In a recent column I lamented the lack of a makerspace in Concord, as part of a general discussion of the difficulty of creating a startup north of Manchester.
Her presto, turns out there’s a group trying to start one. I’d like to take credit, but it was already in the works.
I have covered Makerspaces in New Hampshire since MakeIt Labs started in Nashua eight years ago – and then was promptly shut down by the city because it hadn’t gotten necessary permits (and the building inspectors freaked out when they saw the mashup of used industrial equipment being used inside an old, dilapidated warehouse). Since then MakeIt Labs has moved and expanded and is developing a real business incubator alongside the maker stuff, and plenty of other New Hampshire places have joined in, including one public makerspace that opened in a middle school.
So far as I know, here are all the makerspaces in New Hampshire today. If I missed any, let me know (dbrooks@cmonitor.com)
- Nashua: Makeit Labs.
- Manchester: Manchester Makerspace.
- Portsmouth: Port City Makerspace.
- Amherst: Amherst Makerspace (this is the one in the middle school)
- Peterborough: MAxT Makerspace.
- Durham: Makerspace at ECenter of UNH, which seems to be open to the public, not just the university.
- Berlin: WRENworks – slightly different, this is the Women’s Rural Entrepreneur Network, which dates back to 1994, but is makerspace-like in many ways.
- In the works: Claremont and Upper Valley.
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