City of Oakland Announces Advanced Manufacturing Partnership

OAKLAND, CA - Oakland City leaders, local manufacturing businesses, and community leaders announced a special local partnership between Oaklandish, Artefact, and Kay Chesterfield that showcases Oakland's diverse and growing manufacturing sector.

As part of Manufacturing Month, these local Oakland manufacturers hosted an exclusive VIP tour to showcase a new state-of-the-art bio-composite manufacturing system capable of producing new products as part of the circular economy, in which waste is converted into useable products.

Artefact is collaborating with Oaklandish to debut a new line of eyewear this holiday season, using fabric scraps from Oaklandish and Kay Chesterfield operations that would otherwise wind up in landfill. The eyewear design collaboration will leverage the iconic designs and brand values of Oaklandish and Artefact's novel new materials and manufacturing.

Oakland has become the center of climate technology innovation in the Bay Area, including the location of many federal and state funded climate startups located in an around the American Steel hub, working in such critical areas as new battery technologies, carbon dioxide capture and storage, and low or negative emission concrete production. Artefact's production partnership producing low impact and high value products shows how even small, local businesses and workers will benefit from the climate tech advancements coming out of Oakland.

The reduced impact of this low greenhouse gas emissions product manufacturing was analyzed with UC Berkeley's Center for Green Chemistry. While the technology is being piloted in Oakland, it will be replicated in partner sites in cities across the US, to replace imported products with low-impact, locally made, and high-value products.

What they're saying:

Nikki Fortunato Bas, Oakland City Council President, said, "Oakland is a center of the climate tech economy and innovation. We are proud to support West Oakland and its many startups working on research and development addressing climate change and developing healthy alternatives to old, dirty manufacturing, bringing jobs and economic development to our community."

Cristy Johnston Limón, Economic and Workforce Development Department Deputy Director, said, "Oakland is at an inflection point as we welcome and support innovations in key industries that underpin our economy such as manufacturing and as part of our strategy to create good jobs for a wide range of Oaklanders, and encouraging further sector growth."

Ethan Escowitz, CEO of Artefact, said, "this partnership demonstrates how small-to-mid-sized companies will become major players reshoring clean, sustainable, and high-value manufacturing into communities across the United States."

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About Artefact: Artefact is an East Bay startup & UC Berkeley sustainability collaboration that has pioneered an advanced manufacturing system that is lightweight, low cost, and uses clean circular materials. As a result, the systems are accessible to small-to-mid-sized-businesses that hire locally, reshore manufacturing from overseas, and employ materials formulated from agricultural byproducts from California's Central Valley. Artefact's technology allows digital control of product graphics, which can bring beautiful graphics and artwork into the production of rigid/hard products like eyewear. https://artefact-made.com/events

About Oaklandish: Oaklandish is an influential streetwear brand & Town-branded apparel company. Oaklandish strives to spread "local love" by way of their civic pride-evoking tees and accessories, while creating quality jobs for locals, and giving back to the people and places that maintain Oakland's trailblazer spirit. In line with this mission, Oaklandish donates a portion of proceeds to grassroots nonprofits and other community partners committed to uplifting Oakland. Oaklandish has been a certified B Corp since 2012 and is woman and POC owned. In addition to designing, producing and distributing apparel and swag, Oaklandish also provides creative services, sourcing, and 3PL support for an array of like-minded brands seeking to leverage Oaklandish design and operations expertise.

About Kay Chesterfield: Kay Chesterfield is a century-old Oakland re-upholstery company, which is today a leader in Bay Area furniture re-use and waste reduction.

About Oakland Manufacturing Month: This October, the City of Oakland is showcasing our manufacturing businesses to our future workforce and the community with a campaign to highlight Oakland manufacturers. During Manufacturing Month the City of Oakland will be organizing and promoting events hosted by and featuring Oakland's diverse breadth of manufacturers, large and small.

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