Community memberships for MACC’s new lab would be available, under bill before Columbia’s city council

Columbia’s city council is scheduled to vote Monday night on a bill providing about $500,000 in community memberships to MACC’s state-of-the-art makerspace lab on the Business Loop.

It’s located inside Parkade Center. Columbia Mayor Brian Treece says the bill is important.

“So that everybody in Columbia has access to a membership here at this MACCLab makerspace, so that they can take that next step,” Treece says.

The bill also includes $433,000 to assist 20 full-time scholarships for Columbia Public Schools (CPS) early college students.

Mayor Treece tells 939 the Eagle that improving job skills is crucial, as we pull out of the pandemic.

“I mean think about if you were downsized or maybe just part of that great quit, you know where you want to do go something else for a change. This is a way that you can scale up, you can take that step with a 3D printer. Maybe you want to invent something,” says Treece.

Mayor Treece and Missouri’s governor helped cut the ribbon on the lab, earlier this month. The bill also contains $300,000 to provide customized training to Columbia employers during the next four years.