Entrepreneurship : In the News

Portfolio.com features the Ben Franklin TechVentures incubator in Bethlehem, highlighting its 23-year history and track record of launching successful companies.

Ben Franklin touts a pretty impressive roster of achievements in its time. It has spawned 420 companies which have developed 1,017 new products and created 14,922 jobs, and generated $9.3 billion for the Pennsylvania economy. Among the companies funded are Ciclon, a semiconductor firm that was sold to Texas Instruments. It’s been successful enough that Ben Franklin is expanding campus to accommodate Ciclon, now called Texas Instruments Lehigh Valley.

Ben Franklin was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the nation's top 10 incubators.

Original source: Portfolio.com
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Film Journal International reports on the extensive restoration of the Campus Theatre, an art-deco movie house near Bucknell University in Lewisburg, and its upcoming reopening.

Lewisburg claims about 6,000 residents, Bucknell about 3,500 students, but the Susquehanna Valley, which encompasses four counties that border the river, boasts a population of 500,000, with a surprising number of universities and a major medical center within an hour’s drive of the theatre. “Coming to central Pennsylvania from Los Angeles, where I worked before Bucknell, was a culture shock,” (owner Eric) Faden recalls, “but I was blown away by the fact that audiences showed up for challenging films.” (public relations representative Mark) O’Brien, a more recent transplant from Washington, D.C., describes life among the rolling hills and farmland as “country living with city tastes” and sees the Campus’ reincarnation as part of the area’s cultural coming of age.

“What better way to assure the vitality of the community than to make sure its art scene is vibrant?” says O’Brien. “Bringing in manufacturing was once the way to go, but today seeding the arts is the preferred method of economic development. My dream is that within five years, partnering with the university, which has a gorgeous performing-arts center and another smaller theatre, Lewisburg will have an arts festival that will be an annual event. The city will become a destination, and the cinema will act as an economic engine.

Original source: Film Journal International
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What bothered Cohen about Blackboard was that it was designed to suit the technology of the 1990s but has not changed much since its original design. Cohen believes that with the advent of social networks like Facebook, there is an opportunity to create an academic social network that uses the latest technology to enhance learning.

Coursekit’s concept of an academic social network makes it easier for students and professors to share files -- including images, office documents, and videos -- on the equivalent of a Facebook wall. Coursekit also features the ability for professors to embed in their calendars their course files so it’s easier to adjust the online syllabus if there is a change in their schedules.

Benner contends that his garden systems will yield not just healthier and far-superior-tasting vegetables than those found in the typical grocery store, but a return on investment in less than two years. That's based on a calculation that three beds, planted compactly via a method known as "French intensive," will produce about 1,155 pounds of produce a year.

That, multiplied by the average cost per pound of produce in the grocery store, translates to a savings of $2,552 on groceries in the first year, according to the company's website, www.backyardfarmers.com.

A recent Harris Interactive online poll of 5,077 young people conducted on behalf of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found that 40 percent of youths ages 8 to 24 want to start a business in the future, or have already done so.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Survey 2010 also found 75 percent of 8- to 12-year-olds, 62 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds and 62 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds surveyed believe they can successfully start their own business if they work hard.

If that trend plays out here, that's good news for Erie's future, local economists and business experts said.

“Innovation has also flourished because we, as a nation, have invested in the success of these individual entrepreneurs,” the president said. “In America, innovation isn’t just how we change our lives. It’s how we make a living.”

Mr. Obama acknowledged that the tax credits he wants to provide would drain money from the Treasury. He received his largest applause when he reiterated his call for Congress to eliminate tax breaks for oil companies.

Nutter got the first question and the last one, and he generally spoke with confidence and clarity, defending President Obama and insisting economic recovery is coming to Philadelphia. He even managed to sound coherent on the un-answerable question of whether TSA airport searches are too intrusive.

A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that the rate of business startups is very stable from year to year, varying between 3% to 6%.  Entrepreneurship is resilient to both economic booms and busts which is good news for policymakers interested in a sustainable growth strategy that doesn't suffer from cyclical downturns. 

Moving forward, we must avoid the temptation to pick the "one approach that works best."  The reality is, you have to do a lot of things well. One of the strengths of Pittsburgh is that we have not put all of our eggs in one basket.  The  failed efforts to consolidate economic development has left us with a dynamic and flexible eco-system akin to a cloud-sourcing network for entrepreneurial support.  

ModCloth.com was headquartered in her dorm room and run with the help of her high school sweetheart, Eric Koger. The two drove from Pittsburgh to their South Florida hometown several times throughout college to haul up stock. By the end of their senior year in 2006, ModCloth was getting 60,000 visitors a month, and plenty of them were asking for more.

