“Now that we’re manufacturing, we’re getting increased interest from all over the country. All over the globe really,” he said. “We’re still the only ones printing house from recycled plastics.”
It’s early days in the company’s planning process for a new factory that could be built in Northeast Ohio, but the Akron area is in the running thanks to it winning federal designation and funding as a hub for sustainable polymer development. Eidelman and his team also were impressed when they visited the Greater Akron Chamber in June.
In addition to the chamber, representatives of the city of Akron, Summit County and the University of Akron all were at the meeting.
“They are like-minded and it’s very nice to have a like-minded group,” Eidelman said. “The University of Akron has a terrific [polymer] program, and the University of Akron and Ohio State University both have very good 3D printing programs, too.”
Gregg Cramer, the chamber's vice president of economic development, said he hopes to land one of Azure’s next factories in the area.
“What got me excited is they were traveling across the country from Washington, D.C., back to the West and they made a specific stop to be with us,” Cramer said.
That wasn’t too difficult, said Eidelman, who also is familiar with the region and its economy from his membership in America Makes, an additive-manufacturing accelerator in Youngstown, where he’ll be speaking in August.
“We were exhibiting at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and our next event was in Phoenix,” he said. “Geographically, it just made sense” to stop in Akron.
A move to Akron or someplace like it makes sense for Azure, Eidelman said, because the company wants to be near its customers, and it’s seeing strong demand from the eastern half of the U.S.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to drag our homes across the country,” he said.
Its presence could be good for the local economy – the company plans to open several factories like its original plant in California, which is 20,000 square feet in size and employs 50 people – and for local housing markets.
Azure makes mostly small, relatively inexpensive homes, though they can be scaled up to nearly any size, Eidelman said.
It makes tiny structures that serve as backyard studios that are only about 100 square feet in size, selling for less than $20,000, and larger 180 square foot tiny houses with baths, suitable for use as “accessory dwelling units” for guests, elderly parents or renters, which sell for between $40,000 and $50,000.
The company can print a home in one day, and unlike stick construction, the manufacturing is not limited to squares and rectangles.
“We can do curves,” Eidelman is quick to note.
It also can do up to 1,500 square feet in a single module, but the modules can be attached like Legos to make much bigger structures.
“That’s the beauty of 3D printing,” Eidelman said. “It’s very flexible.”
The company raised $5 million in capital last year and its in the midst of another $5 million raise this year, he said.
It’s using that money first to build its second plant, in Colorado, then it will build out its staff and infrastructure to grow and build additional manufacturing facilities.
The Akron area and Northeast Ohio generally are in the running, Eidelman said.
“Ohio is kind of establishing itself as a hub for 3D printing, and Akron is a polymer cluster. ... It just kind of makes sense,” Eidelman said. “I’m going to spend the rest of this year figuring out where to locate a couple more plants.”