A letter to our community:

When Hacker Lab started 10 years ago as a tiny office across from Gunther's Ice Cream, no one completely envisioned what it would become. We were a small group of makers, coders, hackers, creatives, and entrepreneurs drawn together by a mutual desire to form our own community and create -- and that we did.

Many have come and gone, but all have made an impact - none of the work has been shouldered by one person alone. From the initial buildout of the I st, Rocklin, R st, and Rancho Cordova locations, to hosting meetups, mixers, teaching classes, and just hanging out in the space, the members of Hacker Lab are what made it ascend from space to community.

With that community mindset & in the interest of transparency, we are extremely sad to announce the cessation of Makerspace operations at Hacker Lab over the coming months. The exact details are still in the works, however we are committed to facilitating as smooth of a transition as possible.

The reality is, our organization is unsustainable in its current form. Our revenue streams over the years have been a mix of membership, ticket sales, and office rentals, but heavily reliant on grants and partnerships. At present, without a significant investor, major partnership, or direct injection of funds, our runway is not long enough to make the changes necessary for building long-term self-reliance.

Hacker Lab will live on as an organization in some capacity to further its mission of empowering our community members through educational programs & resources, but the bulk of Makerspace & Coworking space operations will be winding down.

The details that we've settled on so far are:

• Cessation of onboarding of new members & renewals of existing membership billing immediately.
• Working with those who have purchased extended memberships to prorate & refund.
• Continuing existing scheduled & ticketed classes through July 30th.
• Member self-serve access will cease end-of-day on July 30th.
• Begin liquidating equipment, parties interested in purchasing specific equipment can reach out to [email protected].
• Space open to members in a limited capacity while staffed, estimating Aug 1-5, 9am-5pm. Closed to most members end of day Aug 5th.
• Tentative Garage Sale date(s) Fri Aug 5th 9am-5pm, & Saturday Aug 6th 8am-2pm. Keep an eye on your email for details.
• Space open for office, cage, & locker holders the following week as well, estimating Aug 8-Aug 12th, 9am-5pm, closed after that.
• Contact Hacker Lab via [email protected] if you are an office/storage renter who needs to make additional arrangements.

We understand that there are many in the space who utilize our equipment for their private businesses and we are not blind to the hardships our closing may cause, but we need to be transparent about our situation & prefer this option to confidently burning our runway right to the end.

We are absolutely open to exploring backed options alternative to closing down in-person operations, and interested parties may reach out to Gina or Nile. That said, barring any major offers or opportunities, we will be proceeding with the above timeline.

Regardless of the immediate future, we are proud of Hacker Lab's run thus far. The last few years have been hard on many (to understate), and we feel privileged to have weathered them as well as we have. We're genuinely thankful for the amazing community of folks who have invested themselves into this space, and consistently humbled by the talented & hard working creatives who've been a part of it.

In the tradition of relying on the remarks of those more eloquent than ourselves to provide comfort in times of change, we choose to meditate on the words of the 90’s band Semisonic in reminding ourselves that “every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.”

It is our hope that we've made a fraction of the impact upon you as that which you have on us; and if we are to leave you with just one sincere closing sentiment it would be this: Thank you.

- Hacker Lab

ps.