These days, as co-founder and chief creative officer, Gregg-Koger, 25, still handpicks all the clothes, shoes and accessories featured on the site (most sell for less than $100) and seeks out designers who fit ModCloth's aesthetic. Koger, the CEO, oversees the technical side. The site gets around 2 million visitors every month and is on track to surpass $50 million in sales this year. They've raised $20 million in new funding to open up offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles this summer, and employee numbers are close to 150, and rising.

Michele Dempsey, 38, president of DxDempsey, met Bobby Soper, president and CEO of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Plains Township, when he spoke at a POWER! outage.

When a Nevada retail group later contacted Soper asking him for an architect referral, one of the firms he suggested was DxDempsey. That referral led to her firm being selected as the architect for two retail stores at Mohegan Sun and as the design consultant for two stores in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino and another store in the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and possibly more to come, she said.

Original Source: Citizen's Voice

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The idea is for the new plant to be located next to a coal-burning power plant. The carbon dioxide from that plant would be captured and instead of contributing to climate change, would be pumped into a series of enclosed 400-foot "raceways" where it would accelerate the growth of the algae, which is a champion carbon absorber.

The oxygen released by the algae would be captured and pumped back into the power plant to make its burning of coal cleaner and more efficient, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions and increasing the production of electricity by between 5 percent to 15 percent using the same amount of coal.

At a Capitol event, the governor said KIZs across the state have used state and private financing to help researchers based at universities and colleges create new products and companies and 4,000 jobs as a result. The institute is the umbrella organization for KIZ programs in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties. A research-based start-up firm in an area designated as a KIZ can apply for state tax credits. The 14 participating universities and colleges in the region can get state aid to hire top academic researchers.

The Northeast KIZ has given priority to fostering research and development in information technology, advanced manufacturing and biotech fields in hopes it can boost the economy, said institute President Christopher J. Haran, who attended the event.

Original Source: Scranton Times-Tribune

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'Bioreplication began about 2001 or 2002,' said Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Godfrey Binder Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics. 'All the techniques currently available are not conducive to mass replications. In many cases you can make as many replicas as you want, but you need an insect for each replication. This is not good for industrial purposes.'

Lakhtakia, working with Drew Patrick Pulsifer, graduate student in engineering science and mechanics; Carlo G. Pantano, distinguished professor of materials science and engineering and director of Penn State's Materials Research Institute; and Raul Jose Martin-Palma, professor of applied physics, Universidad Autonomia de Madrid, Spain, developed a method to create macroscale moulds or dies that retain nanoscale features.

Original Source: Science Centric

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"Here's this (market) that is huge, that is really important, that needs innovation, and there's just nothing out there to sort of foster it," said Doug Lynch, vice dean of Penn's Graduate School of Education. "Let's create a Silicon Valley around education."

K-12 schools and degree-granting institutions spend more than $1 trillion on education annually, federal statistics show. That represents immense potential for entrepreneurs - if they can resist the lure of more established tech firms and trendier ventures like social networks.

Original Source: Associated Press

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According to the latest report by the USDA, the number of markets in the country tripled since the mid-1990s. They're being touted as the panacea for everything from the obesity epidemic to the exploitation of farmers by big-chain supermarkets. Locavores love them. Environmentalists adore them. Raw foodies can't do without them.

Linda Aleci, a historian and co-founder of the Local Economy Center at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, undertook a three-year study of the farmers' market in her city. Her findings suggested that the local farmers' market -- serving a poor, food-insecure community -- was suffering from the growth of markets in the Philadelphia metro region and in Lancaster County. Salon spoke to her to find out more.

His story goes: One day he was walking around Kennywood wearing a blue "He-Man" T-shirt and at least six people came up to him and asked where he got the shirt.

"It just kind of became obvious that there is a demand for this, and people don't know where they can find it. That kind of gave me the idea," Mr. Stecko said.

"All reuse is a form of recycling, but not all recycling is reuse," says Brian Swearingen, the head of Construction Junction's deconstruction crew. "In deconstruction and reuse, we're taking that same material, but using it for the same purpose, or slightly altering it for another purpose.  When you do that, you're saving energy, because you have less transportation costs, less energy costs, and no re-manufacturing costs, which are high.  A good example is a metal table.  If you recycle that at a landfill, you have to put it on a truck, probably put it on a train, possibly put it on a ship, and send it maybe halfway around the world to make what is oftentimes a similar product."  

State Sens. Bob Mensch, R-Montgomery, and Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton, will co-chair the bipartisan caucus, which they said would meet regularly to consider legislative solutions to attract and retain businesses, foster economic development and create family-sustaining jobs.

“We cannot sit idly by and continue to watch Pennsylvania jobs move out of state or out of the country,” Boscola said.“This jobs caucus will work to create an environment where businesses can thrive and flourish, and in turn expand their work force.”

The 5,000-square-foot addition was created by converting unused space in the back of the center, which was formerly used as a printing and distribution warehouse for D.A. Lewis.

