Session Title: Creating a City Playbook for Supporting the Transition from Maker to Manufacturer

Encouraging collaboration and leveraging shared resources increases the impact of government initiatives. In this session, we will share one example of a public-private partnership that the Mayor's Office of Civic Innovation is leading to support the advanced manufacturing sector in San Francisco. The maker movement and urban manufacturing are both rooted and thriving in San Francisco– the Innovation Capital of the World. In fact, San Francisco has already become a national symbol for both the maker movement (Tech Shop is headquartered here, the original Maker Faire originated in the Bay Area) and for the resurgence of urban manufacturing, epitomized by our five-year old SFMade initiative, which now supports more than 540 growing urban manufacturers.

The San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation, SFMade, and Blackbird Guitars will share their experiences and future plans for strengthening the City’s capacity to support our entrepreneurs’ transition from maker to manufacturer  - with a specific emphasis on the “advanced manufacturing” space.

Panel of Speakers:

• Kate Sofis, Executive Director, SFMade


• Laurel Arvantidis, Director of Business Development, SF Office of Economic and Workforce Development


• Joe Luttwak, Chief Musical Officer, Blackbird Guitars


• Jay Nath, Chief Innovation Officer, Mayor’s Office (moderator)