Harrisonburg coworking hub slated to open in December

UPDATED NOV. 1

James Madison University in Harrisonburg has long wanted to be more involved with innovation and entrepreneurship in the Shenandoah Valley region. So, when a co-founder of the Staunton Innovation Hub coworking space announced plans in 2022 to renovate the historic Wetsel Seed building into the Harrisonburg Innovation Hub (HIH), JMU pre-leased 1,000 square feet of flex space there, says Keith Holland, the university’s associate vice provost for research and innovation.

“We love the principle of what they’re doing, creating community, supporting innovators,” he says. “We said, ‘We need to be part of that.’”

JMU was the first to sign up for space in the HIH, which is set to open Dec. 2. The three-story, 26,500-square-foot brick building includes 53 private offices, plus larger private spaces, conference rooms, coworking spaces, focus rooms for private calls, a wellness room and an outdoor workspace.

Part of “the magic” of these spaces is that they attract people from a diverse cross-section of industries, says Peter Denbigh, co-founder and co-owner of HIH. “And the other magic that it creates is the camaraderie and the conversation that happens and the collaboration.”

Tenants can sign up for multiyear or month-to-month memberships that include free coffee, happy hours and lunch-and-learn sessions in partnership with organizations like the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund.

Denbigh, who co-founded the Staunton hub in 2018, says Harrisonburg was chosen because it’s “just a wonderful, thriving town of energy and entrepreneurship and innovation and business. It just made a lot of sense to be here.”

JMU will use its space for the Gilliam Center for Entrepreneurship, the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center and the Shenandoah Valley Partnership. The university is also working with its College of Visual and Performing Arts to demonstrate “how to inject creativity into the business and innovation process,” Holland says.

HIH is managed by Innovation Management, a separate entity from the Staunton hub’s management, but members will have some privileges at both locations. A group of investors purchased the Wetsel Seed building for $2.88 million, spending more than $2 million on renovations. 

Next up is a location in Waynesboro, slated to open by the end of this year, Denbigh says. “We’re renting a really cool space in the Virginia Metalcrafters building, and we’re excited to bring some of this magic to Waynesboro.”