Burlington (Vt.) Generator Begins Move to South End After Successful Capital Campaign

Expanded Facilty in Partnership with Champlain College to Reopen in January

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BURLINGTON, VT (12/08/2016)(readMedia)-- Generator, the city-supported maker space currently located in Memorial Auditorium, will begin remaking itself in December for its move to a new, larger space in Burlington's South End. On Nov. 30, Generator closed its doors at Memorial Auditorium and the 170-member creative community began the move to its new home on Sears Lane.

Generator's move to 40 Sears Lane is made possible by an investment in infrastructure improvements from Champlain College and a $300,000 capital campaign led by Generator board members Michael Metz and businessman Steve Conant. "More than 100 individuals, companies and philanthropic organizations contributed toward the campaign's success, for which Generator and Champlain College are deeply grateful," explained Generator Chair of the Board Dan Harvey.

Generator is planning an open house for the community in on January 18 and a series of ongoing events to introduce the new space to neighbors, students and members of the public. Founded in March, 2014 with support from the City of Burlington, Champlain College, the University of Vermont and numerous institutional, corporate, and individual donors, Generator has become a hub of creativity, learning and entrepreneurship.

Generator's 5,600 square foot location in the lower level of Memorial Auditorium housed 16 studios and several dedicated workshops for wood, metal, prototyping and rapid prototyping. In addition to making these tools available to its members, Generator sustains a monthly schedule of workshops and classes to provide training and support to its members and the public.

Generator's new 8,500 square-foot home at Sears Lane is a renovated portion of Champlain College's Facilities and Operations warehouse. The new space is expected to open on Jan. 2, and will be 35 percent larger with more space for individual studios, workshops and build areas. The site is opposite Champlain's Miller Center at Lakeside, which is home to the Emergent Media Center and the College's own MakerLab. Generator has signed a three-year lease with the College that includes an option to renew for five more years.

"We are pleased to be working with Generator to help facilitate this move and further strengthen the collaboration between Generator and Champlain College," said Champlain College President Donald J. Laackman. "Champlain College has been a partner and supporter of Generator since its inception. Generator has provided our faculty and students with exciting opportunities to innovate at the intersection of technology and art in furthering Vermont's creative economy."

The new facility will feature dedicated Learning Lab classroom space, state-of-the-art LED lighting, improved ventilation, and accommodations for bicycle commuters. Burlington Telecom will continue to provide gigabit network infrastructure and service; Vermont Energy Investment Corporation will deploy an eGauge energy consumption monitoring system; and Generator will be a node on the BTV Ignite supported city-wide LoRa (low power, wide area) network.

In addition to the joint fit-up effort, Champlain College and Generator demonstrate a vibrant collegiate collaboration that includes equipment procurement, student-faculty exchange, and public engagement efforts. Champlain College has purchased and installed a computer controlled milling machine and 3D printer at Generator and covers the monthly cost of student, faculty and staff access to the Generator facility through its "Exchange" partner status.

Along with the University of Vermont, Vermont Tech, and the Community College of Vermont (Winooski campus), Champlain has helped to lead the formation of an intercollegiate consortium housed at Generator that fosters cross-campus encounters among students and makers, joint social and learning opportunities, and project development. Among the activities supported by the consortium are a BioFabLab, the Pitch It Fab It product design competition, a "Makers in the Classroom" teacher assistant program, and the BIG Maker speaker series. Students from participating institutions have also taken part in hands-on workshops in the arts, micro-controller design and assembly, and rapid prototyping.

"Generator is thrilled to bring these and other resources to the growing arts, fabrication and entrepreneurial ecosystem of Burlington's South End," said Executive Director Lars Hasselblad Torres.

"Both Champlain College and Generator view the upcoming transition as an investment in Vermont's creative economy and are proud to be contributors and allies to the South End district's history of fusing the arts and industry. Through this move, Generator will continue to demonstrate that the hands-on, experiential learning environment of a makerspace promotes creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship consistent with the values and aspirations of the city and our state as a whole."

ABOUT CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE: Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a small, not-for-profit, private college in Burlington, Vermont, with additional campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain offers a traditional undergraduate experience from its beautiful campus overlooking Lake Champlain and more than 60 online undergraduate and graduate degree programs and certificates. Champlain's distinctive career-driven approach to higher education embodies the notion that true learning occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 381 Colleges: 2017 Edition. Champlain College is featured in the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" for 2017 as one of the "best and most interesting schools" in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. Champlain was named one of the "Most Innovative Schools" in the North by the U.S. News and World Report's 2017 "America's Best Colleges and #91 in the overall list of "Best Regional Universities in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu.