Silver City’s makerspace is almost halfway to its goal of raising funds for a new building that will house a training center for a variety of trades, thanks to a recent federal budget bill. A $200,000 appropriation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Future Forge, 307 E. College Ave., was included in the first package of federal budget bills passed in early March, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan’s office. Lujan requested the funds for the nonprofit makerspace…

The Future Forge, Silver City’s community makerspace, is now the proud owner of a new and permanent home. The doors to this new space are expected to open early next month, and with the new space in mind, the organization’s leaders are encouraging prospective makers — particularly university students — to get involved. “The new space is closer to the college than our current space,” said Future Forge co-founder Stephen Lindsey. “We really want to engage a more youthful demographic of people around Silver City, and connect the elder generation to the youthful generation to preserve our culture.”…

Around the country, local “makerspaces,” shared workshops based at universities or local nonprofits, have mobilized volunteers and resources to help produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical personnel at the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among them is the Future Forge Makerspace, a nonprofit based in an industrial building near downtown Silver City…

On today’s Community Spotlight, host Candice Burke is joined by Stephen Lindsey. Stephen is the co- founder and chair of the non-profit organization, Future Forge. He is here to talk about its history and mission, and how they they will spend their recent grant from 30something.”…

The Nonprofit of the Year Award went to the Future Forge, and was presented to the makerspace’s co-founder, Stephen Lyndsey. “What I love about this particular entity is their dedication to something that I believe is very important, and that’s providing the resources, the skills, the space to promote workforce abilities to move yourself forward,” WNMU President Joe Shepard said in his introduction of the award. “The need for people to develop their creativity beyond just simply a degree is probably more important than the formality of the degree. Future Forge gives that opportunity to so many people.”…

Beginning in March 2020, the Future Forge Makerspace began to house the production and design for personal protective equipment, in partnership with medical professionals, to be used by medical care providers. As of the beginning of December 2020, we will have made and distributed over 3,000 protective isolation gowns! We have also distributed over 1,500 face shields to medical staff, essential businesses, and community members. Our volunteers continue to push out protective equipment as safely and quickly as possible…

STEPHEN LINDSEY WAS IN A TIGHT SPOT. The doors to Silver City’s first makerspace were barely open when the news arrived. “We had no idea we’d be shutting them six weeks later due to a global pandemic,” Lindsey says. He thought it might be the end of the newly created Future Forge. Lindsey and his partners, Gabe Farley and Mary Stone, had invested about $45,000 of grants, donations, and private funds into eight 3D printers, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, supplies, and tools. They’d signed up about a dozen members before launching but now couldn’t charge them. He remembers thinking, How are we going to stay alive?…