Making it in the High Desert
In a way, you could say that Scot Brees was guided to Bend by flashlight. The Bay Area native was working in technology management in Silicon Valley for companies such as eBay and Apple and discovered Bend in the 1990s while opening new stores for Costco Wholesale.
In 2006, he became intrigued by TechShop, a center in Menlo Park that was offering access to tools, software, workspace and the allure of being able to make virtually anything. Brees made a Maglite style of flashlight. “It was a simple project, yet one of the most useful things I did with a laser,” he says. He sold his tools that filled his garage and invested in an $899 annual membership to TechShop. At the same time, the “maker movement,” a tech influenced do-it-yourself community started to boom. The subculture is centered on electronics, robotics, and 3-D printing, as well as traditional arts and crafts. Innovation, invention, prototyping, free thinking and knowledge sharing are the hallmarks of this community. Brees realized that Central Oregon, an entrepreneurial hotbed and home to an embarrassment of outdoor recreational riches, was primed for a creative hub.
In 2011, he and his family realized their dream of moving here. “There are tons of craft guilds here that qualify as makers: blacksmiths, woodworkers, quilters, bicycle makers, artisans, you name it,” Brees says. “Many of the schools have robotics programs, Summit and Mountain View high schools in particular. There are at least ten individuals and companies using 3-D printers for fun and profit.”
Last summer, Brees created High Desert Makers, a nonprofit that leads projects, activities and events supporting maker culture. His goal is to establish a local makers space. “We are looking for a space,” says Brees, an IT consultant and president of the nonprofit. “We need to find one or two key partners who will help us with either a space or financial support.” Brandon Packman of Bend, founder of equity crowdfund NW Funded, is the nonprofit’s vice president. “I passionately believe in the powerful economic development benefit that a community maker-space provides, by democratizing invention,” he says.
Source: Cascade Sotheby’s Realty
