Station211

We believe that society is facing unprecedented economic, environmental, social and cultural challenges. We also believe that new innovations are the key to turning these challenges into opportunities to improve our community.


WHY DOES SOMERSET NEED STATION 211

Coworking is redefining the way we do work. Inspired by the participatory culture of the open source movement and the empowering nature of IT, we will be building a more sustainable future. We will be a connected group of people with small businesses helping to create an economy of innovation and creativity in our communities and worldwide. We envision a new economic engine composed of collaboration and community, in contrast to the silos and secrecy of the 19th/20th century economy.

Somerset, KY has been going through a new birth of innovation, and the younger generation is beginning to take leadership roles throughout the community. And with the changes that are going on in the way people like to work, Somerset is in great need for a central location for these entrepreneurs to grow their businesses without the pressure of large overhead expenses.


THE VALUE/THE CODE OF CONDUCT OF THE COMMUNITY OF STATION 211

Somerset has the talent. We just need a place to work together. Different environments need to overlap, to connect and to interact in order to transform our culture. In order to create a sustainable community based on trust.

How are we going to do this? By following what we value most:
* collaboration over competition
* community over agendas
* participation over observation
* doing over saying
* friendship over formality
* boldness over assurance
* learning over expertise
* people over personalities
* "value ecosystem" over "value chain"

This new economy cannot thrive without engaging the larger business, creative, entrepreneurial, governmental, non governmental and technical communities together.


THE FUTURE

We believe that innovation breeds innovation. Our goal is to transform the Somerset culture into one supportive of the entrepreneurial spirit, of risk taking, of pioneering into the unknown territories as the great leaders of our times. This requires education, entrepreneurship and a large network of creative workspaces.

Our goal is to reshape the economy and our society through social entrepreneurship and innovation. We are coming together to rebuild more human scale, networked, and sustainable economies to build a better community, and increase the value of Downtown Somerset.


THE THREE DEFINING FACTORS OF DEVELOPING THE COMMUNITY OF STATION 211

The kind of community we’re working towards building functions more like an organism than an organization. This kind of community is more like an ecosystem than a network of shared resources. This kind of community expresses understanding amongst its members, rather than relying on consensus.

“…real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” -Margaret J. Wheatley

We have defined the three factors of STATION211's successful community as:
1) Participation, 2) Relationships, and 3) Empathy.