Last week I mentioned the debut of Lunch Wagon, a weekly lunch cooked by Jason Barwikowski (formerly of the Woodsman Tavern, Olympic Provisions, Clyde Common) that features guest speakers with a connection to local manufacturing. The idea is to help encourage networking, resources, and discussion of the hurdles faced in bringing a variety of products to market. It's part of an ongoing discussion about the preservation of manufacturing infrastructure and the re-homing of production to the US, and in particular Portland, and takes place over meals sourced from Stargazer and other local farms. (Stargazer is also going to be hosting dinners and brunches around similar, more agriculturally focused conversations beginning next month; collectively the city/country events are called the Explorers Series.)

Last week kicked off with electronics inventor Travis Feldman, and this week's will feature Crowd Supply's Joshua Lifton, whose company offers crowdfunding as well marketing support, warehousing, and shipping services to support the launch of small manufacturing projects. And, I've also been asked to start moderating the Q & A portion of these events, so come on down and see me sometime. Events take place every Friday at noon at ADX, and tickets are $10 for members and $25 for non-members. (Conflict of interest pony suggests I mention that I'm moderating on a volunteer basis; you're paying for the food!)