Co-Working Space Opens in Downtown Albany with a Focus on Government

The Bull Moose Club Offers 22 Office Spaces for Area Startups

From left: Matt Grattan, Francesca Pardi and Tom Nardacci at the Bull Moose Club's grand opening on Jan. 18.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Feb. 5, 2019) – A co-working space in downtown Albany will seek to attract the Capital Region’s political community.

The Bull Moose Club, right across from the Capitol Building at 150 State St, offers 22 offices across its 10,000-square-foot space. Additional conference and meeting rooms will help accommodate a wide range of technology startups, lobbyists, trade associations and advocacy groups, according to Tom Nardacci, founder and owner of the company.

At the company's grand opening on Jan. 18, Nardacci said he named the club as a tribute to former President Theodore Roosevelt’s Progressive Party, popularly known as the “Bull Moose Party,” in the hopes of facilitating a bipartisan dialogue and environment among the space’s occupants.

As CEO of Aurelius Coworks, a company that oversees the Bull Moose Club and the Troy Innovation Garage, as well as Gramercy Communications, Nardacci said the varied experience he has received throughout his career helped inform his goal of building a space for those engaged in the political and creative economy.

“My background in public relations, marketing and business gave me an understanding of creative agencies and creative sector jobs; I know what entrepreneurs go through when starting their own businesses,” he said. “Combined with my background in state government, I wanted to build a space for those who are not only directly tied to government, but also for those who want to develop startups that do business with government.”

The Bull Moose Club will host networking events, entrepreneurial workshops and other incubation programs throughout its first year, according to Nardacci.

Co-working spaces are essential to entrepreneurs’ success because they allow for the exchange of ideas, resources and best practices for their startups, said Matt Grattan, director of economic development at UAlbany who spoke at the January opening.

“You have to be around others to be able to problem-solve legal or financial problems, find support to generate the next sale, or simply bounce ideas around and receive different perspectives,” Grattan said. “The only way you’re going to be able to generate and create dynamic startup companies that attract capital is by working together, and it’s places like The Bull Moose Club that helps make that possible.”

Bull Moose Club is under pending-approval to be a partner of Innovate 518, the Capital Region’s Innovation Hot Spot and NYSTAR initiative managed by the University.

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