The project was funded primarily by Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research, the research arm of the Hepatitis B Foundation, both of which are based in--and helped establish--the center. The center also received a $200,000 state of Pennsylvania Keystone Innovation Zone grant that was used to create teaching lab space in the wing.

Original Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

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Williams, founder and CEO of Pennsylvania-based social services group HumanWorks Affiliates, was thrust with his 11 orphaned siblings into the New York City foster care system when he was 5 years old. Today, as a successful entrepreneur, CEO and motivational speaker, he helps children and adults with similar circumstances break free of their difficult pasts, to find success in all aspects of their lives.

He reflected on his mother’s death and time spent as an orphan; he could easily be a victim and let his future failure be the result of his past hardships, but he chose not to. “I learned something very impactful from a colleague, who likened our lives to a long train journey,” Williams says. “I’m on a train ride that my mother is on with me. There are stops that she would have expected me to take, and I’ll make those, but I’m going to make some stops that’ll surprise her and make her proud, too. It’s all part of life’s journey.

A Marywood University professor, in collaboration with professors at three other universities, is developing a product that would monitor senior citizens' activites in their homes, check vital signs during sleep and even keep tabs on environmental health inside the home.

Dr. Herbert Hauser, an assistant professor of psychology at Marywood , said he is hopeful the Marywood University Remote Elderly Monitoring System will be ready for consumers in 12 to 24 months.

Original Source: Times-Tribune

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"Jim was very entrepreneurial, but he also has a very good sense of public service," said William R. Newlin, a longtime friend and business associate. "He had a vision not only to promote business, but to develop the entire community around what could be done with financing and growing technology companies."

The funding was awarded through three programs-- the Targeted Corridor Management Program, the Business Technical Assistance Program and the ReStore Retail Incentive Grant Program--and is part of $72 million being invested by the city aimed at spurring economic development.

The Restore Retail Incentive Grant program, launched last year, committed $925,000 to 23 new or expanding businesses in 2009 that leveraged $4.1 million of private investment and created an estimated 56 construction jobs and an estimated 237 new retail jobs.

The search engine giant generated the figures in the report by examining the number of businesses, website publishers and nonprofits using its search and advertising tools.

Nationwide, the company (NASDAQ:GOOG) said it’s search and advertising tools generated $54 billion in economic activity.

The Pepsi Co. is giving away millions of dollars to community projects, and the local group wants to finish in the top 10 of projects to have the funding to hold free cultural events on the River Common.

Besides the events, the Cultural Council identified several goals if it receives the Pepsi grant: to build a sense of community in neighborhoods, educate the public on the Susquehanna River, program a year-long season of events and positively influence people’s lives.

Original Source: Times Leader

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Five senators, including PA's Bob Casey, are fighting to make venture capital firms exempt from investment manager taxes, Bloomberg reports.

Brown, along with Democratic Senators Patty Murray of Washington, Mark Warner of Virginia, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, said subjecting venture firms to higher tax rates on so-called carried interest would hurt job creation and “could not occur at a worse time.”

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is considering adding the proposed higher tax rate on carried interest to broader legislation. Carried interest is the profit share paid to managing partners of firms as part of their pay. That share, which lawmakers say is payment for services, currently can qualify for long-term capital gains rates of 15 percent.

Original Source: Bloomberg News

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The Lehigh Valley economy is on the road to recovery, with more companies hiring people than shedding workers for the first time since July 2008.

The news doesn't mean unemployed workers will suddenly find a vast number of jobs to choose from. But it does reverse the troubling trend of their ranks swelling while opportunities shrank. And for those working who feared they could be laid off, such a trend, in general, makes that less likely.

Quench, a King of Prussia water filtration company has partnered with the Virgin Green Fund to reduce plastic waste in offices, the New York Times reports.

Quench water systems are better for the environment because they do not require trucks to crisscross cities and deliver jugs, and they alleviate health concerns about drinking water that has been exposed to plastic for long periods, said Dan Kuzmak, its chief executive.

“We think water is the next oil, that it is the most underpriced asset on the face of the planet,” said Shai Weiss, a Virgin partner. Virgin Green Fund led a $13 million investment in the company.

Original Source: New York Times

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Mr. Burke brings nearly 40 years of economic development experience to the post, having joined the chamber staff in the early 1970s before becoming president in 1981.

The chamber operates as the lead economic development agency in Lackawanna County, developing business and industrial parks and operating loan funds. Its budget is in excess of $4 million.

Original Source: Times-Tribune

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The Greater Wilkes-Barre Development Corp., the real-estate arm of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry which owns the Innovation Center, proposed to construct a new building.

The project would provide support to more than 33 new start-up companies and has the potential to create about 205 new jobs and more than $35 million in wages during the first 10 years of operation, chamber officials said.

