Over at Smallbizlabs we posted on TechShop and Ford announcing a joint effort to build a communal workshop focused on automotive innovation in Detroit.
For those not familiar with TechShop, it a membership-based shared industrial workshop. They provide hobbyists, inventors and entrepreneurs shared access to a wide range of industrial equipment (laser cutters, lathes, 3D printers, metal bending machines, etc.).
Think of it as coworking for folks that like to tinker and build things.
TechShop is a good example of the growth of coworking beyond office environments. We're seeing coworking concepts being applied to a wide variety of spaces including labs, industrial workshops, auto shops and other places where people make, fix or research things.
These spaces - often referred to as Hackerspaces - used to be thought of as places for amateurs and DIY hobbyists. But increasingly these spaces are also being used by inventors and entrepreneurs to explore, start and operate businesses.
Many of these spaces offer coworking-like communities and features in addition to shared facilities.
The growing role of hackerspaces as coworking facilities is part of a broader set of trends towards lightweight manufacturing and hobbyists turning their passions into businesses. These trends are covered in the Intuit Future of Small Business research memo Today's Hobbyists are Tomorrow's Hobbypreneurs.
