• A brief presentation looking back on the past year.
• A look forward to 2022 and what it might hold for the Co-Lab.
• Time to hear and discuss any ideas or concerns of the membership. 
• Voting on new board members including the named positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary as well as 3 general voting board members. 
  • All members in good standing are eligible to vote. If you are planning to run for a position you must be a member in good standing and have been an active member for at least 3 months. If you have multiple members in the same household only 1 will be able to hold a board position.

Please try and make time for this event! It is extremely important for the Co-Lab to hear the voices of all members!

The board would like to thank everyone for their proactivity in coming in to get cards replaced! If you have yet to do so please make sure to email [email protected] to get a time scheduled. Just a reminder that we no longer have access to the front of the building. That means please do not knock on the front door, try to enter through the interior glass dividing door, or try to enter the front area through the front set of basement steps. The tenets are a completely separate entity from the Co-Lab and deserve our respect. Furthermore on this subject. Please make sure you are not propping open doors, specifically during the winter months as it leads to a large increase in our utility costs. 

This winter we will be implementing a new policy around using stains, paints, and finishes in the lab. We now share our plenum and thus air with another tenant and it is only fair that both the new tenants and the rest of the QC Co-Lab membership have a comfortable and collaborative space to work. The new policy reads as follows and can be found on qccolab.com under Policies. 

• Any use of paint or finish that creates a poor working environment for the rest of the lab will not be permitted. In our mission statement, we are designated as a place for collaboration and that isn’t possible unless this policy is followed. Violations could result in changes to membership status or termination.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out via email to [email protected].

The last bit of information I have for you is that we have set a date for our annual membership meeting. The membership meeting to vote on new board members, as well as any bylaws changes, will take place on Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 PM with a meeting of the new board to follow. PLEASE put this in your calendar and make an effort to attend. This is our chance as an organization and your chance as a member to make your voice heard and contribute to our continued success!

Due to this change in ownership, there will be a number of changes happening at QC Co-Lab.  We, the board of directors, are working to mitigate as much disruption to the membership as possible, however, there will be some. Rent for the building has increased from $10.00 a year to $1,000.00 per month.  There are also several major building maintenance issues that will be expensive to fix, and it’s unclear how much of that will be QC Co-Lab’s responsibility.  Additionally, the new owner has expressed some plans to utilize parts of the building for his own purposes, which will include the front 1/3 of the upstairs, and we will no longer have use of the South Parking lot (across the alley).  The areas of the lab located in the front 1/3 are currently being relocated elsewhere in the building.

The QC Co-Lab board are currently exploring all options, however, the current situation is not sustainable due to the increase in cost and the reduction in space.  If you have any specific questions or would like to help problem solve the upcoming challenges to QC Co-Lab please do not hesitate to reach out to [email protected] .

With the reduction in space and our priority on trying to mitigate disruption to the membership, we have also put together a quick survey on how we utilize the space. Please take a second to fill this out!  https://forms.gle/M9D4hMUQUX1g6Ujb6  

Additional information: Bill Sheeder, with his wife Stephanie Sellers, own the “Baked Beer & Bread Co.” restaurant in the Village of East Davenport.  They also own the “Cookies & Dreams” cookie company.  Bill Sheeder also owns the building immediately South of QC Co-Lab (the former kennel club building) and is renovating it to use as a storage & shipping facility for one of his businesses.  He initially stated that he purchased the building occupied by QC Co-Lab primarily to gain access to the South parking lot.  

QC Co-Lab 2021 Board of Directors

Shari Telman

Ben Ziegler

Ryan Weekly

Erika Schmidt

Bob Fitzgerald

Brian Schultz

Leonard Metallo

To address these issues we have made new Project Label cards, they are available on the round table in the lobby. There are cards for projects “In-Process” and, cause we like to show off what we’ve done, there are “Completed Projects” label cards.

If you have an project in a Co-Lab COMMON area, please label it with one of these cards. Common, or public, areas are any areas that are not a privately rented office – lobby, wood shop, ceramic studio, restroom, etc. Basically, if there is something in a common area that is not Co-Lab property then it should have a Project Label card.

If you have any questions about these project label cards please contact [email protected]

(Equipment in common areas is a different topic – please contact [email protected] about a tool loan agreement for any privately owned equipment in common areas.)

First and foremost, members have first dibs. If you see something in one of those piles or boxes and know that it’s what you’ve always been dreaming of, please take it, and just drop some change in the donation jar on the lobby counter, whatever you feel it’s worth to you.

But since there’s probably more in that pile than we can all use in the foreseeable future, we’re going to send whatever’s left to Alter Scrap Metal for recycling. The best part? They will PAY Co-Lab $$$ for it!

Of course, we get the highest dollar if the metals are sorted by type. Alter has placed off a roll-off container (aka Dumpster) in the Gaines St cul-de-sac right outside the Auto Shop door. This container is for steel scrap. If a magnet sticks to the piece of scrap metal, then it’s steel and goes in that big container. If a magnet doesn’t stick, then it goes in one of the boxes in the auto shop. Those will get taken to Alter separately.

Lastly, Co-Lab has an account at Alter. If you ever want to “donate” scrap metal to benefit Co-Lab, just take the metal to Alter and tell the Alter staff to credit to the “QC Co-Lab” account.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

A place to build. A place to design. A place to create.

A space to meet. A space to collaborate. A space to make.

A spot to play. A spot to innovate. A spot to engineer.

A playground for geeks and artists.

Effective  September  31st we will be ending our family membership option.  In its place,  we will be making all memberships family memberships.  We are primarily hoping this action will remove any monetary roadblocks that could prevent members from working with and involving their families at the QC Co-Lab.

The new standard membership will include up to 4 family members, over the age of 18,  that are currently living in the same household that is listed with the QC Co-Lab. Each family member will need to fill out membership paperwork in order to receive their entry badge.  These memberships will maintain  1 vote per family during membership meetings,  and may only nominate 1 person from the family to a board position.  A majority board vote would be needed to allow exceptions to any of this,  all of which will be timeboxed and audited exceptions.

Any member that currently has a family membership will automatically see their payments reduced to the standard $35 a month.  Members that paid for their family members with the yearly option will be receiving a pro-rated reimbursement for the difference in the price of the time remaining in their membership.  If in  October you see that your rate has not changed or you have not received the reimbursement stated above  please contact us so we can correct the issue.

In the same theme as the membership simplification,  we are also simplifying and expanding access to our discounts.  Previously we were offering a few different types of discounts, and they weren’t all clearly publicized on the website. We are hoping to correct this and continue to break down monetary barriers by offering a single hardship discount that anyone is able to apply for. These discounts will be offered for 3-month  timeframes, with the option to re-apply every 3 months,  and will be determined by a majority vote of the Board of  Directors.

We have thus far been able to keep the dues for members significantly lower than other metros in the Midwest and at the lowest rate in  Iowa. As stated above we would very much like to remove any type of monetary barrier that might be standing in members’ way of their creativity or passion to make. The Co-Lab’s continued existence and progression are only possible due to the support of our members.