A nonprofit organization here named Spokane Create! is embracing a growing trend in the U.S. and globally to launch community workshops called "makerspaces," where a diverse group of people can tinker with technology and build gadgets.

The makerspace concept encourages people to develop innovative ideas and collaborate on inventions, interactive art pieces, or personal hobbyist projects. Group members also share tools, such as a 3-D printer, and teach each other skills that can include machining or programming.

Spokane Create! co-founders say the group started meeting weekly early this year in a 2,000-square-foot building that Spokane-based Banner Furnace & Fuel Inc. owns at 129 N. Madelia. Banner Fuel previously used the structure for storage and now is donating the space.

Currently, about 10 people of various ages and backgrounds consistently meet at 5:30 p.m. each Wednesday.

"We have engineers, a retired physicist, a tent maker, artists, handymen, teenagers, and young adults, all with an interest in technology," says David Freiberger, an electrical engineer who recently accepted a job in California. "They all have the common desire to build things, whether they are electronic gadgets or interactive art."

Freiberger is a Spokane Create! co-founder along with Dan McGee, general manager at Banner Furnace & Fuel, and Nathan Cutler, a software engineer at the Liberty Lake office of F5 Networks Inc.

"Our mission is to promote science, technology, engineering, and math in the community," Cutler says. "We want a place open to all ages where collaborative work can happen on projects and people can be creative, and to encourage critical thinking for troubleshooting."

McGee says people have attended the workshops for free while the nonprofit is getting established, but it likely will start charging $35 a month per member by year-end to cover expenses. He says the group also expects to offer special rates, such as for families and students.

"It's like an incubator without the pressure," says McGee, who has a computer information technology background and got involved because he likes to tinker. "This could definitely launch some businesses. If you get enough people together, you can come up with some cool ideas."

For example, McGee says someone could bring in a design for a gadget and perhaps use the 3-D printer to develop a small prototype. The group's donated 3-D printer uses computer design software and a spool of plastic that forms layers into a shape.

Members also are developing a project using Arduino, a type of circuit board that contains a programmable microcontroller to control lights, motors, and other functions. McGee says the project involves building an Arduino unit as the "brains" and writing a computer program so that members can unlock the workshop's front door via a website or smartphone application.

"Eventually, we want to be open all week for paying members," Freiberger says. "They'd have access during the week, and it will be open to people to come and work and to have space with tools."

The group also held a class on using the Arduino boards, which are popular among hobbyists for controlling robots, lighting arrays, and other functions, with free examples available online.

An Oct. 4 Wall Street Journal article reported on the growth in the U.S. and China of the maker movement, also called DIY for "do it yourself," noting the emergence of hundreds of community workshops that often are called "makerspaces" or "hackerpsaces."

As opposed to lone inventors tinkering in garages, more people today can use software to design objects produced on machines such as a 3-D printer, and find information online where experts freely share ideas and designs, the WSJ story says.

Additionally, inventors who develop innovative gadgets can get funding through Kickstarter, the project crowdsourcing platform that enables people to pledge money online, typically in exchange for a specified amount of goods or services.

Cutler, who has an electrical engineering degree, says he got involved in forming the Spokane group after learning about the effort here on Facebook. Cutler also has a two-year technology degree involving use of machining equipment, and he previously worked at Spokane-based Itron Inc. as a design engineer.

He and Freiberger knew each at Eastern Washington University, where they both graduated.

Spokane Create! so far has drawn members as young as 12, up to people of retirement age.

They include member Alex Carman, 17, who is putting together parts to build his own ham radio based on a project idea he saw online. Another person who regularly attends, Ed Hope, says he is retired and now comes to the group to tinker with an electronic chime prototype.

"It's a model to work out programming for a large electronic chime," Hope says.

Inside of the Spokane Create! workshop space, the group has created different stations in several rooms, including a computer lab with six computers using the Linux operating system, for uses that include surfing websites for research or writing computer code.

Another room is used as an electronics lab that includes a soldering station and assorted equipment used by electronics hobbyists, such as an oscilloscope, a type of electronic test instrument, and a frequency generator that generates radio frequency signals.

The group has knocked out a few walls to create more open areas for people to gather or hold classes. In a central space near the entrance, members set up projects and computers on long tables.

Meanwhile, a back room contains shelves with piles of discarded equipment such as old telephones, computer towers, printers, and typewriters, which collectively supply plenty of wires and parts to disassemble and reuse for projects.

McGee recalls explaining to his employer how the group would use the building. The structure was cluttered and barely used, he says, and he offered that the group would clean up the space.

"I realized it's difficult to explain what it is we're doing," he says. "I tried to say it's a makerspace, but that's not really commonly known in Spokane. I finally said, it's a bunch of nerdy people getting together to make things."

Freiberger adds that supporting the artist community also is part of what Spokane Create! is striving to do, for artists here who are interested in creating interactive art projects, perhaps incorporating electronics and lighting, for events such as Art-Up Weekend here.

"A great way to do that is to bring in the artists who don't have a technology background and put them in the same room as the techs and geeks, and hopefully some great ideas will come out of it," Freiberger says.

He says some members in the future might develop prototypes to display at such events as Startup Weekend in Spokane, an entrepreneurial weekend focused on launching new ventures. This year's event is scheduled Nov. 15-17 at the McKinstry Innovation Center, at 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd.

"In general, there is a lot of interest in building a technology community in Spokane," Freiberger says. He adds that people can have great ideas, but they might lack knowledge in specific technology or the programming skills to launch the concept.

McGee says the group also offers camaraderie.

He adds, "I love making things. I love breaking things. It's about being around like-minded people who enjoy doing the same things and who have a desire to create something, build something, tweak something."