Westside Makerspace Strategy Development

Westside Makerspace is a community-led creative hub based in Dayton, Ohio. It began as a small grassroots effort and is now evolving into a more structured, member-owned cooperative.

In partnership with Co-op Dayton, the Westside team recently secured a permanent location which they are working to renovate. They are also focused on developing a stable financial model, improving day-to-day operations, expanding programming, and strengthening community partnerships.

Relying on its national network of makerspace owners and operators, Mechanism began working with the Westside team in 2025 to create a growth strategy for the organization. Mechanism connected Westside with others who have developed sustainable models for makerspaces. Through coaching sessions and peer interviews with nearly a dozen makerspace leaders across the U.S., Westside gained insight into the ways facility design, roles and responsibilities, standard operating procedures, and phased growth can align with both community access and long-term viability.

The resulting strategy framework produced by Mechanism is a roadmap that can be used by makerspace leaders anywhere, since it contains national best practices and insights from makerspaces around the country.

Thanks to this program, Alvin Wilkerson, one of Westside Makerspace’s founders, said he and his team are “definitely more confident now” that they can forge the right path forward for Westside.

The meetings and listening sessions Mechanism coordinated with other makerspace operators went beyond any resources he or his team would have been able to access on their own. “Now we have a good source of information to start pulling from,” he said.

His capacity as a leader has also grown because of what he's learned from makerspace peers. “It definitely gave me more confidence that we can find what works for our community, just by seeing pieces that might fit us from these other makerspaces," Wilkerson said.

Makerspace leaders participating in the project as advisors found value in connecting with other makerspaces and comparing notes. Many also remarked how valuable this type of advice would have been when they were just starting out.

Westside Makerspace | Dayton, OH

The Foundry | Buffalo, NY

LaunchSpace | Orange, MA

Decatur Makers | Decatur, GA

Lowell Makes | Lowell, MA

Make Salt Lake | Salt Lake City, UT

Forge Greensboro | Greensboro, NC

Generator Makerspace | Burlington, VT

Open Works | Baltimore, MD

MakeHaven | New Haven, CT

Hive13 | Cincinnati, OH

Tech Valley Center of Gravity | Troy, NY

Once a month, Westside Makerspace’s leadership met with Mechanism program staff and U.S. makerspace operators for 1.5-hour long coaching sessions that went in depth on five topics, including:

• Space & Equipment
• Financial Resilience
• Programming & Services
• Staffing & Operations
• Marketing, Outreach & Partnerships

After each coaching session, Westside and Mechanism held debrief meetings to discuss insights from the coaching sessions and apply them to Westside’s development strategy.

After eight months of engagement, Mechanism produced a strategy framework that will help Westside establish a path to sustainable growth and operations. A more general version of this framework will be available in the resources section below.

Resources forthcoming