Continuing the Legacy of Machine Shops in Houston
Alchemy Industrial Brings 3D Printing and Product Development Services to a Revived East End
Houston’s East End was once an entrepreneurial hotspot and a hotbed for creative ideas and innovation. The stomping grounds of the Allen brothers, the city’s honored founding fathers, East End was a major shipping, energy, and manufacturing hub. Immigrants, many of whom still call the neighborhood home today, flocked to the East End for employment opportunities.
Over time, however, big factories and manufacturing warehouses closed up and moved on. The East End’s economy steadily declined as machine shops in Houston closed, leaving the neighborhood and its rich manufacturing history all but forgotten.
The East End Maker Hub wants to change all that. Backed by the local government, this initiative aims to bring socio-economic growth to the East End by re-awakening its oldest trade: manufacturing.
EEMH’s mission is to redefine entrepreneurship by giving access to affordable, state-of-the-art workspaces for manufacturers and other innovators, while creating a positive economic impact to local residents. The Urban Partnerships Community Development Corporation (UP CDC), hand-in-hand with TXRX Labs, raised $37M in capital funding for this community wealth-building project.
In a nutshell, the East End Maker Hub:
- Serves as a local, industrial makerspace and manufacturing center. Houston’s new home for crafters, innovators, makers, fabricators, and manufacturers. From pottery studios to textile companies to 3D printed aerospace parts, it’s a community of very cool people who #makegoodthings.
- Aims to strengthen the local economy. Did you know that Houston is home to more than 10,000 manufacturing establishments? A community wealth-building effort, the East End Maker Hub targets to harness this billion dollar industry to generate over 400 jobs annually and bring in $153 million in local revenue.
- Supports sustainable innovation. By providing flexible and affordable leasing, the East End Maker Hub gives local small to medium-sized businesses the opportunity to have their own space. This, in turn, encourages job generation and trade skills education.
Alchemy Industrial’s New Home
You can find the Alchemy Industrial team in our new 5,400 square foot space inside the East End Maker Hub. We’re excited to be part of this initiative that supports our local community and economy. New ideas are bubbling up again in the East End, and Alchemy is part of bringing Houston’s renowned manufacturing past into the future.
