Designed by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.
The Loading Dock was founded by Philip Freeman, Founder and CEO of Murphy’s Naturals, in May 2016 out of a desire to bring together impact-minded leaders and entrepreneurs. When he began pursuing his entrepreneurial dreams, Philip worked out of his garage for 3 years to launch his first products. When it came time to leave his day time job and fully pursue Murphy’s Naturals, he needed a larger space to operate out of. His first official lease was a two year commitment - but within six months, his team outgrew their space. In order to accommodate the growing demand within the confines of a long-term lease, Murphy’s Naturals rented multiple storage units and subleased space from additional warehouses. Needless to say, it was time to pursue a much larger option, which led him to Dock 1053. The warehousing and office space available at this location moved his team from 2000sq ft of space to 20,000sq ft, leading to the birth of The Loading Dock community.
Philip saw the opportunity to create a shared workspace with the extra square footage at Dock 1053 that would provide coworking, office suites, cowarehousing and event space for a diverse set of companies and organizations in the Triangle. Philip knows firsthand the importance of flexibility in the early years of a company and wanted to design a workspace where entrepreneurs could learn, grow and flourish together, without the added stressors of long-term leases and exorbitant prices.
Our flagship campus at Dock 1053 was originally built as a regional distribution facility for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, in 1955. We are honored to be a part of this property’s story because creative and innovative work happened on campus since its opening day. We hope that our community’s collective work will spur innovation and impact in our city, region and state for generations to come.
Work and flourish together
We strongly believe that where you work and who you work with is vitally important to the work you do. So, we created a modern coworking space where freelancers, entrepreneurs, non-profit leaders and professionals become better together. Every member strives to do excellent work, to support one another and to do others good in their own unique way. We think this good work happens best in the context of a diverse, inclusive and supportive community.
Business-to-business
& people-to-people
Whether you’re looking to network, make a career change, build a company, or get out of the house a few times a week, there is a place for you in The Loading Dock community. Our members often say that our people-to-people and business-to-business ethos has resulted in increased business opportunities for their company and provided a community of not only professionals, but friends, to grow with.
