This week’s Featured Maker Pledge Level includes a whole gift box of Portland treasures. MadeHere PDX is a retail space in downtown Portland that provides local businesses a place to sell and celebrate their crafts. The MadeHere PDX Gift Box includes the following items:

• Blackbird Granola - Bitter Chocolate
• Roots Soap Co. - Comfrey Mint
• Bohemian Beauty Co. - Bliss Lip Balm
• Jacobsen Salt Co. - Flake Salt slide tin
• Bee Local - Portland Farmland 4 oz.
• Woodblock Chocolates - Dark Milk bar
• Quin - Best of Oregon Caramels
• Albina City Nuts - Sweet & Salty Hazelnuts

MadeHere PDX Gift Box + Book + PMC Stickers ($105)

"A true celebration of Portland’s maker scene, MadeHere PDX is dedicated to showcasing excellent craftsmanship and a commitment to quality. Interestingly, sales are about split between locals and out-of-town visitors looking to take a piece of Portland back to their communities.

The vendors MadeHere chooses feature items that are “more than the sum of their parts,” says co-owner John Connor. The vendors are generally not in the early stages of their business but are instead producing in a volume that can consistently supply a consignment retail space. When MadeHere PDX first opened, it had approximately forty vendors. By spring of 2015 that number had doubled, and it doesn’t show signs of stopping anytime soon. Connor stresses that MadeHere PDX “wants to be a retail partner” with their makers to help them succeed. For some makers, this is their first foray into being in a retail location; Connor sees this as akin to a beta-testing experience—MadeHere is able to give makers specific feedback on their products based on what they hear directly and indirectly from customers. This can be extremely valuable to makers who have not had access to this kind of marketing and sales feedback before. MadeHere PDX also operates an online shop, www.madeherepdx.com, which has proven to be a successful pairing, especially for follow-up purchases for travelers who can’t easily return to the shop."

-Excerpt from Portland Made: The Maker’s of Portland’s Manufacturing Renaissance