In 2012 Nathaniel Mell, our founder was an artist just recently graduated from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University. That fall he was kicked out of his artists studio at the old Viking Mills property in East Kensington, the city had shut them down and he had to find somewhere to go. That's when he found an unheated corner of a building being renovated by what appeared to be a group of foolhardy idealists led by Brian Murray. The building later became MaKen Studios North and the team eventually became Shift Capital. The accommodation was temporary and he found a new space in South Kensington in 2013. Later, in 2014 he started Felt+Fat LLC which quickly grew and by 2016 when we needed to majorly expand, we circled back to talk with Brian and the team and ended up being one of the first new tenants at the South building where we stayed until this summer. Shift Capital has been a huge part of our growth story over these past ten years. Brian has always been there, championing our mission and introducing us to folks and the late Jeffrey Kahn was the first person to write a check, investing in Felt+Fat in 2022. They have been instrumental in providing us a place to grow and in making me more aware of the needs of this community. It was in 2020 that they introduced us to Baker Industries and helped change our hiring practice to focus on providing jobs to our direct community. We are forever grateful for everything this team has done to champion our business and this neighborhood we love.
The secret to strengthening place is to support great people and ambitious businesses. Nathaniel Mell - who started in a literal closet in MaKen Studios North - has not just built Felt+Fat LLC to be a great business but he is leading the way on the future of American manufacturing - one that knows that investing time and energy in multiple stakeholders - customers, employees, society and place - is great business. Nate could have left Philadelphia a few times in his trajectory. He certainly could have left Kensington for a "better" neighborhood and most people wouldn't have expected anything different. Maybe the economics would have been better if he had done so - or maybe, he wouldn't have had to deal with some of the headaches that come with doing business in a "tough" neighborhood. Instead, he recognized that building his business in Kensington was the story - it helped create the grit, the special ingredients that make his products soar. While Nate is leaving our MaKen community after going from the closet to a studio to a MUCH larger studio between our buildings, he will never leave the Shift Capital family. His decision to stay and continue to build in Kensington is a BIG deal. If you have read this far... then take a few more minutes to watch the video below and consider making an investment in the company. We don't have enough of these stories, so let's lean into Nate and Felt+Fat LLC so we can encourage the next business to follow. https://lnkd.in/eTPGRX9B