So wow. It’s been 5 years.
5 years since that first conversation at the coffee shop. 5 years since we had an idea, but nothing beyond that. 5 years since we incorporated, and applied for our first grant, and had our first workshops.
Where are we now? We have a 10,000 square foot facility, and 65 members. We have a full woodshop, metal shop, electronics, rapid prototyping, textile, digital printing and hot works shops. We are where we wanted to be 5 years ago, we are finally at the place where we can do what we’ve wanted to do.
What does that mean? That means teaching kids how to build boats with Community Boatbuilding, Lynn Tech, LEAP and Kayak and Sail Lynn. That means working with Bike to the Sea. That means partnerships with RAW Arts, Lynn Museum, GALA, Lynn Cultural Council, St Mary’s, KIPP, The Food Project and a host of others in this city.
When we signed the lease for our new space last March and ran the numbers, we projected about a year, maybe a year and a half before we filled the space. We’ve filled it in two months.
What does this say? This tells us we fill a need – a huge need for people to have access to the tools, the space, the knowledge and the community that a makerspace brings.
Over this five years we’ve grown from just an idea, to a small, 2500 square feet shop, moved to 4500 square feet to now 10,000 square feet… in the course of that we’ve made over 4000 pieces of PPE for the city of Lynn during the COVID crisis. We stored and distributed 6 tons of food to those in need in the city during COVD. We’ve created a free WIFI network in the downtown Lynn neighborhood and helped retail businesses use this to help recover from COVID. We got 8 pallets of hand sanitizer stations and equipment out to the community, including into the Mayor’s Office itself. We’ve helped launch a handful of small side gigs into actual businesses, and opened up tools and technology to over a hundred people in the community – members and non-members alike.
Five years ago we were at a hearing for the CDBG program – the Community Development Block Grant – a program that distributes Federal funds through local citizen’s committees, and at the hearing the chair of the Lynn committee said to us, “Who are you? You have nothing!” Well, this is who we are. And guess what? With what they called “nothing”, we changed this city, and this community.
Did we do it alone? Of course not, nobody does all this by themselves. We have been blessed by, and deeply appreciate all the help and support we’ve had in this town, the teams of volunteers in our member community and every week we see more.
And we’re only getting started.
Here’s to 2023, health, happiness, growth and creating amazing stuff for the coming year!
Keep making stuff. Take care of people, play nice and clean up after yourselves.
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