Oskey, 35, is president and co-founder of Affinity Lab, a small-business incubator with locations in Adams Morgan and on U Street.
What does Affinity Lab do?
We provide shared office space for small businesses, nonprofits and entrepreneurs. We focus on the infrastructure so the business can focus on their actual business. We provide desk space as well as just a place to sit and plug in your laptop.
Why does small business need Affinity?
It’s challenging to start your own business just on the level of pulling together the money you need and the people you need. Then you have to manage the infrastructure of getting a copy machine, a fax machine, finding office space with conference rooms. On top of just trying to manage your business it’s quite bit.
So you provide a desk?
Some businesses just need a place to work during the day, have a place to meet clients and a place to print documents and receive packages. For them to go out and get an office space is completely cost prohibitive.
Sounds like close quarters?
We provide a shared community. The businesses get access to other businesses. They share clients. They share resources. They pitch clients together.
What types of businesses sign up?
We have Web development, nonprofit executives, PR firms, branding firms, marketers, several real estate agents, writers, journalists, urban artists. We have 4,000 square feet on U Street and about 3,000 square feet up in Adams Morgan.
You started in Web development?
You don’t need a lot of space, but you need high speed Internet and you need a desk and copy and printing. We ended up starting this company because we found an amazing office space and wanted to share it with other companies who needed office space and wanted to work together.
Michael Neibauer