“We are seeing a lot of great activity in Pittsburgh,” said Amy Dorfmeister, IPO sector leader covering Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania for Ernst & Young. “Ernst & Young is placing a significant investment in the greater Pittsburgh marketplace.”

She noted the region had two successful IPOs in the fourth quarter of 2009 in Education Management Corp. and Rue 21 with combined proceeds in excess of $450 million. Additionally, the area started off the year with the technology startup DynaVox filing for an IPO and shares of that company began trading April 22.

In its monthly look at state job trends, the Labor Department said Friday that Maryland led the country with a gain of 35,800 payroll jobs last month. Virginia and Pennsylvania also posted increases that topped 20,000 in the month.

By contrast, Michigan continued to have the nation's highest unemployment rate at 14.1 percent, and also led the country in job losses in March with a decline of 9,500. Nevada and Florida also posted sizable job losses and were among 17 states recording job losses during the month.

Nationally, the unemployment remained unchanged at 9.7 percent in March while payrolls grew by 162,000, the biggest gain in three years.

Insituvue--insitu is a medical term that means in place--plans to market two versions of the product. The first, to be launched early next year, is a battery-powered caddy. The second version will be a more compact, handheld version of the same product.

"Our tool is not intended as a diagnostic tool. It's an aid to interventional procedures," explains Rosensteel. "This allows professionals to see the needle at the point of entry and avoid putting it in the wrong place. It will decrease overall procedure time, lower cost and lower risk."

AA Japan Co., led by Takashi Sawada and Shunsuke Komatsu, anticipates opening 82 of the stores in Japan during the next five years. The first store is expected to open in the Tokyo area before the end of the year, according to Auntie Anne’s.

The initial license fee for an Auntie Anne’s international franchise agreement is $150,000-$300,000, and ongoing royalties are typically 5 percent of sales, Valerie Kinney, the company’s director of communications, wrote in an e-mail.With the agreement, Auntie Anne’s will have a presence in 23 countries.    

The line's look is so popular--think Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch--that the retailer opened its fifth stand-alone store earlier this month and, this fall, will fund a scholarship at its namesake college west of Philadelphia.

Franklin and Marshall the company was founded by a pair of entrepreneurs in Verona in 1999, more than 200 years after Franklin & Marshall the college was founded in Lancaster by a gift from Benjamin Franklin.Giuseppe Albarelli and Andrea Pensiero were inspired to create their high-end sportswear by an authentically old F&M sweatshirt they found at a secondhand shop in London. 

(Brett) Satterfield took the 88-year-old Rollier's Hardware store in Mt. Lebanon online, and the storied retailer on Washington Road found itself competing with big-box operations.

He fielded Google search traffic to his retail site from across the country with the help of Google AdWords, and was subsequently drafted as a freelance supporter by the company that helped him get there.

On the Internet, "you can look big without being big," he said.

When the two joined forces in 2007, Mr. Boduch was in San Francisco after stints at some public companies and Mr. Damarla was in Pittsburgh, noticing that people were starting to text like crazy. SMaSh "creates a platform for more sophisticated text messages"-- mass text messages that present various options based on how you reply.

Trends are on their side: A forecast released last month by network provider Cisco estimates mobile traffic will see a 39-fold increase in the next five years.

The Dexter F. Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation will ''actively foster and champion the entrepreneurial culture at Lehigh'' by supporting existing business-related programs, the school said.

Baker, a 1950 Lehigh graduate, joined Air Products in 1952 and retired from the Trexlertown-based company in 1992 as chairman of the board and chief executive.

While Hershey is a better-known Pennsylvania chocolate company, Sarris's is Pittsburgh's own. Mr. Sarris in 2009 made giant chocolate trophies for the Steelers and Penguins, the local pro teams that won national championships that year. Over the years, the company has also made 800-pound castles that took seven weeks to build and 25-pound grand pianos, all out of chocolate. Buses brought in tourists to gawk and eat ice cream made on the premises.

The Small Business Administration named Mr. Sarris one of the nation's top small-business figures at a White House ceremony in 2001. He was well-known as a philanthropist, and construction on the Canonsburg Public Library started the day Mr. Sarris died.

"As a total package it's absolutely unique," says John Werling, president." We have the ability to understand alternative funding sources, whether grants or loans, or rebate programs through the state. We look at the total technology solutions and funding opportunities."

Funded in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the more than $14 million Center is undergoing its third expansion in as many years. In fact, since it opened in 2006, the Center has grown from 63,000 square feet in one building to a total of 100,000 square feet in two buildings located on a 10-acre campus in Doylestown, a suburb of Philadelphia.

FCI Commercialization Fund in Erie is raising $30 million for a select group of research institutions--including University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon--primarily for nanotechnology and cyber security startups. Investments will range between $1 and $2 million, says Kurt Buseck, a managing partner in the fund.

