Makerspace to be housed at Saint Martin's

  • 2018-09-21
The City of Lacey recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saint Martin's University, agreeing that the Lacey MakerSpace (LMS) will be located on the university's campus.

A makerspace is a communal space where anyone can come to work with the tools provided. The users may be students, businesspeople, or simply members of the community who need a spot to work where they have access to technology, and often mentors.

The Lacey Makerspace is designed to be a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation. The center will provide industrial-quality, cutting-edge technology not usually found elsewhere, and train people in the use of computer numerical control (CNC) machines, along with computers and their software, which will help create qualified employees for local businesses. It will also simply be a space where people with interests in common will be able to collaborate to bring their ideas to a successful conclusion. Sponsors of ventures like this could use brochure printing to describe the effort.

The LMS is the result of a partnership among the Thurston Economic Development Council, the City of Lacey, and Saint Martin's. The three sponsors share a vision of the LMS leveraging community partnerships, entrepreneurship, financial resources, research, and education to help develop and grow a thriving, up-to-the-moment economy that will help support the community. The Lacey City Council has earmarked $200,000 to support the LMS over the next 36 months.