Working in conjunction with Kansas City Kansas Community College, we are developing a plan specifically meant for community colleges to become a “Community Resource Hub” for their area. The intent is to make use of the resources available at (or near) community colleges to help local residents and businesses in several different ways: prototyping and innovating their ideas at a regional digital fabrication lab/makerspace, learning about the business side of bringing an idea or product to market through the college’s entrepreneurship program, and making use of (or becoming) the regional expert with the equipment used to manufacture the product.
If you are a community college that has access to a digital fabrication lab/makerspace for prototyping and innovation, has an entrepreneurship track (credit or non-credit), and/or a small scale manufacturing facility, you are invited to apply to become a Community Resource Hub. As a hub, you would be working with local people to create small business in their own “garages.” These businesses could include designers, fabbers, and educators, and link to the greater digital community through the 100kgarages.com network.
If you are an individual who thinks that it would be beneficial to have your local community college function as a Community Resource Hub, please join the conversation via the 100LocalGarages forum. This could be your opportunity to find other like-minded people in your community with thoughts to share on innovation, idea generation, and small scale manufacturing, and might even help you learn about the legal and practical sides of creating a business and protecting your ideas. Be the catalyst to help your local community college create 100LocalGarages.
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