"There are huge opportunities in these areas," Buseck says. "Lots of corporations are looking for research to drive their innovation and we're bridging that gap." 

Similar to the way Apple offers apps, AardvarQ has built a hosted AppStore framework for companies that sell portable medical devices, point-of-sale tools, diagnostic and industrial automation devices. The framework is a novel approach that enables companies to distribute applications and updates to their mobile devices through a fully branded, online storefront, explains Greg Quiggle, CEO.

"The secret sauce is the way we dynamically build each storefront," says Quiggle, who previously spent 15 years in the commercial device business. "Manufacturers configure the branding, available applications and accessibility options on a per device basis through AardvarQ's Device Dashboard."

"It's really part of the culture here," says 34-year-old Krawiec, who keeps at least three types of soup on the menu of his Cafe du Jour each winter. "It lends itself to the cold weather, and you get to be creative with the ideas."

From his office perch on the second floor of a mini-industrial park, Mr. Tait--whose anonymous four buildings have no sign identifying them as Tait Towers--can see the Clair Brothers’ factory and warehouse just past a farmhouse, and then look right toward Atomic Design’s studios. Tait employs about 130 designers, technicians, welders, machinists and assemblers and, like those at Clair and Atomic, almost all of them come from a 20-mile radius.

“There is a tremendously motivated population here, but I guess that is tradition,” Mr. Tait said. “There are motor heads and rockers and just plain machinists and smart people, a good sampling."

The $9.2 million in grants and loans the Commonwealth Financing Authority approved today, he added, will benefit seven projects throughout the state that are showing how alternative energy can conserve resources and cut expenses--two aspects that are critical to Pennsylvania’s long-term economic competitiveness.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority administers Pennsylvania's economic stimulus programs, including portions of the $650 million Alternative Energy Investment Fund.

"At any one time, I'll have 100 resumes from men and women wanting to be part of our program," said (Greenhouse CEO John) Manzetti, himself a former participant.

The Greenhouse nurtures small companies by providing executive talent, but also invests in companies, with $15 million placed into 60 companies to help leverage about $500 million in additional capital.

Executives are paid between $140,000 and $220,000 annually, but Greenhouse officials say money isn't why they come to Pittsburgh, and that many actually take a pay cut for the prospect of picking where they will work next.

And making money is what Miller Farm is doing. "I can't meet all the demand," says Amos Miller. He relies on additional supplies of product from his brother, John, who "grows the produce that we ferment and process here," and from three other neighboring Amish and Mennonite farmers.

What distinguishes Miller Farm from others, such as celebrity farmer Joel Salatin's farm in Virginia, which has helped popularize nutrient-dense foods, is that Miller has gone national--and done it without modern conveniences. His main concessions to modern life are a generator for refrigeration to cool certain foods and a landline telephone (717-556-0672) to take orders from distributors and mail-order customers. He also relies on FedEx (FDX) for shipping orders to customers.

Penn has started operating under a five-year lease while the Northside Leadership Conference finalizes an agreement with owner N&O Partners to buy the property, the former Eberhardt & Ober that's now listed with the National Register of Historic Places. The leadership conference's subsidiary, the Northside Community Development Fund, provided $300,000 in loans for the brewery to buy equipment, with the help of the city Urban Redevelopment Authority and Huntington Bank.

That will cover new keg cleaning and filling equipment on order from Germany that Penn needs to begin selling draft beer. (Company president Tom) Pastorius said that won't happen until the end of January or early February, and the restaurant looks to open in late February or March.

"It's exciting and in many ways an ending but also a beginning," says Patrick McGregor, who formed the company with Matt White, a former Carnegie Mellon roommate. "We've taken the company from two people and a power point presentation to a world class encryption company. This will allow us to grow the company faster than we could have done on our own." The firm won the Pittsburgh Technology Council's 2008 award for best information technology firm.

Researchers and educators in Penn State University's College of Agricultural Sciences have received grants of more than $1.3 million to help grow a new generation of farmers, reports Gant Daily.

The funding is part of more than $17 million in grants authorized in the 2008 federal farm bill under the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program, a U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative designed to address the education, training and technical assistance needs of this next wave of farm operators.

While the lure of "custom farming"--raising unique animals, specialty crops or products for niche food markets--is as an upward trend appealing to many would-be farmers, both Penn State projects identify access to training, land and capital as the biggest barriers to entering the field.

Original source: Gant Daily
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Farmers markets boost growers' profits, says the acting secretary of the PA Department of Agriculture, reports the Daily Courier.

"The message is simply about the importance of agriculture to the economy," Russell Redding said in an interview before a luncheon with the group. "It's a business without walls. The same practices that apply to Main Street apply to agriculture."

As an example, Redding acknowledged the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council's work to promote agriculture through its efforts to start farmers markets in the county.

