Generator provides tools and technology and aims to be a jumping-off point for new, creative small businesses. The workspace moved from the basement of the Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, where it operated for the past three years.
“It’s like a gym for working, not working out,” said Lars Hasselblad Torres, Generator executive director, at an open house Wednesday for the new location at 40 Sears Lane. “As a platform we want to give the opportunity to two impulses: a need to find community and a need to get work done.”
The workspace provides tools and technology often available only at schools and universities or at a high cost to the users. Access to machines like a 3D printer and laser cutter, as well as a workshop dedicated to rapid prototyping of products, helps creators get their designs and ideas up and running.
Ben Matchstick and Pete Talbot have used Generator workshops to create a product that now sells on the national market.
The PinBox 3000 is a cardboard tabletop pinball machine aimed toward education. It provides kids with a pinball machine kit where they can design, build and then play their creation.
The product is in more than 50 toy stores nationwide and is soon to be introduced internationally, the developers said. Access to tools at Generator turned the project from hobby to business.
“Generator has been crucial,” Talbot said. “As cardboard artists for over a decade, the idea of manufacturing a kit like this without a laser cutter was nearly impossible.”
For $75 a month members have access to the workspace seven days a week. For $200 a month members can have a permanent studio within Generator with 24-hour access to the building and its amenities.
Generator currently has 152 members, half of whom are students from the University of Vermont, Champlain College and Vermont Technical College. The universities pay a fee that provides student access.
However, Generator aims to provide more than just access to a workspace and certain tools. A major goal is to be a creative hub for members to share ideas and function as a space for education.
“We tap the expertise of the community for instruction and training,” Hasselblad Torres said. “A big part of the value of working here is we get expert users up to speed with our tools and have them teach master classes.”
Generator is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with about half its funding from private donors. Membership dues and grants provide the rest.
“Our goal is to move closer to a more even distribution where every private dollar is matched by grants and membership dues,” Hasselblad Torres said.
