October 2015 October 2015 | Page 12

Each morning, Joe Morrison arrives at his workspace, cup of coffee in hand. He greets his fellow workers, fires up his laptop, and settles in to send emails. A typical morning for many professionals, with one key difference: Joe is a freelancer. Ten months ago he left his job managing the 49th State Angel Fund at the Municipality of Anchorage to launch Biz21 Consulting and has been blazing forward ever since. Case in point: just a few weeks ago the Small Business Administration announced that Launch: Alaska – a non-profit, experience-based business accelerator with underlying investment fund helmed by Joe in a volunteer capacity – won $50,000 via the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.

Although Joe chooses to work from the Boardroom (he cites the Class A office space, attractive décor, and sense of community as selling points…. the free coffee and beer probably don’t hurt either), he could work anywhere: his kitchen table, a nearby coffee shop, or an Airstream trailer somewhere along Highway 65. Joe isn’t alone – the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that the number of self-employed workers in the United States has increased by one million during the last year (now totaling 15.5 million), and Emergent Research estimates that 60 million people will be independent workers by 2020.

Talent making, coworking, & Freelancing in anchorage