Makerspaces highlight local efforts in manufacturing response to COVID

The innovation community has been on the front lines in responding to the current pandemic, and one area that has stepped up is the community makerspace. A new report from the Urban Manufacturing Alliance (UMA) highlights several of those efforts. As UMA points out, COVID-19 brought a renewed need for manufacturing capabilities, and makerspaces stepped into new roles. UMA’s report, Makerspaces In Action: A Community-Based Response to the Pandemic, focuses on four makerspaces that are contributing to response and recovery. As noted in the brief, those highlighted just scratch the surface of how makerspaces are responding, but the brief overview gives a glimpse into the role that the innovation space can play when it connects with the local community.

The brief notes that many makerspaces have turned into mini factories helping to provide healthcare supplies while others have focused on training programs. The four programs highlighted in the brief include Clubhou.se in Augusta, Georgia, Protohaven in Pittsburgh, which put out-of-work makers to work on making masks, Open Works in Baltimore, which produced 26,000 face shields for local first responders, and The Foundry in Buffalo, which held fast to its technician training.