Start where you are. Grow on your own terms.
Cincinnati Makers Collaborative (CMC) connects people who make physical products with the spaces, funding, mentorship, business support, and community they need to grow on their own terms. Whether you are making your first sale, moving into batch production, or building toward manufacturing, we help you find the next right step.
WHAT IS THE CMC?
Cincinnati Makers Collaborative is a regional network for makers and small businesses that make physical products.
We support makers across Greater Cincinnati, including artisans, food producers, fabricators, woodworkers, textile makers, designers, and small-batch manufacturers. Some are making their first sale. Others are preparing for larger production, retail growth, manufacturing partnerships, or a more sustainable business model.
What they share is the challenge of turning skill, creativity, and production into a sustainable livelihood.
We are a shared front door into the local maker ecosystem, helping makers find trusted partners and the next right step without having to figure it out alone.
OUR MISSION
We unite and empower Cincinnati’s maker community.
CMC connects makers with the people, resources, spaces, and opportunities that help them build sustainable livelihoods and grow on their own terms.
OUR VISION
A Cincinnati where a craft can become a company, at any scale a maker chooses.
We envision a city where making things strengthens individual makers, neighborhoods, local businesses, the workforce, and Cincinnati’s creative economy.
WHAT WE DO
Practical help at every stage of growth.
01
Navigate Resources
One clear place to find space, suppliers, licensing help, and grants.
02
Find peers & mentors
A steady community of makers at your level and a few steps ahead.
03
Connections to production space and shared tools, so you can make more than you could on your own.
Access space & equipment
04
Reach new markets
Support with marketing, photography, and the channels that get local goods in front of buyers.
05
Scale sustainably
Guidance on pricing, operations, and growth that fits the business you want.
06
Stay ahead
Early word on grant deadlines, new programs, and opportunities worth acting on.
Powered by people across the ecosystem.
COORDINATING TEAM
CMC is guided by a small coordinating team and powered by a wider network of partner organizations, makers, supporters, and community leaders working together to strengthen Cincinnati’s maker ecosystem.
Andrew Dahlgren
Mechanism
Jonathan Sears
PAR-Projects
Baraza Impact Design Studio
Alisa Smith
Whatever you make, there’s a place for you here.
Whether you’re just starting out, ready to scale into production, an organization that wants to back local makers, or a neighbor who believes in this region’s creative future, we’d love to meet you.