Portland, Ore. (Katu) – Portland proves to be a pioneer again. The city is at the top of the production of shoes and clothing to the USA, especially in the old town in Portland, the oldest neighborhood in the city.
The neighborhood quickly moves to an innovation hub campus for shoes and clothing with 3D printing. April is the largest milestone, according to Matthew Claudel, director of design and partnerships.
“This is the largest business driver of the Altstadtviertel, which we have seen for many years, perhaps ever, and the economic effects have hundreds of new jobs that are located here in this neighborhood,” said Claudel.
Also read: Pictures: Young Pop-up in Portland presses for the free transit for students
The cornerstone of the plan is the Mason Ehrman complex, which is now in its hands and turns a free space of 110,000 square meters into a center of design laboratories and providers that use 3D technology to create shoes and clothing on-demand from design to production.
The environment creates a space to create fully functional shoes or clothing in this advanced manufacturing laboratory. The timing fits the current economic needs, especially with the increasing costs for importing goods from Vietnam, China and Indonesia.
Elias Stahl is CEO of Hilos, a company that works with Made in old town. He says that the goal is that companies invest from zero in the production of zero and move their supply chain from overseas back to Oregon and change the way shoes are made.
“If you see that these three countries are increasingly torching and cost whether it is increasing wages or trading barriers, you have to find out which things we will do there and how we will change, where we will make shoes and how we will bring it home,” said Dahl.
“In Portland it is very happy that we only live over 300 outdoor brands in the Portland region, and we live from the closeness. But there is still no closeness to manufacture and the supply chain. This is done in the old town,” he added.
The future will be here before we know.
“This is one of the fastest development projects in the history of Portland. With the acquisition of the building, this means that we can allow very quickly. We can go into construction and we are on the right path to open this building this year,” said Claudel.
Made in the old town, providers such as Legistics of Manufacturing has already worked together, and the expectation of brands with which they are familiar with will soon register. The creators give Katu News that they could wear locally produced 3D-produced shoes of top name brands by 2026.