Kicking Off
For those of you who’ve just signed up recently, welcome! And for those of you who signed up at one of our events over the last couple of months, thank you for your patience!
It’s been a very busy several weeks, with several major milestones to report:
- We’ve signed a lease!
- We’ve closed on our main financing!
- We’ve moved out of our storage units!
Yes, that’s a lot of exclamation points, but trust me, they’re well-deserved. Here are some of the details to prove it!
The Lease
Our location is now officially the nearly 6,000 square foot 61 Endicott St., Building 46, in Norwood, Massachusetts. 61 Endicott is a 19th-century mill complex known as the Norwood Commerce Center and is home to the Winsmith Mill antiques and crafts center. We’re nestled in among antiques dealers, vintage clothing stores, custom leather works, photography studios, and a wonderful little speakeasy and concert hall.
The Financing
Since Mill Forge is not VC-funded or donor-dependent, this business loan is a significant piece of our financial underpinnings. It will provide operating capital to make sure we can get through the initial months while membership builds, and will free up other funds for investment in some key equipment.
While we can accept donations, we are a Massachusetts Benefit Corporation, not a 501(c)(3) non-profit, so while donors can consider their contributions as a marketing expense, it’s not a charitable donation (consult your financial advisor or accountant for specifics). It’s important that we are able to support the space and community based primarily on membership fees and storage options like bin storage, linear materials storage, and work bays. Having this loan in place means that we have some room to build without having to be all salesy right from the get-go.
We have a solid collection of woodworking equipment, metal tools, welders, and a good start on our textile & electronics areas, but there are some big capabilities we’ve been missing. Now that we can release some of our initial investment for those, we’ll be adding a large-bed laser cutter, multi-color and high-speed 3D deposition printers, and a water-wash capable resin printer with an oversized bed.
The Load-in
Like the tagline says, we aim to be “way better than welding in your storage unit,” and getting out of ours is the only way we can do that! Mill Forge had a storage vault at Road Warrior Moving and Storage in Arlington (thanks, Josh for all your help!), two storage units at Norwood Commerce Center (Brendan, Elijah, and Toni were indispensable), and a significant portion of Bill’s house (sorry, Brooks family!) loaded up with tools, furniture, and supplies.
As of this week, it’s all been moved to the site, including the now strangely empty Storage Unit 7 shown above.
Check out some of the progress so far:
We’ve got more news coming soon, including new equipment, preview dates, membership info, and volunteer opportunities, so watch for the next newsletter!
