Twelve years ago, in the middle of the recession, Jenny Poon and her business partner Odeen Domingo built a coworking space called CO+HOOTS, the first-of-its-kind spot in Phoenix. It aimed to connect, revive and support risk-takers and entrepreneurs.
HUUB is an offshoot of CO+HOOTS, developed in Mesa in 2020 to connect government leaders and small business owners, providing mentorship and support for entrepreneurs.
Today, HUUB has grown to six locations in Arizona and provided 1000+ hours of 1:1 advising and 100+ hours of webinar training.
“Jenny and Odeen have been integral in building an inclusive innovation ecosystem in Arizona by launching the first coworking space in Phoenix and investing more than a decade in supporting entrepreneurs through coworking, incubation and ecosystem development,” Poon’s team said.
Through HUUB in the next five years, Poon hopes to expand the business resource platform from six Arizona cities to 60 cities across the United States. By 2027, HUUB aims to serve 500,000 business owners and entrepreneurs.
“We envision HUUB as an instrumental tool in shifting the number of successful women and minority-owned businesses,” the company said. “Not only do we plan on HUUB expanding extensively, but the business support methodology that was born out of CO+HOOTS will expand.”
CO+HOOTS’s second coworking location is set to open in 2022, which will increase educational programming and incubation opportunities for its members and community partners.
CO+HOOTS and HUUB are minority-owned and female-founded, and providing opportunities for women of color is central to the business mission.
“I intend to keep fighting to serve our small business and entrepreneur community across the nation in hopes of creating a more equitable ecosystem for ideas to thrive. Because everyone deserves to chase their dreams,” Poon said. “And while everyone deserves to chase their dreams, not everyone can overcome the systemic challenges that exist. Change in how people access resources can open opportunities for future generations to make forward economic progress. More successful entrepreneurs mean more successful families and more thriving communities.”
Poon is the daughter of immigrants who struggled to grow their business, and she witnessed how hard it is for underrepresented entrepreneurs to get support to be successful. This drove her to dedicate her career to supporting the entrepreneurs who start from nothing. Today, she is the board chair of the CO+HOOTS Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for equity in the entrepreneur communities in Phoenix.
Poon was named the 2016 Business Person of the Year by Phoenix Business Journal, one of her proudest achievements among many. “
Not only was she the first woman to receive recognition for this award but the first person of color,” her team said. “It was a massive reminder that being the first is never easy, but it paves the way for so many others. Jenny looks forward to the day when she can look around and not be the only woman or person of color sitting at an entrepreneur round table.”
