Picture a place where technology startups and entrepreneurs could work in the same space, collaborate, brainstorm, network, help each other problem-solve, get professional advice on everything from marketing to funding, and germinate thriving companies that could help Bend diversify and strengthen its economy.

That’s the idea behind a “coworking” facility a Portland company, NedSpace, is considering for Bend. The facility, also called NedSpace, would be an office of myriad startups, perhaps mostly tech-related, but not exclusively.

It’s where people would rent a desk or office, have 24-hour access, and use of the latest office technology. It would be a place to “congeal” Bend’s startup and entrepreneur community, plus attract home-based tech telecommuters and others looking for an office and its connections, said NedSpace co-founder Josh Friedman. It also could be a place for Bend’s diverse, but somewhat fragmented, tech workers to hold user-group meetings, social functions and the like.

Robert Kieffer, a software developer from the Bay Area who relocated to Bend and organizes the online portal BendTech, said a topic that frequently arises is that “there is no physical nexus for the tech community here.”

NedSpace, as it does through two locations in Portland, provides that space, and also helps connect entrepreneurs and investors, which is key to taking the tech community and industry here to the next level, Kieffer said. He’d like to see Bend grow its own tech companies, which he believes NedSpace can help do. While there are numerous tech telecommuters in Bend, there’s a huge difference between telecommuting versus working for a local company, he said.

Friedman, who started NedSpace early last year in Portland, now has two locations there serving about 50 to 55 companies comprising about 80 to 90 people. Users are called “NedSpacers.” He’s looking at 10 cities to expand NedSpace to this year, “any community where there’s a startup ecosystem,” he said. He thinks Bend is a logical addition for its proximity to Portland and relationship that Bend NedSpacers could have with their Portland colleagues through private networking planned for the company’s Web site.

After a meeting in Bend last month to explore the concept with local entrepreneurs, many of them attached to tech, Friedman was encouraged and says he’s looking at a possible NedSpace close to downtown and the Old Mill District. He’s trying to determine if there’s enough user interest at the prices he thinks he’d have to charge to move forward.

While NedSpace rents can’t be determined before a space is leased, monthly rents in Portland are $275 for an open desk, where a user takes whatever is available; $375 for a personal desk no one else uses; and $575 to $975 for offices. Prices include all office amenities, such as copiers, printers and Internet.

Aside from the internal connections among NedSpace users, Friedman says he brings in experts to talk about issues like fundraising, getting patents and building marketing programs. “We want to make the whole process of starting a business easier,” he said.

Richard Luebke, an electrical engineer who worked in software development and Internet programs for major Silicon Valley companies before moving to Sunriver 11 years ago, uses NedSpace in Portland and likes the concept and connections it fosters. An angel investor who tends to focus on software and Net startups — advising them and helping them raise money — he’s had to travel to Portland, Seattle and the Bay Area to find such firms. He’d like to focus on helping startups locally.

With Central Oregon’s lifestyle advantages, he sees the potential to attract and grow talent and companies here.

Dan Hobin, CEO and co-founder of G5 Search Marketing, offered a shared workspace in The Old Cigar Building in downtown Bend a few years ago before G5 expanded and grew into the space. Now, he’s moving G5 to a larger space and plans to reopen the building for creative space and suites for people seeking such a work environment. It worked well before, he said.

Any space that helps incubate and grow local companies is a plus for Bend.