Original source: Daily Courier
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With a niche in the clean room technology demanded for high-tech pharmaceuticals, HWI Global of Pittsburgh finds its business is booming, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Incorporated less than six years ago, HWI, with 14 full-time employees, has found a niche as a full-service provider of what's known as customized clean rooms that are free of germs, bacteria and other contaminants. From blueprints to installation, they handle everything for jobs that typically run $350 to $500 per square foot, but can range from as low as $150 per square foot to more than $1,000 per square foot.

It also is a growing niche: HWI reports that revenues were $1.2 million in 2007, jumped to $5.2 million in 2008, held steady through this year's recession that required temporary pay cuts, and already approach $6 million in back orders for 2010. Earlier this year, they set up a satellite office in North Carolina's Research Triangle Park.

"I learned how to build it, how to design it and manufacture it for turnkey completion on a smaller scale," said president Deric Haddad.

Read the full story here.
Original source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania announced investments in five early-stage PA companies totaling $950,000, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Listen Logic was approved to receive the largest investment, $250,000. The Fort Washington company has technology that allows its customers to track what's being said about them on the Internet, regardless of the format in which the comments appear. It previously had received a $150,000 investment from Ben Franklin.

Original source: Philadelphia Business Journal
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The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development's deputy secretary for technology investment says there is state money available for clean, renewable and alternative energy projects and businesses, reports the Lebanon Daily News.

"You might have heard some rumors that state government is broke. Well, we actually have quite a bit of money for clean, renewable and alternative-energy projects and businesses," said John Sider, Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment at DCED.

Sider said a focus of the department is to find ways to finance innovation. The department provides seed money for early-stage technology companies and accelerating technology commercialization. It also provides assistance to entrepreneurs, such as management assistance.

Original source: Lebanon Daily News
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The award-winning Adams County Economic Development Corporation celebrated its 20th birthday last week, reports the Gettysburg Times.

Board members, past presidents and other invited guests filled the banquet room at the Eisenhower Hotel and Conference Center to hear stories such as the development of the Adams Commerce Park at the intersection of U.S. Route 15 and Pa. Route 30 and the growth of ACEDC's loan program.

The park, which houses Pella, Battlefield Harley Davidson/Buell, a Wellspan Health center, Adams County National Bank headquarters, Battlefield Kia, Davidson Motor Company and other businesses, is one of the more recognizable and visible results of ACEDC's work. It led the group to be named the Pennsylvania Economic Development Authority's "Small Agency Of The Year."

Original source: Gettysburg Times
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Alternative energy is poised to be the next big thing in Pennsylvania, adding jobs here and nationwide, reports the Times Leader.

"We focus a lot on the products, but we don't necessarily focus on the manufacturing," said Jason Brady, who works for the Sierra Club and the alliance to increase its presence in Pennsylvania.

To do so, the alliance is calling for comprehensive climate-change and clean-energy legislation that would mandate 25 percent of energy come from renewable sources by 2025. Such a goal would create 850,000 jobs overall and 42,000 in Pennsylvania, according to the alliance's report.

Original source: Times Leader
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AdMob, a mobile phone advertising start-up founded in the University of Pennsylvania dorm room of Wharton School student Omar Hamoui in 2006, has been acquired by Google, reports Bloomberg.

AdMob raised venture capital from Sequoia, Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Northgate Capital. Sales should more than double this year, AdMob Chief Executive Officer Omar Hamoui said in an interview today. The company will benefit from Google’s resources, including its engineering teams and technology.

“We chose Google, and we chose that over an independent path; and we chose that over other options,” Hamoui said. “We’re very excited about getting to Google. We feel like we’re going to be like kids in a candy store.”

Original source: Bloomberg
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Wellspring Worldwide, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, has acquired Flintbox Innovation Network of Canada and expects to hire up to seven people in the next 18 months, reports Pop City.

Founded in 2003, Wellspring aspires to be a global leader in technology commercialization software, helping universities, small businesses and non-profits to translate intellectual property into successful commercial enterprises. Acquiring Flintbox, a sort of Ebay for university technologies, allows Wellspring to combine the two platforms and expand the client base, says Rob Lowe, CEO.

Original source: Pop City
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The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission released its official comprehensive economic development strategy for Greater Philadelphia, reports the Times Herald.

Created in partnership with Select Greater Philadelphia and Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the document was recently approved by the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as the region’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). This designation means that economic development projects in the region are eligible for EDA funding.

“There is a lot of collaboration among many organizations in economic development planning, and there is a collective vision that emerges when these efforts are viewed as a whole,” said DVRPC Executive Director, Barry Seymour. “DVRPC was proud to lead such a high-profile project in order to help Greater Philadelphia become more sustainable and economically competitive.”

Original source: Times Herald

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According to Jennifer L. Swain, executive director of the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance and Artisan Trail Coordinator, the event is designed for buyers and directors for gift shop, restaurant, lodging site owners, school districts, hospitals, and assisted living-nursing homes from the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania and the Southern Tier of New York; as well as producers such as artists, specialty food producers, and growers.

"There's a lot of work going on right now around the concept of buying and selling local artwork and local foods. One popular suggestion in the Northern Tier is the creation of a wholesale show that features regional artwork, specialty foods and produce," Swain said.

The region combines [its] talent pool with a mix of highly educated students from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University. Those institutions helped make Pittsburgh a leader in robotics, healthcare, and artificial intelligence.

Close to 70 businesses and organizations participated in the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce's "Vision for the Valley--The Next Generation Business Show" at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center, reports the Lebanon Daily News.

Although E&E Solar is quickly gaining interest from potential residential customers, Erb said, the target clients are small business and agriculture.

E&E Solar's decision to offer its own financing, combined with state and federal tax credits/rebates, means that the payback for installing a solar system comes in three to six years, Erb said.

Among their titles are the tabletop art books "Dale Gallon, Historical Art," featuring many of the Civil War paintings on display at the artist's Gettysburg gallery, and "Work in Progress," showcasing the late Lancaster artist Constantine "Gus" Kermes.

But in general, LifeReloaded's strategy for success is not based on volume, as was almost a necessity before the digital age, but on quality in smaller quantities.

Gigmax.com LLC, an online storage company founded by Lehigh University students, received a $15,000 grant from Southside Bethlehem Keystone Innovation Zone, reports The Brown and White.

Gigmax.com offers users two gigabytes of storage space, with unlimited bandwidth and no maximum file size, removing the need for flash drives or e-mailing documents.

The company plans to use the funds to improve the site's interface, launch a new desktop application and implement various subscription plans for extra storage space.

Original source: The Brown and White
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Innovation Works invested $350,000 in three new companies over the summer, reports the Pittsburgh Business Times.

Chief Investment Officer Matt Harbaugh said they were among 14 local companies that received capital of more than $40 million from angel investors and venture capital firms during the third quarter, and that the other 11 were companies previously funded by Innovation Works.

Original source: Pittsburgh Business Times
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Although Pittsburghers can be justifiably proud of our high rankings on quality of life, we should be embarrassed that we rank near the bottom on lists of places to start a business. Attracting entrepreneurs and helping them find investors should be a central and visible piece of our region's economic development strategy. It's not enough to have our technology-based organizations working on it; it has to be a priority for all of our elected officials and civic leaders, as well as the average citizen.

Local officials detailed accomplishments and plans to make Lycoming County as business-friendly as possible at an economic summit hosted by the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, reports the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.

Williamsport Mayor Gabriel J. Campana said he believes city government's role is to "create a positive climate so business" can thrive.

Campana discussed initiatives the city is involved with to promote economic development, including the sale of the Kennedy-King property to Moran Industries for $310,000, road upgrades to improve access to the Reach Road Industrial Park and improvements to the city Web site so that it promotes programs that help business.

Original source: Williamsport Sun-Gazette
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While some didn't initially take it seriously, Pittsburgh is an ideal choice to host the G-20 Global Economic Summit later this month, reports Forbes magazine.

Pittsburgh is, in other words, a big city with a small-city mindset. Or maybe it's a small city with big-city ideas. Either way, it is negotiating--sometimes precariously, sometimes with aplomb--a balance between these two spheres. As city councilman Bill Peduto says, "It is figuring out how to become global while staying local." Which is perhaps the greatest challenge in this age of rapid globalization and economic turmoil.

Original source: Forbes
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The 120 year-old Pittsburgh Seltzer Works quickly picked up a new owner, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

"We worked [nearly] 15 years with the company. It was time to turn it over to someone else," said Evan Hirsh, the previous co-owner of the Pittsburgh Seltzer Works who partnered with David Faigen and Paul Supowitz. The three purchased the company in 1997 for $30,000.

Now, the Seltzer company is under the new ownership of John Seekings and Jim Rogal. The two men wanted to try something new after already partnering in marketing, advertising consulting and on various syndicated columns.

They purchased the company Wednesday for the same price the previous owners paid for it.

Original source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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A new medical school building and a mix of residential and commercial projects have North Philadelphia bustling with development, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

John Kromer, former director of the city's Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD), said that the city's decision to make "lower North Philadelphia a priority" for new-home-ownership programs in the early 1990s spurred private development now going on near Temple.

Kromer, author of Fixing Broken Cities: The Implementation of Urban Development Strategies, said the city's efforts and the Philadelphia Housing Authority's push to build new houses in a long-ignored section of North Philadelphia have helped to save the area.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Owner Dinny Kinloch's firm will create a logo, business card, radio script or newspaper advertisement for a company at no cost when that business spends $100 with another downtown merchant.

