Innovative Organization of the Week
Zach Luse
Founder of NEWT
In A Nutshell . . . Tell Us About Your Startup Resource.
The New England Web & Tech Collective (NEWT) is a group of web developers, designers, internet marketers and app developers working together to develop their skills, innovate and inspire each other.
At the center of NEWT is a shared office and co-working space that gives people and organizations the tools needed to be successful in this industry, like high speed fiber optic internet access, meeting rooms and a really cool space to gather and share ideas.
What niche are you filling?
We provide educational programs, collaborative projects, free meeting space for web and tech meetups/user groups and networking opportunities for internet related industries in southwest New Hampshire.
We started NEWT a little over a year ago when Paragon Digital Marketing moved into our new space. We had more space than we needed and many of our resources weren’t fully utilized. So in the spirit of the new sharing economy, we really wanted to help enable others to succeed with these resources. If we had empty desks or our space was empty at night, I figured, why not encourage others to use these resources. If we can help individuals and small companies in related fields, it benefits the community as a whole.
We launched our first project, “Put Keene on the Map” in collaboration with The Keene Downtown Group and Google. Put Keene on the Map was an effort to make sure small local businesses aren’t left behind in the new mobile world we live in and visitors to Keene can easily discover all the great businesses on Main Street. Volunteers and Paragon staff assisted Main Street businesses to claim and complete their Google listings and then photographed the interior of their business with a streetview camera. The interior streetviews were added to Google Maps for nearly all of the businesses on Main Street. This was an exciting project and we all learned a lot in the process. We are looking to expand the concept beyond Main Street and help other NH towns with similar projects. We created a video that explains the importance of this project and added a list of all the Main Street businesses that NEWT helped on our site:
Who or what was your best resource in helping your program get off the ground?
My staff at Paragon Digital Marketing invested much time and expertise to get NEWT off the ground. Paragon’s staff hosts events, finds partners for events and coordinates projects. So I think my dedicated staff, who invested greatly in NEWT, and NEWT members have been our best resources.
What does the future look like?

We hope to continue our efforts to make the Monadnock Region a hub for digital tech, digital marketing and digital media. We’ve hosted some great events that brought together people from all over New England and hope to continue the momentum by expanding our partnerships with local schools and other New England organizations. We’d also like to encourage the use of our space for displaying art that utilizes technology and are exploring partnerships in this area.
How can people get involved?
Sign up for our email updates at webtechcollective.com.

We also have a fun space with very flexible coworking memberships and are looking for more web and tech related businesses to share the space. Our space includes indoor bike parking, lockers, a shower, full kitchen, a giant bean bag relaxation room, living room area, access to a large conference room and meeting spaces, free Prime Roast coffee (roasted right around the corner), local beers on tap and much more. You may also encounter the occasional Nerf war when visiting NEWT, new employees and coworking members are armed with a free Nerf gun when they start. Since we spend so much time at work, I think we should try to have fun whenever we can and the space is setup to encourage fun.