TechShop Detroit Offers Tools For Michigan Inventors To Build Almost Anything

If you walk into any of the TechShop locations, you will see a group of inventors building great things. Jim McKelvey created a prototype for the multi-billion dollar credit card processor called Square at TechShop. Patrick Buckley built and sold $4 million worth of the DODOcase iPad cover in his first year of business with the help of TechShop. A startup called Embrace created a warmer for premature infants in developing countries, potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives, at TechShop. I had to learn more about TechShop, so I drove to their Detroit location in Allen Park, Michigan to take a tour where I was greeted by the manager, Will Brick.
When entering the 38,000 square-foot TechShop Detroit location, Brick told me that the facility was a collaborative effort between Ford Motor Company and TechShop to promote creative energy and innovation. Ford Global Technologies enhanced their Employee Patent Incentive Award program for workers at TechShop that have built a patentable product. If an employee builds a patentable product at TechShop, then they are awarded a three-month membership for free.
TechShop members get access to machines like CNC routers, milling machines, plasma cutters, metal lathes, and 3D printers for about $99-$125 per month ($1,200 per year). A membership can be used on a month-to-month basis and it can be used at all of the TechShop locations. TechShop offers classes on how to use the machinery with their staff members (also known as "Dream Consultants") and classes are booked through a reservation system.One of the earliest builders at TechShop is Luciano Golia. Golia recently immigrated from Italy and he needed to find a place to build his artisanal cellos after being in business for 24 years. He recently moved to Allen Park with his wife. TechShop was the perfect place for him to access woodworking tools and find help.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2013/03/18/techshop-detroit-offers-tools-for-michigan-inventors-to-build-almost-anything/