This photo was taken at the Maker City LA townhall meeting on May 21, 2014. People shown (from left to right) are Michelle Garakian (Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti), Brent Bushnell (CEO of Two Bit Circus), Ava Bromberg (The REEF SVP), and Mark Hatch (CEO of TechShop) Matt Terndrup

Creative environments are popping up all across the world where like-minded people come together to create Do-It-Yourself projects, starts businesses, and develop rapid prototypes. They are named hackerspaces, makerspaces, fabrication studios, and fab labs; each of which specializes in their own niche field of work.Near the center of this DIY maker movement, where just about anyone can build something for cheap, is a chain of member-based workshops called TechShop . This company was founded by previous Mythbusters advisor Jim Newton and part-time computer science professor Ridge McGhee . Jim’s vision was to establish a place where people can learn new skills while having access to industrial tools. In October 2006, they set up their 1st shop in Menlo Park, California. Over the next few years, TechShop grew into a vibrant, creative community of artists, makers, engineers, startup enthusiasts, and everyone in-between.More than 10 shops later, TechShop is planning to expand into Los Angeles, California. Their CEO Mark Hatch has been dreaming about this location for a while now. In less than six months after launching a “Bring TechShop to Your City” event in 2013, they have already secured a partnership with The Reef , which will be providing space for the fabrication studio. The building is located in the heart of downtown LA and can be easily accessed by public transportation.On May 21, 2014, Maker City LA (who is a part of The Reef) hosted a town hall meeting with a few of LA’s tech influencers to talk about what it means to bring TechShop to Los Angeles. The panelists included Michelle Garakian (Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti), Brent Bushnell (CEO of Two Bit Circus), and Ava Bromberg (The REEF SVP). They spoke about the unique ecosystems that are found in Los Angeles and discussed how to spark cross-pollination in the LA tech scene. Mark Hatch led the conversation, to start, and then opened up questions to the crowd. The audience was curious to know what types of tools were going to be available through Techshop and what is needed to secure the fabrication studio to the foundation of the LA tech environment.What TechShop requires now is membership confirmations and more investments. They are looking to get a few hundred members before finalizing the expansion. The expected time-frame for completion is by the end of 2014.If you want to invest in or learn more about the company, visit this link here