a newer concept for a lot of people. I think it’s something that’s kind of borne out of the digital age, where you have more and more people that are kind of working on their own terms. A lot of people have the ability to work remotely, and I think a lot of those people land in a place like Whitefish. Because if you can live wherever, why not?” he said.

A dedicated coworking space also has advantages over buying a 12-ounce coffee and working a full eight hours at a local café, Fortner says.

“It’s a quieter environment,” he said. “The things we promote are having the business amenities if someone needs them — we’ve got a fiber optic line installed to the building so we have super fast internet, we still provide coffee and that kind of stuff but we have printing services and a quiet place to sit down and not feel like you’re kind of taking advantage of the place.”

Basecamp opened its doors in September with a soft opening, but will hold an open house Nov. 9 for a more formal community welcome.

“Anybody and everybody is invited,” Fortner said. “It’s really going to be a way to introduce ourselves to the community once and for all and answer questions for people who don’t know what coworking is and hopefully get them in here.”

For more information, visit basecampwhitefish.com