BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Renovations are nearly complete at the historic 1701 building across from the Padre. The tech company Bitwise creates buildings in what they call “underdog” cities.
“The reason we say that is they’re just really nontraditional tech towns,” said Bitwise Bakersfield vice president Amy Thelen.
Thelen said they have three lines of business.
“One is our workforce element which is aimed at really educating people [on] tech and bringing people into the tech industry,” she said.
Second is tech consulting.
“You come to us as a business and say, ‘I have X problem. I want you to build a website. I want you to build an app. I want you to do data integration.’ Really, we can handle anything tech related," said Thelen.
Companies can rent out offices or you can work on your own in shared spaces. Thelen said it’s a place to gather with others and share creative ideas.
“There's just this crazy energy. Like you walk into a building, you hear people talking, you hear creative ideas going back and forth, you see collaboration, and you immediately just get energized walking into one of our buildings," she said.
There will also be rental spaces for events and a tap room open to the public. Classes are also offered and anyone is welcome to sign up.
“We want to give the cities that we’re in new opportunity and a new industry for anybody here to enter into without having to go to Silicon Valley,” said Thelen.
A second building is currently under construction and will have even bigger shared spaces, a full bar and an arcade. Thelen said she hopes Bitwise can inspire other tech companies to come to Bakersfield, providing even more jobs and opportunities.
“We want to see start ups happening. We want to [see] cutting edge technology. We want to [see] things that may not have existed in our communities come up and we want to help [make] that happen,” she said.
An official opening date will be determined soon based on COVID-19 protocols but right now, classes are virtual and you can reach out about renting space for yourself or your business. Click here to learn more.
