OUR MISSION

Through a collaboration of makers, employers, and educators, Madjax facilitates creative and entrepreneurial development by providing space, membership, and learning opportunities to meet the needs of the existing and emerging workforce.

BUILDING HISTORY

This is your Portfolio section paragraph. Use this opportunity to provide background for your showcase of photos and images. Consider explaining why you’ve included this collection of visual media, and provide any relevant details or descriptions.

Take a Look

This is a Project. Click here to add a description.

ABOUT MADJAX MAKER FORCE

Watch this short video to learn more about Madjax Maker Force! Special thanks to Ball Brothers Foundation and Ball State University Department of Media for featuring Madjax in their Moving Forward series.

OUR TEAM

Kyra Zylstra

Director of Programs and Initiatives

Lisa Watson

Property Manager

Emily Helms

Brand Director

Jeff Howe

Chief Financial Officer

Christopher Bankson

Design Lab Technician

ABOUT SUSTAINABLE MUNCIE

Sustainable Muncie, the parent corporation of Madjax Maker Force, is a public, non-profit 501(c)3 that aims to revitalize a low or moderate income community, provide small business training and promotion, business incubation space, lending of small or micro-business loans, and develop, own, and manage retail and commercial properties or industrial parks.

WHY SUSTAINABLE MUNCIE?

Many cities across the country are in disrepair and well-intentioned community leaders are working hard to identify opportunities for revitalization. In 2015, Sustainable Muncie Corporation was established as a public, non-profit with 501(c)3 tax exempt status to provide leadership to community-driven efforts to unlock hidden community assets and re-introduce those assets into the public domain to boost growth and prosperity. The 2017 Smart Growth America[1] report, Made in Place: Small-scale manufacturing and neighborhood revitalization, provides insight into how “small-scale manufacturing can help downtown revitalization and in turn, small-scale manufacturing can benefit from and thrive in downtown locations.” Key recommendations for action include:

Finding, connecting, and supporting small-scale manufacturers;
Identifying funding sources;
Encouraging small, light industrial space in local developments; and
Creating cross-sector partnerships.

Additionally, Detter and Fölster[2] (2018) argue for “making the value of long-term investments more transparent and visible to the public, and making better use of professionals who make decision based on evidence while remaining at arm’s length from day-to-day politics.” Their strategy consists of (1) knowing your economic, human, and social assets; (2) using professional management practices; and (3) shifting resources from consumption to long-term investment.

[1] Smart Growth America (see https://smartgrowthamerica.org) is a national organization working to “help every town and city become a more economically prosperous, socially equitable, and environmentally sustainable place to live.”

[2] Detter and Fölster (2018). The Public Wealth of Cities. Brookings Institution Press (Washington, DC).