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When the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic started to become clear, The Brickyard Collaborative, the North Shore’s makerspace, like so many other organizations, starting trying to find a way to help, to contribute, to do whatever we were equipped to do to make things a little better. The story of this exercise, this journey, is the story of how a pivot in our focus may have defined the path to our ultimate mission.

As the crisis grew in severity, we immediately looked to other makerspaces – friends who’d had their spaces running for considerably longer than we had, groups all over the world, from Cambridge, MA to Derry, Northern Ireland and beyond, to get a feel for what we could do with our limited resources and relatively small membership. Obviously, we could make stuff, but what? What is needed? What can be used, and by who? How much do we have for resources that we can commit to this, and how effective would that effort ultimately be?

We researched everything we could find, from hand-sewing masks to designing and building a low-cost respirator, making shields and fabricating gowns. Although supply chains were in complete disarray for much of this gear, many hospitals simply couldn’t use what was considered DIY equipment, especially in critical care areas. A simple respirator design developed at MIT was (and is still) waiting for FDA approval, and it is something we have the resources to build. We had to pass.

We found a hand-sewn mask design with very complete instructions and a great video at the Deaconess Hospital, IN. website – one which they were requesting, and one that was almost universally accepted across the country, in fact, the world. We queried a local clinic, Lynn Community Health to see if they could use them, and they responded with an emphatic “yes!” It seemed like a good fit – a simple project, something we could handle – and we put out the call for sewing volunteers. The response was astounding.

Our email blast was forwarded to a friend of a friend with access to a huge supply of N95-rated medical and defense-grade cotton fabric. Donated by Rhode Island Innovations, we got it into the shop as fast as we could, and were now able to supply our helpers with the best fabric available. We scrounged for elastic – the most unlikely supplies become unobtainable at times like these, but we were able to tap some of our more unconventional supply lines to get elastic coming in. It is, after all, what makers do – find stuff that not everyone else can find, by looking where nobody else looks.

Suddenly we had a small manufacturing machine moving with astonishing momentum. In less than a week we had delivered over 200 masks to the Lynn Community Health Center.

We had a similar experience with hand sanitizer. There was a huge demand, and a quick search led to several recipes that were all the same – 2 parts 99% ethanol, 1 part aloe, and maybe some essential oils for scent – simple enough. We immediately put in an order for two gallons of isopropyl from one of our industrial suppliers after a quick look around yielded nothing but dried up local supply. The aloe, however, was more difficult, but we were able to get some in hand after a few weeks. We ordered a few hundred 4oz plastic bottles from another supplier and we were in the hand sanitizer business. We needed labels, so pulled in our folks in the letterpress studio to make some up, and within a week we delivered 100 bottles.

Immediately after that, plastic bottle prices started to go through the roof, doubling every time we re-ordered, and supply drying up from our usual sources. Isopropyl supplies dried up entirely. Again, makers did what makers do – who knew you could walk into almost any liquor store and buy grain alcohol – 95% ethanol – off the shelf? We knew, and we did.

Hand sewn masks, repaired masks, laser-cut “earsavers”, 3D printed shields, gowns, portable hand-washing stations… In the space of a few weeks we had pivoted from our usual makerspace activities to what’s called “micromanufacturing”. Using the agile technology and expertise we have in-house, along with worldwide supply lines and sourcing, our decentralized local workforces were able to produce significant quantities of product locally.

A few examples:

The Food Project here in Lynn approached us with a problem. They needed portable hand washing stations that were operated with a foot pump for hands-free operation for their farms and their markets, and asked if we had any ideas. We designed and fabricated a station in under two days that is exactly what they needed and costs about $20 for each station, made from 3D printed parts and standard plumbing supplies. They’ve ordered several more, and we’re delivering in a few days

The Lynn Emergency Operations Center came to us with a case of N95 masks that came out storage in the Lynn Public Schools that were old stock – the latex bands for the ear loops were brittle and breaking. They asked if we could fix them. Fixing stuff is one of the things we do – we worked out a solution and 1300 masks were repaired, thanks to 30 or so hot-glue-gun craft jockeys in the city, and returned for immediate use at the clinics, food kitchens, senior services and other small support groups in Lynn.

All told, we got over 4000 pieces of PPE product into the community, at a time when our government and worldwide industry was unable to deliver anything.

Throughout this, we started a serious re-evaluation of our core mission. Classes and workshops were essential to our original charter, and seemed impossible going forward. Opening up our shop to the public for Meetups and events seemed completely unfeasible. We weren’t even sure how we’d open up to members at all. We were at a loss as to how we’d look in the near future, which direction we’d be going, and, painfully, if we’d even be able to stay open at all. Through doing exactly what we do naturally, the answer became pretty clear, and our path forward – at least for now – was obvious.

Out of our three main areas of focus of our mission: the makerspace, K-12 STEAM work and our entrepreneurial incubator, our makerspace model seemed workable with a few adaptations. We’ve put a plan in place to restrict member access and establish protocols for use for the time being – wiping down work surfaces before and after use, limited access to once per week, masks and other PPE required in public areas, completing a disclosure form, and other measures. The K-12 STEAM aspect of our space had to be shut down entirely, and will remain so until we start to understand how the local education community will respond to the “new normal” and we can follow their lead. Our classes and workshops have been completely suspended.

The innovation, product development, entrepreneurship and business incubator side of what we do is a different story. That is what we dove into and embraced – pulling from our membership and community to start doing what we do: creating, designing stuff, making stuff and fixing stuff, locally.

This is “Made in Place” in action. It’s what micromanufacturing is, in practice. Over 60 community volunteers are working on producing products that are in demand as essential using our 21st-century manufacturing resources like 3D printing, laser cutting, machining and milling along with traditional skills of sewing, hand assembly with the addition of social media networking, delivering over 4000 products that normal suppliers are unable to fulfill? You couldn’t ask for a better example.

Where do we go from here? It seems the pressing need for PPE is staring to taper off, so it’s time to assess and regroup. The community is inspired. Our members are inspired. Several ideas are stirring around for new products, new business ideas, and our base of talented members, from engineers and product designers, to entrepreneurial mentors and marketing veterans, are all starting to understand and explore ways to team up and work together., and working with other makerspaces.

We’re often asked why we chose the name, “The Brickyard Collaborative”. The original Brickyard neighborhood was largely made up of individual workshops called “10-footers” – shacks that were 10’ x 10’, where local, one-man cobbler shops made shoes to meet the local demand. That local demand, fed by the narrow-gauge railroad that was built to serve the city became a regional supplier of leather and footwear goods. Ultimately that grew to create a shoe manufacturing industry that was a world-class force. That’s the power of “Making in Place”, and it’s the core of what Lynn has been about since the 17th century. It’s exactly, precisely, what we do.

Our ultimate goal? No less than helping to rebuild the local economy for the post-COVID 21st century. Will this reach beyond our local community, beyond this country? In a world as connected as ours, how could it not?

Makerspaces, bringing manufacturing back into our country and our communities, herald the rebirth of innovation and manufacturing in the US – building community and rebuilding local economies in our city, and our nation.

This isn’t the end of the story, by any stretch. It’s reflection, a re-focus, and it’s just the beginning.