[Editor’s Note: Former TechShop CEO Dan Woods forwarded us this message he sent to the TechShop community, with his blessings to republish it on the Make website.]
Dear Comrades,
Finally, I have some excellent news to share with you.
TechShop, Inc. has reached an agreement with a third party to acquire all company assets. The new entity, TechShop 2.0, LLC plans to re-open as many stores as possible, as soon as possible. The acquiring partnership is led by Dan Rasure and Bill Lloyd (Owner of BHL Services Inc. of Minneapolis)..
On November 17th, just hours before we had planned to file Chapter-7, Mr. Rasure approached with an interest in acquiring the entire company. Being struck by his sincerity, business acumen, and resolve to re-open shops quickly, TechShop, Inc’s Board and a small team of former employees embarked on a non-stop eleven-day effort. The end result, an arrangement with Mr. Rasure and Lloyd to re-open the next iteration of TechShop.
Throughout this effort our goal was to restore service to communities and members, rehire as many employees as possible, and provide a more sustainable path forward for TechShop’s members.
None of TechShop’s Directors and Officers have or will receive so much as a dollar from this deal—either through equity, cash payments, or compensation.
TechShop 2.0’s shop re-opening schedule and member re-engagement plan are currently being finalized. This information will be released in the coming days. TechShop 2.0 will work with members at each location for the purpose of assisting anyone who may need to remove personal materials from one of our locations.
For those who submitted email to trustee.techshop@gmail.com we will be accessing the account and responding to all of you as promptly as possible. For now, I invite you to visit TechShop.com and stay tuned to @techshop for further developments and reopening details.
Announcing the closure of TechShop was the most difficult thing I’ve had to do in my career. When the opportunity for a different path forward presented itself, we did whatever humanly possible to work with Dan Rasure and make TechShop 2.0 a reality.
Warm Regards,
Dan
TechShop, Inc. has reached an agreement to sell the company to TechShop 2.0, LLC. New ownership seeks to re-open, continue running makerspaces. TS2.0 staff will work with members to pick up personal items. More info on schedules, membership, and engagement in the next few days. pic.twitter.com/Vvoqwt6dUn
— TechShop (@techshop) December 2, 2017
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