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A Center for Creativity and Innovation in Southeastern Dane County
In 2011, local industry teamed up with the Stoughton Area School District to build the first Fab Lab in Wisconsin. Fab Labs are educational, experiential spaces for students to learn to solve problems, create solutions, and design products, services, and businesses. Since its inception, Fab Lab Stoughton has experienced significant growth in programming, equipment, and number of people served. It has become a model for other school districts in the Upper Midwest, helping launch Fab Labs in many small rural communities.
In 2018, a conversation began about how the Fab Lab model could be expanded to help solve workforce issues and build community resilience in the face of 21st century challenges. For example, most employers in Stoughton are facing critical workforce shortages caused by a variety of factors but accelerated by the pandemic, and they are looking for innovative ways to address the reasons behind these shortages. Employees are also dealing with navigating a post-pandemic economy, and face challenges such as cross-training for new jobs and securing necessities like affordable housing, childcare, and transportation. The concept for a community Innovation Center evolved out of this discussion, and in 2021, the City of Stoughton joined the effort to move the project forward.
Innovation Center Stoughton will provide a suite of services for the area, space for coworking, training, experiential learning events, shared-use equipment, and other activities to help address pressing workforce issues and increase the economic resilience of our region. Employers in the area are struggling to find enough workers with the skills needed to match current job openings, and these openings continue to grow. Helping employers find and train workers in these jobs, in addition to helping all residents and businesses find their path for the next stage of life, is the mission of Innovation Center Stoughton.
We are currently working to raise funds to support the development of ICS and have applied for a Workforce Innovation Grant from the State of Wisconsin and will be applying to a Federal EDA Build to Scale grant in June 2022. If you have any questions or would like to get involved with Innovation Center Stoughton, please contact us.