As Beacon grows in the number of apartments available, the demand for office space also grows. From the City Council’s new requirements for developments to build a percentage of office space into their residential projects, to movers and shakers leaving and filling office space on Main Street.

One of the newest companies to hunker down on Main Street is ViaHero, a travel-planning platform where travelers can choose local residents to plan a personalized trip. ViaHero, which uses locals who live in the destination the traveler wants to visit, has been featured in Travel + Leisure, TechCruch and The Associated Press. ViaHero posted three jobs here at A Little Beacon Blog, looking for local talent in tech and marketing, so we wanted to learn more about them. We started by interviewing the co-founder, Greg Buzulencia.

Where’s The Office?

ViaHero moved into The Valley Table’s old office, above the Beacon Pantry, in the Carriage Works building at 380 Main Street. (You’ll recall that Valley Table magazine recently sold to Hudson Valley Magazine.)

Says Greg of the move: “My co-founder and I started the company in Pittsburgh, and we knew that in order to grow, we needed to be in an area that had the quality of life that we had in Pittsburgh, but with access to a large tech hub. Rachel and I moved to Beacon when each of our spouses got job offers in the Hudson Valley and we moved the company to New York City when we made that shift in 2017. This summer we saw an opportunity to make a few hires in the Beacon area, after seeing there was a diverse talent pool here that is tired of commuting to the city for their tech jobs, so we made the leap and signed a lease for a new office in Beacon!”

When Did ViaHero Start?

ViaHero launched in April 2016 in Cuba. Since then, the company has expanded into 13 destinations across the world, “and we’re still growing!” says Greg. The idea behind ViaHero is that you have a local planning your trip, instead of someone (maybe a broader travel agent) who doesn’t know the area quite as well. “There's a lot of people who are frustrated with spending dozens of hours planning their trip only to find out that they fell into inauthentic tourist traps,” says Greg. “Our mission is to make it easy to broaden your perspective through travel. We allow people to do that by diving deeper into the culture. Plus, more of your travel dollars stay in the local community that you're traveling to.”

Look into the job postings by ViaHero, and see if you or a friend is a fit!