17 July 2014

Canberra's Crowd-funding success story

| Josh Mulrine
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The story advances as Pat and Sancho from The Chop Shop rack up their target of $10,000 within 5 days of launching on crowd-funding website Kickstarter. As you can imagine they are over the moon.

Sancho says, “It has easily etched no.1 in my top 5 moments in life that will flash before my eyes if I ever have one of those life-threatening situations”.

Even Kickstarter are backing the Canberra duo by choosing The Chop Shop as their staff pick, giving them front page of website promotion, which exposes The Chop Shop to the entire world.

The Chop Shop is a shining example of how one little idea can sprout into reality nearly instantly when the whole town supports the vision. Congratulations Canberra.

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The most exciting news for the guys is having Australian contemporary artist Benjamin Reeve approach them and offer his guidance to get the project off the ground. Benjamin has just signed a deal with US brand Starter to do a collaborative launch in Australia and he couldn’t think of anywhere more desirable then The Chop Shop.

It’s not just the creative’s helping the launch. Gary Rake, Chief Executive of the National Capital Authority is also supporting the project by taking to the magistrates to overthrow the century old crown lease that states no liquor license can be held on this space. The pair has found it refreshing that Gary would invest his time to help a young initiative take off.

The project is geared towards bettering the community and giving artists a platform to showcase their work as well as sell their art with no commission going to The Chop Shop. This is typically unheard of.

The Chop Shop won’t just be a rad place to hang in Braddon on a Friday or Saturday night. They will also run artist workshops during the week to further help aspiring artists to flourish.

It’s sad to think that by December it will all be over and The Chop Shop as well as the neighboring businesses will be knocked down to be redeveloped into Mode-3 style shopfronts and apartments.

The entertainment booked for The Chop Shop is looking mental though. And with one month until the launch, Braddon ain’t gonna know what’s hit it.

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(Photos by Josh Mulrine)

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Not quite an accurate depiction of my involvement…but I’m still happy to help. My days at the NCA are long gone. I am presently a Deputy Director-General in the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate within the ACT Government. I have responsibility for arts, business, events, sport & recreation, tourism and major venues. The ACT Government has a number of programs that help small, innovative and emerging businesses. My involvement here is just a practical example of that.

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