On June 18, 2014, President Obama hosted the first White House Maker Faire. The White House announcement said: “America has always been a nation of tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs.” It called the Maker Movement “a huge opportunity for the United States” and hoped it would “fuel the renaissance in American manufacturing.”
The first Maker Faire had taken place in San Mateo, California, in 2006. In June 2019 Maker Media, the company behind the fairs, laid off all 22 employees and went out of business. Founder Dale Dougherty said: “I started this 15 years ago and it’s always been a struggle as a business to make this work.” Dougherty then continued the work under the name Make Community.