Pogo Products, Jobs Engine For Iron Triangle, Holds Launch Party

Bay City News Service - http://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Pogo-Products-Jobs-Engine-For-Iron-Triangle-12331626.php
Published 5:00 am, Saturday, November 4, 2017

RICHMOND (BCN)

Pogo Products, a new for-profit social enterprise in Richmond, held a launch party Friday showcasing the play environments and products it designs and sells.

The social enterprise creates handcrafted play environments for children and also employs people who live in the Iron Triangle, one of Richmond's most neglected and underserved neighborhoods.

It's a spinoff of Pogo Park, an organization working to increase the number of play areas in Richmond. Since 2010, Pogo Park has built two playgrounds in the city, including Pogo Park #1, a playground with a zipline, a meadow and a stream.

About 250 people showed up for the launch party, which began at 10:30 a.m. at Harbour 8 Park, located at Harbour Way in the Richmond Greenway near the edge of the bay.

The city's mayor spoke, as well as Pogo Park Executive Director Toody Maher and others.

"I've been watching the activities of Pogo Park for 10 years now, and if there's ever a project that should get the attention of the rest of the country, if not the world, it's Pogo Park in the City of Richmond," said Mayor Tom Butt.

"Pogo Park is a new model for community-led parks for the State of California," said Viktor Patino of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. "The Pogo Park model really stands out for how it empowers and involves residents in every phase of design."

During the launch party, attendees visited Pogo Park's partner studios, a wood shop and a metal shop also at Harbour Way, and toured the Iron Triangle neighborhood, visiting a custom fabrication studio, Scientific Art Studio, which is also a partner of Pogo Products.

Since 2007, Pogo Park has hired more than 100 Iron Triangle residents and invested more than $16 million in the neighborhood, according to Maher.