San Juan Makers Guild

Asset Mapping Launches

Special Meeting, Fri. Feb 26th with Makers and EDC

Greetings San Juan Makers – we have some good news to share. The first Asset Mapping project is going live as an online survey. This survey encourages you to reflect on and share your maker activities as a business, DIY hobbyist, life-long learner, or teacher.

Special Event – this coming Friday Feb 26th, noon-1pm. We have been invited to host an introduction to this survey project through the Economic Development Council (EDC) monthly makerspace zoom talk series. Their invitation is below. This survey is very important to help the entire Makers Community gain a better understanding of:

who is making what on each island
what types of training and resources could be of help
where there may be opportunities for resource sharing or cooperative cost savings
individual and wider sector needs.

You can now find two new resources on our web site:

(these interactive forms can be done by computer, most phones and tablets)

The Asset Mapping survey link – click the Asset Mapping button above to sign in and create your account, then select the Asset Mapping link (we estimate setting aside about half an hour for this activity).
The Request for a Directory Listing is also online and there is no cost to set up your listing. When you click the Directory button below and create your account, then select the Directory Listing form. (note: if you have already done the Asset survey, you have an account and can just sign in)

Letter From the EDC:

Hello,

I want to invite you to join the EDC and the San Juan Makers Guild to begin asset mapping on Friday, February 26th from noon-1 p.m. via Zoom.

Presenters are Marcy Montgomery and Stephen Shrader, co-founders of the San Juan Makers Guild.

The San Juan Makers Guild is gathering input from makers across all creative, food, building, and technology sectors to provide an inclusive picture of San Juan County makers’ capacities, current needs, and future opportunities.

This asset mapping project will help businesses identify and develop sales and employment opportunities to build the maker economy in San Juan County.

If you would like to share the invitation with others, the registration link is here:https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtdeuhrz0iGNMqP3lMhgNvRxl5lrsPRiAT .

Due to privacy concerns, registration is limited to adults over 18.

Thank you,

Michelangelo (Mickey) von Dassow
San Juan County EDC
(360) 378-2906
mickey@sanjuansedc.org

Rural Business Development Grant Goals

Start-up and Research Activities

We are pleased to announce that the Makers Guild is the beneficiary of a new USDA-funded Rural Business Development Grant (RBDG) that invests in a project to conduct three valuable research and development activities in San Juan County, 2020-2021.

The first activity is an Asset Mapping project to learn who the Island Makers are, what they produce - in all fields - and the materials and facilities they use.
Next, the project will conduct a county-wide Needs Assessment to learn what services, tools, facilities, materials, training, marketing and business development activities can help foster Maker enterprises.
This $40,000 grant is the first step towards developing a robust Guild that serves all Makers in San Juan County and gives our Makers a voice in developing a sustainable economy.
The culmination of the RBDG project is a San Juan Makers Market Plan to identify and forecast opportunities to expand into regional or national markets, and to leverage services and resources at reduced costs when provided to Guild members as a group.

The Guild team will be working with farm, food, arts, design, economic, manufacturing and technology businesses and organizations in the coming months.

We look forward to many fascinating conversations as we gather the information needed to capture a picture of current and future Maker enterprise needs and opportunities.

Virtual Farm and Art Tours

Digital multi-media recordings are a goal of the Guild's start-up activities and we anticipate filming and mapping over 25 Maker enterprises 2020-2021.

Future link to Streaming Channel