Come Celebrate With Us!

Every October 12th, Facebook brings up photos and videos from our ribbon cutting event. And every year, it seems even more incredible that this project has continued to thrive and grow - with so much support from all of you! I hope you will join us for our birthday celebration this Saturday!

Opened in October 2018, The Space On Main (SOM) has helped more than 20,000 visitors realize that rural Vermont can provide everything they need to work and thrive here. SOM currently has 80 members, 50 of which access SOM on a regular basis in order to work remotely. Members include residents of Bradford, Fairlee, Vershire, Corinth, Ryegate, Groton, Newbury, West Fairlee, Haverhill, Piermont, and surrounding towns up to 45 minutes away. SOM is a nonprofit community workspace fostering entrepreneurship, collaboration, creativity, and innovation.

SOM is filled with a community of diverse entrepreneurs, remote workers, nonprofits, creatives, and students. More than just a coworking space, SOM brings opportunities to the community that are focused around creative economy, small business & entrepreneurship support, community/civic engagement, and technology. We would love to show you what we've been up to and how you can be a part of this transformational and evolving organization.

Please Help Us Celebrate Our Birthday!

Save Your Seat for Dinner & Live Music It’s been a minute (read: 4 years) since we’ve celebrated the opening of The Space On Main! Since opening, we’ve survived COVID, filled the space, and added a wide range of services and community offerings. As we head into our fifth year we want to share where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how you can be a part of The Space. On October 15th we will host a public Open House 12-3pm. That evening, we will host a tour, presentation, dinner, and live music starting at 5pm. We hope that you will join us. Limited to 50 people. To reserve your seat for the evening festivities, please purchase your ticket(s) here.

Evening Schedule:
5:00-5:30pm Live Music by North of Here
5:30-6:00pm Guided Tour of The Space On Main
6:00-7:00pm Dinner Buffet (Colatina Exit), Speakers, Q&A
7:00-8:00pm Dessert & Live Music by North of Here

Presenters (so far):
Board President, Brian Carroll
Board Member, Marvin Harrison
Matt & Thomas Nola, Business Cohort Participants
Micah Peters, Youth Programs Participant
Monique Priestley, Founder & Executive Director

Help Us Welcome New Board Members!

Every year, we bring on new board members with a variety of skills and backgrounds from Vermont, New Hampshire, and beyond (Washington). We recently expanded our board membership from 11 to 15 members. In addition, we have grown our finance committee and added committees focused on strategic partnerships and development. You can learn more about our wonderful board member at thespaceonmain.org/team.

What Have We Been Up To?

Youth Programming Minecraft Club kicked off at the end of last month with 16 students in Grades 3-5. Students will be exploring this building simulator as well as the Code Builder side of Minecraft Education Edition. Girls Who Code kicked off last weekend with 9 students in Grades 5-8. So far we have explored touch typing, controlling Sphero robots using code input, and Swift Playgrounds which teaches the primary language used to code iOS devices (i.e. iPhones). This week, we will explore web development, animation, and 2-D video game development. Brand New! We are currently exploring a partnership with the New Hampshire Academy of Science to bring their Introduction to Scientific Method courses to Bradford in the form of afterschool and summer programs.

Business Programming RISE: Core Cohort #5 kicked off its first week (of ten) with 12 entrepreneurs, 90% of which identify as female (trending with our previous cohorts). Our cohort is made up of people from Bradford, Strafford, Ryegate, Newbury, Post Mills, and Corinth, Vermont as well as Pike, New Hampshire. Brand New! December 16+17, The Space On Main will pilot a 2-Day Business Planning Bootcamp, in partnership with CO.STARTERS. Applications for this offering will open soon!

All-Ages Board & Role Playing Games Meeples on Main Every last Sunday of the month we host a board game day 9am-9pm. This brings people of all ages together to explore brand new titles from around the world. Brand New! Last weekend we partnered with Border Board Games (a board gaming group from Derby, VT) to try hosting a Dungeons & Dragons Tournament. We had 25 people playing adventures together and plan to offer this event again on January 14th.

What's Up Next?

The Space On Main brings opportunities to the community that are focused around: creative economy (ART), small business & entrepreneurship support (BIZ), community/civic  engagement (COM), and technology/STEM (TEC). Reach out with any questions or to get involved!

The majority of our programming is free and open to the public. All indoor events require advanced registration. Visit thespaceonmain.org/programs to find registration links or for more information.

COM•TEC OCT 09 3:00pm KICKOFF of Girls Who Code (Grades 5-8)
BIZ•COM OCT 11 8:00am RISE & Shine for Entrepreneurs + Small Biz.
BIZ•COM OCT 12 9:00am KICKOFF of RISE: CORE Biz. Planning Cohort #5
COM OCT 15 12:00pm It's Our Birthday! Open House
COM OCT 15 5:00pm It's Our Birthday! Party
COM OCT 28 5:00pm Spooky Story Time & Costume Contest
COM OCT 30 9:00am Meeples On Main: All Day Board Games
BIZ•COM NOV 08 8:00am RISE & Shine for Entrepreneurs + Small Biz.
COM•ART NOV 10 5:00pm Music On Main: Music & Morsels
BIZ•ART NOV 12 11:00am Makers On Main: Artisan Market (Indoor)
BIZ NOV 16 5:00pm CWE Alternative Lending Panel
COM NOV 19 4:00pm Drag Queen Story Hour w/ Vittles & Star Cat Books
COM NOV 25 12:00pm Community Friendsgiving
COM NOV 27 9:00am Meeples On Main: All Day Board Games
BIZ•COM DEC 09 6:00pm RISE Networking Mixer
BIZ•ART DEC 10 11:00am Makers On Main: Artisan Market (Indoor)
BIZ•COM DEC 13 8:00am RISE & Shine for Entrepreneurs + Small Biz.
COM DEC 16 4:00pm Holiday Mixer for *SOM Members*
BIZ•COM DEC 16+17 RISE: Bootcamp (2-Day Business Planning Workshop)

TEC•COM SUNDAYS FALL '22  Minecraft Club (Grades 3-5)
TEC•COM•BIZ SUNDAYS FALL '22  Girls Who Code Club (Grades 5-8)
TEC•ART THURSDAYS 7pm  Code for Upper Valley (Code for America)