For Convene co-founder and CEO Ryan Simonetti, saying the past few months have been difficult and challenging for the company would be an understatement.
“It’s been emotional,” Simonetti told Bisnow.
New York-based Convene was the first coworking and flex office provider to close its locations in March as the coronavirus pandemic spread. Competitor WeWork remained open.
Without revenue coming in, the company made a swift decision to lay off and furlough more than 400 employees and cut costs. It also immediately worked to renegotiate its leases and applied for and received a loan from the Paycheck Protection Program. Simonetti said the company will gradually bring its staff back as it continues to reopen its spaces. He did not disclose how many will come back.
Simonetti would also not disclose how much money the company received from the PPP, saying only that he believes they were eligible for the max amount, which is $10M. A Convene spokeswoman later said, "Convene applied for the loan but at this time we cannot confirm what was approved."
It is unclear if Convene's major rival companies such as WeWork, Knotel and Industrious applied and received money from the PPP. Neither WeWork, Knotel nor Industrious replied to Bisnow requests for comment by press time.
“I think it’s easy to get deer in headlights and easy to pretend that this isn’t happening, [but] accepting the reality of the situation and being decisive and making tough decisions quickly is something that I’m proud of our team from top to bottom for doing," Simonetti said.
Founded in 2009, Convene branded itself as a hospitality company that services and manages a building partner's meeting, events and some office spaces. In 10 years, the private company had raised more than $260M from investors such as Blackrock, Brookfield Properties, ArrowMark Partners, RXR Realty and Elysium Management.
Bloomberg said the company was worth more than $500M. In a profile published on Crain's New York Business last year, the company had more than 600 employees and a projected revenue of $125M.
Now, three months after the coronavirus forced Convene to close its flex offices, and now that states have begun reopening, the workplace solutions provider said it is looking to revive its flex office, meetings and events business.
Simonetti and Convene Global Chief Operating and Chief People Officer Amy Pooser discussed with Bisnow on Wednesday the company's reopenings, what Convene flex offices will look like during the coronavirus, the future of coworking and how the company has been able to navigate through this crisis.
Reopening
Prior to the coronavirus, Convene was on track to another profitable year, Simonetti said. The company had 10 coworking spots nationwide and an additional 22 locations where it manages or leases a building's meetings, events spaces and even cafés. When the coronavirus hit and after learning of a confirmed case in one of its New York coworking spaces, Convene closed all of its locations to slow the spread of the virus.
Simonetti said that since then Convene has overhauled its spaces and updated its operating standards to ensure employees’, members’ and guests’ health and well-being.