On Monday, July 18th, representatives from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) attended a ribbon cutting in Olde Towne Portsmouth to celebrate the opening of Bloom, a nonprofit co-working space founded by the Portsmouth Partnership. Their mission is to strengthen Portsmouth’s business community by empowering the entrepreneurs and innovators who drive economic growth.

Bloom’s location, at 739 High Street, in the historic Montgomery Square Building, was previously home to Blumberg’s Department Store. The blighted building, which had been unoccupied for over twenty (20) years, has transformed into a vibrant, community co-working space allowing Bloom to offer thirty (30) additional private offices and expand their services to over 100 start-ups/microbusinesses.

Multiple state resources supported this project, including $100,000 from DHCD’s Virginia Statewide Business District Resurgence Grant and $197,000 from the GOVA Regional Economic Resilience and Recovery Program. These grant funds supported the renovation of the co-working space and provided subsidized rent and wraparound supportive services and technical assistance to underserved business owners that call Bloom home.

Photo Credit (Bloom Logo): https://bloomcoworking.org/