Born from an entrepreneur’s vision, built for everyone chasing theirs. At The Loading Dock, we’re creating space for people who don’t wait for opportunity — they build it.
The Loading Dock was founded in 2016 by Philip Freeman, Founder and CEO of Murphy’s Naturals, to bring together impact-driven leaders and entrepreneurs.
Philip began his business journey in his garage, where he spent three years developing Murphy’s Naturals. When it was time to fully commit to his growing company, he leased his first space — only to outgrow it within six months. Forced to juggle multiple storage units and subleased warehouses, Philip saw firsthand the challenges of scaling within rigid, long-term leases.
That experience led him to Dock 1053, where Murphy’s Naturals expanded from 2,000 to 20,000 square feet. With extra space available, Philip envisioned a shared workspace that offered coworking, office suites, cowarehousing, and event space — designed for entrepreneurs who needed room to grow without the burden of high costs or inflexible leases.
Our flagship campus at Dock 1053 was originally built in 1955 as a regional distribution center for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P). Innovation has been part of this property’s DNA since day one, and today, The Loading Dock continues that legacy — fostering creativity, collaboration, and positive impact across our community and beyond.
Today, our members — from solo founders and nonprofits to growing startups and established companies — embody the spirit that inspired The Loading Dock’s creation. They collaborate, innovate, and give back, using our shared spaces as launchpads for ideas that strengthen our city, region, and state. Their success stories are what continue to drive us forward.
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.
