Worcester's Technocopia to move downtown; merge with other organizations
SAM BONACCI
U.S. Rep. James McGovern toured the Technocopia site at 95 Prescott St. with Kevin Harrington and Paula Rudy earlier this year.
Technocopia, a nonprofit maker space in Worcester, will merge its operations with education center Worcester Think Tank and wood and machine shop IA Design as the organization prepares to move into the Printer’s Building in downtown Worcester.
Technocopia, currently located at 95 Prescott St., is a membership-based work space that features 3D printing, a computer-controlled machine mill and a laser cutter while also offering classes. It was founded by WPI alumni to allow local entrepreneurs to bring their concepts through the design phase and into production. The organization received its nonprofit status in 2015, allowing the board to pursue additional funding toward program development for inner city youth and community projects in science, technology and the arts.
Technocopia will also now merge with Worcester Think Tank, whichoffers youth education programs in Worcester and membership-based, professional machine shop IA Designs.
“Right now we are three organizations doing similar things in different areas but we are looking to combine our groups to give our members access to different resources,” Technocopia Board Member Ian Anderson said in an interview Wednesday.
The merger, which will see IA Designs become a part of Technocopia but have Worcester Think Tank continue to run its own programs, will allow all the organizations to pursue more community involvement, he said. Classes for all ages will be offered as a part of the merger, but with a special focus on increasing the amount of offerings for kids.
“We are going the extra mile to ensure that we will be able to have kids in here. We are focusing on offering classes to all ages – kids and adults,” Anderson said, explaining that it is important to show kids the options for hands-on work at a young age. “A lot of shop classes and hands on classes have basically been taken out of schools and there is a huge lack of it in the city.”
Insurance constraints at Technocopia and IA Design’s current locations, which are former mill buildings, have restricted the ability to offer classes to a younger audience, he said. The new location, at the Printer’s Building at 44 Portland Street, will not only allow all the organizations to come together under one roof, but open up the ability to offer classes to all ages. The downtown location will also open up access for all the organizations to a larger portion of the Worcester community, Anderson said.
The move is being funded through an IndieGoGo page, where it is already half-funded with over 25 days left in the campaign time period. In addition to individual donations, corporate sponsorship is being sought, Anderson said.
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