MONMADE producers. Image courtesy of Bridgeway Capital.
By Amanda Waltz/Next Pittsburgh
In the Pittsburgh craft scene, there are makers and there are producers. That is, according to Adam Kenney.
“There’s an army of people who self-identify as makers and it’s great,” he says. “The maker movement has been very democratizing, but their goal isn’t to hire anybody or to really grow businesses in ways that have an economic impact in the city that anyone cares about.”
Enter Bridgeway Capital‘s Craft Business Accelerator, for which Kenney serves as director. The accelerator seeks makers looking to expand their businesses in ways that align with Bridgeway’s mission of spurring job creation and bringing economic activity into Pittsburgh’s disinvested areas.
To further the accelerator’s agenda, Bridgeway created MONMADE, a network, platform and program that provides local producers—including craft businesses, maker enterprises, design and build shops, and entrepreneurial artists—with the tools they need to grow.
The initiative aims to create what Kenney calls a “craft manufacturing sector” that would connect producers with people interested in buying or distributing their products…
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