Ten years ago, TLC moved into the Duke Street office near sleepy downtown Durham. In the past three years, TLC’s staff has doubled in size as we have increased our land protection, stewardship, outreach, and fundraising efforts, as well as finance and administration team to support the growth necessary to double the pace of conservation. In this time, both Durham and the Triangle have also grown tremendously.
The pandemic also highlighted the way we work; most of our land protection, stewardship, outreach, and philanthropy work is best done in the field and we are fortunate to have staff living across the Triangle region. In May, the lease runs out for what has been our main office on Duke Street in Durham and with only a few employees using this space as a primary office environment, it has become clear that having satellite offices on our properties and work from home solutions is the most cost-effective and efficient way forward.
TLC’s work reflects the trend highlighted by Advanced Workplace Associates, just 3 percent of workers surveyed said they want to be back in the office full time, compared to 13 percent who want to work full time from home. More than half of respondents said they would prefer to work two or three days in the office.
TLC employees are empowered to maintain a schedule that best fits their needs and allows them to support our mission and we are happy to reduce our carbon footprint by reducing commute times, too. The continued flexibility that the options of working from home and from satellite offices allows us to support a work environment that retains our dedicated and talented staff.
Although TLC will no longer have a “main office,” we will continue to host regular collaboration sessions for each department as well as the entire staff as we have been since the onset of the pandemic. Several TLC staff work primarily out of the White Barn office at Williamson Preserve in Eastern Wake County and thanks to the AJ Fletcher Foundation, several staff work from a free co-working office in Raleigh.
We expect to find a smaller space to rent in Durham and are excited to begin work, which will last at least a year, to renovate a hunting lodge at Brumley Preserve to serve as a satellite office in Orange County.
Stay tuned for continued updates as we shift our workspaces and embark on this renovation project. In the meantime, we ask that your update our mailing address in your records as P. O. Box 1848, Durham, NC 27702
