North Shore Resident Opens Coworking Space in Downtown Highland Park

Mark Rosen wants you to work in his office.

No, he doesn't want you to work for him. The Deerfield resident has opened up an office space in downtown Highland Park that he hopes will appeal to the growing number of people who work full-time jobs remotely.

"It's hard to have meaningful social interaction when you're working from home," Rosen explained from the space on Wednesday. "It's nice when you have two people sitting here working."

The new space, called Plugin, boasts a conference room, workspaces with wireless internet and outlets, a coffee lounge and an expansive view of Laurel Avenue.

Now all it needs is members.

Rosen got the idea for Plugin shortly after he sold his last venture, Sugar River Cheese Company. He worked as a consultant for some time, but began to feel isolated working from home.

"Working at home doing consulting was not as fun as when I had my business," Rosen said. "I happened upon the whole concept of co-working."

Co-working in this sense refers to people who don't work for the same company sharing an office. It's a trend that's been picking up steam in New York and along the West Coast for years. 

Rosen wants to bring it to the suburbs of Chicago.

"All these people are doing this in the city and I see a suburban dynamic that I think would work," Rosen explained.

Rosen wants to create a setting that's warm and inviting for people to work in. He wants to create a setting where people who work in different areas will feel comfortable asking each other for suggestions or advice.

"you create a little ecosystem here," Rosen said. "It's a missed opportunity if you're working from home."

Rosen also believes that the clean workspace away from the distractions of a home or cafe will encourage members to work more efficiently.

"I assume everyone has a home office, so I'm not trying to replace it, just trying to augment it," Rosen said.

Membership prices range from $100 to $250 a month, according to Plugin's website. Rosen wants the space to be successful because it's a business he's invested time, energy and funds into. But he says that's not the only reason he'd like to see it work. He likes the idea of helping people to establish new connections that will help them do their jobs better, and consequently make them more better off than they would have been. He doesn't want Plugin to just be a short-term convenience for members; he wants it to be long-term investment.

"if I'm successful it means a lot of peoples lives are a little better or a lot better," Rosen said. "I would really like to do that."

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