WHEREAS, Maker Meetups bring together manufacturers and producers of all types and sizes, including entrepreneurs working with 3D printers, alongside students, investors, and others interested in the physical creation space; and
WHEREAS, Cities all across the country, as well as some overseas, feature regular meetups, including several in New York City; and
WHEREAS, In Philadelphia, after an initial foray from some of the NYC attendees here over the summer, since August of 2016 a Maker Meetup has occurred every month, hosted at Quorum at the Science Center in University City; and
WHEREAS, Our local Meetup is proud of the diversity fostered by be welcoming to women, minority, veteran and immigrant maker entrepreneurs; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Maker Meetup has hosted local companies like DNA-testing enterprise Biomeme, B-Corp clothing manufacturer and ocean cleanup sponsor United by Blue, and state-of-the-art sweat sensor diagnostic test developer Graphwear, in addition to prominent names like miniaturized waterjet cutter manufacturer Wazer, international venture funds Bolt.io and SOSV, and financing platforms Kickstarter and Indiegogo; and
WHEREAS, Arrow Electronics, the international electronic components and enterprise computer solutions company, has been the consistent, generous sponsor of the local Meetup, alongside Philadelphia’s collaborative maker space, NextFAB; and
WHEREAS, The goal of the Maker Meetup is to foster community among diverse businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the City and make the City’s presence as a technological manufacturing hub more widely known, especially to financiers, workers, and anyone else interested in the maker market; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That Council does hereby authorize the Committee on Commerce & Economic Development to hold hearings regarding Philadelphia’s Maker Meetup.
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