There’s a Maker Movement spreading across America, where creatives of all different backgrounds are coming together to invent, create, and refine new prototypes of all sorts. Mark Hatch, the CEO of TechShop is one of those leading the movement. TechShop provides members of its collaborative workspace with the tools — woodworking, electronics, textiles, laser cutters, etc. — to create new products before taking them to the marketplace. Hatch spoke with Huffinton Post Live about giving people access to the “creative gym” he oversees. “We have over a million dollars in hardware and software, and the idea was can you create a gymnasium model where people can come in and share on a schedule to get access to these tools?” said Hatch. “The real magic is the community of people that has developed in each of the locations.”
Right now TechShop has around 1200 members, which means that on any given day one can go into the shop and find individuals with expertise in a certain field. That’s something that Hatch views as the key to entrepreneurship in today’s work landscape.