Made in Wayne County: The Collaboration Behind the FabLab

A few years ago at the Wayne Economic Development Council’s Annual Meeting, guests received a small wooden block to display in their office or home. Printed on it were six simple words: There’s No Place Like Wayne County.

For those of us fortunate enough to live and/or work here, we know just how true that is. Great schools? Check. Quality health care? Check. Welcoming neighborhoods? Check. Beautiful downtowns and country landscapes? Check. The list goes on.

But perhaps one of the things that sets Wayne County apart most isn’t a place or an amenity at all. It’s our people, and the way they show up for one another. Our businesses and organizations are no different because, after all, they’re powered by those same people. When there’s a need, an idea or an opportunity to make our community better, Wayne County has a way of coming together to make it happen.

The new FabLab at Wayne Center for the Arts (WCA) is a perfect example.

Technically, the “Fab” in FabLab stands for fabrication, a fitting name for a space designed for making, creating and learning. But after hearing the stories of the businesses, organizations and individuals who collaborated to bring the new space to life, another fitting word for “Fab” comes to mind: fabulous.

While the equipment inside the FabLab is definitely impressive, the story of how it all came together is equally remarkable.

With such a diverse mix of businesses and resources right here in Wayne County, the pieces were already in place. WCA just needed to make the connections. Tiffany Leeper, WCA’s director of development, played an important role in building many of those partnerships, working alongside Executive Director Sara Brink, WCA staff and board members to rally community support around the project.

Seaman Corporation

One of the most visible examples of that collaboration is right over students’ heads, literally.

Wooster-based Seaman Corporation provided the roofing materials for the entire FabLab, an especially fitting contribution from a company known for innovation in high-performance coated fabrics and roofing systems.

With deep roots in Wayne County, Seaman Corporation has grown into a global manufacturer while maintaining a strong commitment to its community. Today, that commitment continues through the FabLab, with significant support from the company and the Seaman Family Foundation helping bring the new space to life.

It’s a partnership that feels particularly appropriate: a Wayne County manufacturer built on materials science and innovation helping create a space where the next generation will be encouraged to experiment, innovate and turn their own ideas into something real.

The Wooster Brush Company

Just outside the FabLab, another iconic Wayne County manufacturer helped add a splash of color to the Ralph R. and Grace B. Jones Arts Park. The Wooster Brush Company sponsored the mural on the park’s outdoor basketball court and provided Wooster Brush products to local muralist Allison Pence Art to help bring the colorful design to life.

The partnership seems especially fitting in 2026, as The Wooster Brush Company celebrates 175 years of manufacturing in Wayne County. While its products have traveled far beyond our county lines, this time they were put to work right here at home, helping a local artist transform a community space into a work of art.

E&H Ace Hardware + Milwaukee Tool

Of course, a FabLab needs tools, and lots of them. Fortunately, WCA had a neighbor who knew exactly where to turn. E&H Ace Hardware worked closely with WCA to outfit the new space and connected the organization with Milwaukee Tool's conversion program. Through a combination of donated products, reduced-cost purchases and opportunities to earn additional equipment, the partnership helped put professional-quality tools into the hands of FabLab students and instructors.

E&H’s connection to Wayne County spans generations, with third- and fourth-generation members of the Buehler family now carrying on the business. Its flagship E&H Ace Hardware store in downtown Wooster is also just a few blocks from WCA, making this collaboration especially close to home.

E&H brought its industry knowledge and relationships to the table, another example of how Wayne County businesses used their unique strengths to bring the FabLab vision to life.

Read more about the partnership between E&H Ace Hardware, Milwaukee Tool and WCA. The Right Tools for Creativity: E&H Ace Hardware and Milwaukee Tool Partner with WCA

Flextur

The connection between the FabLab and Wayne County's manufacturing heritage may be most visible in the space itself. Dalton-based Flextur helped outfit the facility with the work surfaces and organizational systems that give students and makers flexible, functional spaces to create.

Founded in 1978, the Amish-owned family business manufactures flexible workspaces and organizational solutions designed for real manufacturing environments. Flextur's products are built around making spaces more adaptable and efficient, qualities that translate just as naturally to a creative lab as they do to the manufacturing floor.

Seeing that same locally made equipment inside an arts facility is perhaps one of the clearest examples of what the FabLab represents: the place where Wayne County's culture of making meets its culture of creating.

Schaeffler

The collaboration doesn’t end with the FabLab itself. WCA is also looking at how experiences in the new space can introduce young people to career opportunities right here in Wayne County.

Brink and Leeper, along with FabLab Coordinator Aliva Maxwell, recently visited the Schaeffler Academy to learn more about its training model, welding labs and school-to-work pipeline. With the FabLab introducing students as young as middle school to metalworking and welding, the visit opened conversations about how WCA and Schaeffler might help connect those early experiences with future careers in industry.

Taken individually, each of these partnerships is a great story. Together, they tell an even better one. Materials, tools, expertise, workspaces and workforce connections all came together from across Wayne County to support the FabLab and what it can become. Different industries. Different contributions. But one shared community.

“The FabLab is really about giving people a place to experiment, make things, solve problems and discover what they’re capable of. We’re excited to offer classes that build workforce-adjacent skills, like working with tools, materials and technology, through a lens of creativity. There’s tremendous value in learning how to think creatively and approach a problem from different angles, and we’re proud to bring those opportunities to our community,” Brink said.

It’s a reminder that some of Wayne County’s greatest strengths are not only the diversity of businesses and organizations we have here, but the connections between them. Industry and art. Manufacturing and creativity. Business and community. When those worlds come together, ideas become possibilities, and possibilities become places like the FabLab.

And that list of great things about Wayne County? A community that has the resources, creativity and willingness to turn an idea like the FabLab into reality. Check.

To learn more about the WCA’s FabLab and its upcoming classes, visit wayneartscenter.org/fablab/.