08/25/2023
Welcome to the page for Digs & Gigs! (Long Read)
The following narrative is intended to introduce the concept of Digs & Gigs, and how the installation of a Digs & Gigs neighborhood here in Sisters could support our own local, emerging low-income entrepreneurs!
First, a few ground rules and clarifications as to what this page and Digs & Gigs (as a concept) is NOT about. The Digs & Gigs concept is NOT intended to address all of the homeless and low-income issues that exist in Sisters and throughout our country. This would be nice but this concept does not solve all challenges. The Digs & Gigs concept IS intended to serve as a fish ladder (of sorts) to help local, aspiring low-income entrepreneurs obtain housing and mentoring while they grow their enterprises.
This page is and this following concept is NOT thought of as an antidote, or "better" solution to other homelessness and/or low-income solutions our community may discuss. As such, NO HATE MESSAGES or aggressive criticisms of other local concepts should be aired on this page. Those who do so will be blocked and/or posts will be deleted. This page and concept IS about positivity and exploring how we may provide a helping hand to those entrepreneurs who are ABLE and in the process of helping themselves.
This page is intended mostly for information sharing. It is monitored roughly on a weekly basis, so please don't expect immediate response. In the interest of time, questions which relate to information already offered on this page will not be addressed. Self-governance by folks reminding others of this is appreciated.
The Who, What, When, Where and Why....
WHO: Digs & Gigs Low-Income, Micro-Entreprenurial Communities ARE intended to house and mentor; local, developing entrepreneurs who have started a venture and would benefit from a commercial location with consistent exposure, BUT are not yet able to absorb both the expenses of a living space and a commercial space in tandem. Digs and Gigs is intended to be a fish ladder (of sorts) for entrepreneurs- it's for folks who are already swimming in the water, know where they want to go, are leaping and lunging to get there, but simply need a leg-up.
The WHO, in terms of advocate of this concept is Shannon Thorson. I am a long-term entrepreneur who has been hanging around Sisters for several years and just recently made the permanent move. My partner and I have recently launched a small furniture making business Milroy Thorson Custom in the Sisters industrial area. I have been involved in multiple ventures which support aspiring entrepreneurs such as a year-round public market and co-working space. I've developed and have been noodling on this concept for about three years. Past work has also involved consulting as a business coach, real estate developer and on economic development and tourism. I have recently been asked to join the Sister's Country Economic Development Board and am eager to be a positive force in this great little town.
WHAT: Digs & Gigs is a concept of Low-Income, Micro-Entreprenurial Neighborhoods. The concept of Digs and Gigs resembles food cart pods, except instead of food trailers, there are highly attractive tiny mobile structures and adjacent groomed space where aspiring entrepreneurs both live and work for a specified period of time (say one year). Residents live at a highly affordable rate, and gain support and mentoring to grow their existing business model. The support and mentoring would come from an assembled team of volunteers; likely educators, seasoned entrepreneurs and those charged to support economic development in the region.
The main photo on the head of this page is not ideally detailed, but if you look closely, you can see each unit has a door to the exterior for the business. The other end of the unit (conceptually) is a tiny studio for living. As sketched at present, the units are in total about 450 SQFT and the business portion is about 12x12. In concept, the housing part of the units is somewhat hidden and the public end of the units are highly accessible. The installtion is designed for exposure and with ample meeting and display space. On site, there may or may not be a community room that could be reserved by individual entrepreneurs for production, meeting and/or demonstration space. Also, (although not depicted in photos) may be a space to accommodate van working/living entrepreneurs. The neighborhood would support MANY different types of Entreprenurial ventures, but, or course, not all.
WHEN: At present there is NO organizational structure, funding or property identified. Estimations of a few milestones are as follows. Over the next couple of months, it will be nice to hear from folks, gain energy and momentum and absorb everyone's ideas. By the end of 2023 it would be ideal to have a volunteer steering team in place so in 2024 they can work to establish organizational structure and invest in more clarity of concept with branding, web presence, schematics and visuals. Throughout the later part of 2024-2025 it would be great we could develop some super solid leads or commitments for land and funding. Perhaps we will identify partners, grants to pursue, identify a fundraising model and/or acquire a local donor. Once we have solid construction plans and funding identified (this could take years), plan submittal, permits and construction might take about 18 months. So......3-6 years (maybe?).
WHERE: The ideal location for the very first Digs & Gigs installation in the world, is in an area that supports both living and business ventures and has a ample street exposure. Thankfully Sisters industrial area exists and could be a perfect fit! Digs and Gigs communities are designed to look permanent and lovely but be portable- they are installations and as such could be placed on land in a semi-permanent basis, say with a 5- or 10-year lease. A bit of history: This concept has been in explored in the cities of McMinnville and Pendleton. The available site in McMinnville was in a great location next to Linfield college but was deemed just a bit small. The economic folks in Pendleton were VERY excited about the concept and wanted to support artisans of Native American and Cowboy art (how cool). In the end though, due to the labor-intensive nature of this effort travel to Pendleton simply seemed too daunting.
WHY: The Digs & Gigs concept fills an important place in society. The backbone of America is built on the small businessperson and the barriers to entry are many. One way we can help our own local folks live successfully in Sisters is by supporting their efforts to develop the economic means necessary to support themselves.
*please post your questions below. In a week or so, they will all be assembled into a master question and answer document and posted here. THANK YOU for your attention to this long-read and for your passion (fingers crossed) towards encouraging and supporting the worlds' FIRST Digs & Gigs: Micro-Entreprenurial Community!
