JEFFERSONVILLE — While it may be unfamiliar to some, a maker space is exactly as it sounds: A space to make things.
At maker spaces, community members have access to tools and equipment — 3D printers, woodworking tools and the like — they otherwise can’t access by paying a monthly or daily fee.
It’s a type of high-tech business that’s emerged across the United States in the past decade or so, and soon Jeffersonville will become home to one, too.
Maker13, a locally owned maker space, is moving into the former Gray and Wells property at 629 Michigan Ave. It will be the first open-access maker space in Southern Indiana.
“The idea is to get tools in people’s hands so they can be creative,” John Riley, co-owner of Maker13, said.
Maker13 will feature woodworking and metal shops, 3D printers and laser equipment, textiles machine, a finishing and paint studio and open space for creating. Owners are investing about $250,000 in the first phase of equipment alone, including a $30,000 laser etching machine. The second phase will include bigger ticket machinery, including a $100,000 water jet used for precision metal cutting.
PART OF THE PROCESS
Jeffersonville officials believe the workshop — with memberships that work much like a gym — will fit well into the city’s future arts and culture district along Michigan Avenue.
Maker 13 owners looked first in New Albany but couldn’t find a place that could be affordably refurbished, they said. They also considered Louisville’s Portland neighborhood, but decided to locate in Jeffersonville.
Redevelopment Director Rob Waiz said Maker13 will be a great asset to “Jeffersonville and the arts and culture district, and entrepreneurs and other business owners that wouldn’t have the type of equipment [Maker13] has to offer.”
The redevelopment commission and city council signed a three-year lease with Maker13 for the north portion of the city-owned building, which is about 5,000 square feet. Maker13 will pay $500 in rent the first year, $10,000 the second year and $15,000 the third year. The business owners are investing $50,000 to $60,000 in the facility.
The city also agreed to some improvements to the building, which is now housing drainage equipment, such as leveling the concrete floor and installing a rear door. Waiz said the floor work would cost about $4,800, but didn’t have estimates for other work.
Brian Niehoff, co-owner of Maker13, said the outside of the building will be painted a dark charcoal.
Inside will be open space, excluding the woodworking and metalworking rooms “mainly just [to] give it a nice, open feel,” he said.
“When we came into this, we wanted to be an arm for the education system and also help other small businesses and be out there available for the artists,” Niehoff told the redevelopment commission during its most recent meeting at the end of January.
THE ORIGIN
The idea came after Samtec engineers Riley and Niehoff worked in the Maker Mobile, a nonprofit, educational maker space on wheels started by the Ogle Foundation and Blue Sky Foundation, the latter headed by Samtec President John Shine.
“We saw the desire of a lot of people wanting to come in [the mobile] and use the equipment, and there’s no place currently for them to do that,” Niehoff said.
Maker13 will fill a necessary niche that this region hasn’t been able to fill, said Matt Hall, One Southern Indiana Executive Vice President.
“I just think it’s exciting for us to have this right here in Southern Indiana, and it’s a great opportunity for us to tap into the entrepreneurs out there who might have the next great idea,” Hall said.
Maker spaces across the U.S. are known for launching successful startups. One notable outcome of a maker space is Square, the small device plugged into an iPhone that swipes credit cards for payment.
Hall said Maker13 can be the difference between ideas scribbled on napkins and real-live, established businesses.
“I think about every business in existence, no matter how small or how big, started out as an idea,” he said. “And maker spaces are great places to bring an idea to fruition. You can get it from paper to prototype and ultimately from prototype to production.
Niehoff said while “everyone likes the big glamorous stories,” most of Maker13’s patrons will be small business-owners.
Lauren Niehoff, also co-owner and Brian’s wife, is one of those small business owners. She runs an Etsy shop and made many of her products in the Maker Mobile.
Lauren raised $17,000 through her business, called Mercy Roots, toward adoption costs, “just by making stuff.”
Hall said he knows Southern Indiana has plenty of small-business entrepreneurs ready to test in their ideas.
“On the north side of the [Ohio] River, we don’t have a lot of resources and places for tinkerers and investors and folks of that mindset and that ability and talent to sort of fine-tune their product,” he said.
Maker13 will host classes to train new members and educate those wanting to learn a new trade or skill. The maker space won’t offer trade certifications, but Riley said people wanting to continue their training will be referred to programs or schools to build the workforce needed to support the region’s businesses.
The business will also host weekend classes, with topics including how to patent a product and how to become a state-registered business.
Monthly membership will be about $100, but Riley said “there will be lots of ways to work with people.” He mentioned students, seniors and those in armed services may receive discounts. Companies will have the opportunity to purchase company memberships, and nonprofit organizations can sponsor memberships for people.
“We want to be flexible,” Riley said. “We know people want to stay within a budget.”
Families could also buy memberships, so kids can learn how to operate equipment with their parents or guardians.
If all goes without a hitch, Maker13 will open May 13.