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While working with nonprofit organizations, Ryan Wilson says he kept running into the same problem: There never seemed to be enough workspace.

Wilson and business partner, TK Petersen, co-founded The Gathering Spot, a private membership club that goes beyond a shared work environment.

“What I saw in the co-working business is that it didn’t have all of the services I would want in a space,” Wilson explained during an interview on Atlanta Business Chronicle’s BIZ television show. “The Gathering Spot today has co-working, restaurant and bar and event space under the same roof.”

Metro Atlanta ranks fifth in the nation for shared office space. Thanks to an increasing number of entrepreneurs and technology workers, Atlanta is on pace to have more than one million square feet of co-working space this year.

With a variety of co-working options available in the area, Wilson says he learned early that The Gathering Spot would have to be different.

“It’s really about the community of people that are at The Gathering Spot. You’ll see a little bit of everybody,” Wilson said. “Our youngest member is 25. Our oldest member is Ambassador [Andrew] Young. We’re interested in what you do professionally. But also what you do everywhere else. That provides a whole world of possibilities when you dive into our membership because we’re working with some of the most interesting people in Atlanta.”

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