Entrepreneurship will be one of the founding principles of the brand new COhatch The Gateway location. We want to help to empower self-starters and innovators to create what they are passionate about and give them the space and tools they need. With that said, OCEAN programs, a nonprofit organization that originally started in Cincinnati, fits right in with COhatch The Gateway, so we decided to give them a shout to learn more about what they’re up to.

OCEAN started as a casual group of entrepreneurs that were members of Crossroads Church in Cincinnati. They would meet 1-2 times a week to network, talk through their own business problems, and create connections within their community. Crossroads Church took notice of the group and felt called to support them in various ways. Since they already had the meeting aspect and a location squared away, they wanted to create programs and support the surrounding community. The group’s focus then became on providing their entrepreneurs with business skills, new ways to cope with entrepreneurial mental health issues, and an integration of faith and sense of self into everything they were doing.

Seven years later, OCEAN has created two programs to give entrepreneurs the skills and mindset they need to be successful. OCEAN’s High Tech Accelerator is a 16-week program focused on early-stage, pre-scale venture backable startups. The Accelerator program connects founders with fellow cohort members, mentors, investors, and multiple start-up ecosystems. Founders present their product to potential investors in a public Demo Day at the end of the program. Their second program, the Genesis Entrepreneur is a 9 week virtual training program that is designed to help main street and small business entrepreneurs develop solid business strategies. This program has grown over the past year, training entrepreneurs from California to Florida and Cleveland to Dallas .

COhatch The Gateway perfectly fits into OCEAN’s entrepreneurial vision of helping small businesses and self-starters to work through problems and create better and innovative businesses. Because we are so passionate about what OCEAN is doing, COhatch is working in collaboration with OCEAN to create a scholarship program for their High-Tech Accelerator Program for entrepreneurs who are interested in scaling their business. “We are so excited to be a part of this new space serving entrepreneurs in Columbus. COhatch The Gateway is going to be intentional with entrepreneurship, which aligns perfectly with our organization,” Christy Johnson, OCEAN’s Vice President of Marketing, said. We hope that as COhatch The Gateway grows, we will continue to grow OCEAN’s programs and provide scholarships to many of our members.

Learn More About OCEAN

OCEAN is a non-profit that serves entrepreneurs by providing access to training, community, and a foundation of faith on which to launch new organizations. To learn more about their mission and what they’re up to, find their website here:

https://oceanprograms.com/our-story/

Learn More About COhatch The Gateway

The newest Columbus location will have nearly 8,000 sq. ft. of workspace, including 21 private offices, more than 100 coworking seats and six meeting rooms. COhatch’s to-be-named Start-Up Orchestrator will work to connect development experts, impact investment partners, accelerator programs, women and minority start-ups and university resources.

Learn More About COhatch

COhatch, a new kind of shared work, social, and family space built on community, offers members the services, activities, and amenities to live a fully integrated life that balances work, family, well-being, community and giving back. Founded in 2016, COhatch was created through the collaboration of a group of friends who wanted to live out their ideal lives and improve their community — think Town Hall 2.0. COhatch has 10 open locations and 15 sites under construction nationwide in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Springfield, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; and St. Petersburg, West Tampa and Lakeland, Florida. Visit www.cohatch.com for more information. Follow COhatch on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.