This month, islander Tina Shattuck announced the opening of Synergy Vashon, the island’s only formal co-working space.

Located behind Herban Bloom near the Department of Licensing, it offers hourly, daily, and monthly office rental spaces for all islanders who identify as women.

Shattuck is leading the business with collaboration from islander Shauna Ahern. Open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays, Synergy has multiple options for clients, including shared and private workspaces.

Coworking as a concept began informally in the late 1990s and became popular in the United States in the last decade. Technically, it’s the use of an office or other working environment by people who are self-employed or working for different employers to share equipment, ideas, and knowledge.

Shattuck sees the concept in much broader terms.

“At this point in the COVID pandemic, we felt an intrinsic need to not be alone in our homes, working by ourselves all day,” she said, explaining the inspiration for the business. We knew that if we felt isolated and lonely, and honestly didn’t want to look at our own dirty kitchens, [then] other women felt the same way. Sometimes just to be around other folks while doing your own work makes you feel connected.”

Synergy provides basic office supplies to users, as well as the familiar coffee, tea, water and snacks that people working from home might miss outside the office. It also boasts “fantastic WiFi,” according to Shattuck.

The space itself is designed to be inviting and will feature a rotating quarterly gallery of local artists.

Shattuck and Ahern also plan to add a women’s lending library, weekly round tables, and additional opportunities to meet and connect — including free first Fridays, with space offered at no charge on the first Friday of each month.

Both Shattuck and Ahern are enthusiastic about the possibilities created by the women-focused concept.

For Shattuck, who is also the executive director of Mukai Farm and Garden, the model is a natural fit. She also runs the Women Hold the Key and Female Founders Forum initiatives on Vashon.

The business’s name, “synergy,” seems more than just a buzzword for the entrepreneur.

“Most of the work I do relates to women and those who identify as female,” Shattuck said. “There are so few spaces that are reserved just for us. My mission is to create more places [where] women can feel safe, supported, and powerful. Women are connectors and community builders, so the opportunity to be able to be in community, for support, was as much of a motivator as having a space.”

Newcomers to the business are invited to work free for two hours to try the concept. There’s also the option to take advantage of “Free Fridays,” when spaces are available at no charge on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Synergy Vashon will celebrate its opening on Friday, Nov. 4, with a First Friday evening reception to welcome all.