"This program allows small businesses that need marketing help to get professional advice they may not be able to afford just by supporting other downtown businesses," Kinloch said in a news release.

Tom Pastorius, who founded the brewery in 1986 and sold most of it to Birchmere Capital in 2003, is working with a group of investors who have negotiated to buy back Birchmere's stock. They've applied for a $300,000 Urban Redevelopment Authority loan for working capital as part of a plan to fix up and return brewing to the building.

"This investment facilitates the advancement of our existing lead molecules toward a major milestone," President and CEO Hank Safferstein said in a statement. "Our combination of novel, small molecule drug candidates and biologically-relevant screening methods is unique in the pharmaceutical industry."

Two economic development groups--Innovation Works and the life Sciences Greenhouse--participated in the funding, led by Ogden CAP LLC of New York.

York County has enough land to keep pace with economic development for at least 10 years, reports the York Dispatch.

Projections show a demand for 7.8 million square feet of office, retail and industrial space over a 10-year span, according to the study, conducted by the consulting firm Basile Bauman Prost Cole & Associates.

With about 5,246 acres appropriately zoned and available for those types development, the county can accommodate about 27 million square feet of development.

 

The study was formally adopted Wednesday into the county's comprehensive plan, which is used by the planning commission to help municipalities manage growth.

East Stroudsburg University has received a $191,320 grant from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to create an Entrepreneurial Leadership Center, reports the Pocono Record.

The ELC plans to collaborate with East Stroudsburg University and the community to provide start-up business services such as business plan support, networking opportunities, and referrals to the ESU Business Accelerator program.

The ELC, already in the works, is part of the university's division of Research and Economic Development, and will be in the new Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship under construction at the corner of Route 447 and Brown Street in East Stroudsburg. The new building is the anchor for the new ESU Research and Business Park that is anticipated to open in the spring of 2010.

Original Souce: Pocono Record
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The head of the Allentown Arts Commission is hoping to build the city's first multidisciplinary arts center and transform the city's troubled downtown, reports the Morning Call.

That's also his vision for 808 Hamilton St., a four-story building currently only housing a variety store at street level. He'd like to build a black-box theater on the top floor, put up walls for art exhibits on the second and save the third for what the future may bring--offices, dance recitals, whatever the art community needs.

The property sits next to the Allentown Brew Works, and owner George Huang of Heights Realty in New York is committed to fostering an arts community in Allentown, he said. Several floors are only an elevator overhaul and a few air conditioning tweaks from being viable space, Skrapits believes.

Original Souce: Morning Call
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The revolving loan fund will be available to start-up and growing businesses, according to a release from the URA. The fund will provide low-interest loans of up to $200,000, or 60 percent of a project's cost for working capital, equipment purchases and real estate, and give recipients access to a "technical assistance consultant" to provide guidance during the initial loan term.

Pocono Raceway, which hosted first of two annual NASCAR events last weekend, isn't changing what makes it unusual, reports the Associated Press.

The track's two races will always be 500 miles long, even as drivers and critics beg for 100 miles to be sliced off each. And those names, the Pocono 500 and Pennsylvania 500, will remain traditional and eschew corporate sponsorship.

The track is a 2.5-mile triangle and boasts the longest straightaway (3,740 feet) in the series.

And with a fourth-generation of Mattiolis in line to run the raceway, Pocono will never be for sale. Not to Bruton Smith. Not anyone.

Original Souce: Associated Press
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Harrisburg's longest-tenured mayor was defeated in the Democratic primary after 27 years of creating economic development and $4.6 billion in investments in the city, reports the Central Penn Business Journal.

The mayor also invested millions of dollars in the redevelopment of blighted houses and other broken-down properties in uptown Harrisburg, Allison Hill and other parts of the city. He transformed City Island into a bustling entertainment complex. His most recent and maybe the most significant brainchild is the creation of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. The school just put the finishing touches on its $73 million home at Fourth and Market streets.

Last week, Reed was unseated by City Council President Linda Thompson in the Democratic primary. Nevin Mindlin, legislative director for the Pennsylvania Bar Association, won the Republican nod for November's election. The primary paved the way for a post-Reed economy, leaving many wondering what that would look like.

Original Souce: Central Penn Business Journal
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Beer and history are intertwined for Pennsylvania tourists with a palate for hops and adventure, reports the Winnipeg Sun.

Heading west from Philadelphia on Interstate 76 will take you to Route 222 and north into Adamstown where you'll find Stoudt's Brewery (stoudtsbeer.com).

Evolving out of a country kitchen Ed Stoudt opened in 1962, it's now a major regional microbrewery with distribution in 10 states and a brand lineup containing some amusing names: Smooth Hoperator, Scrawny Dog Stout and Old Abominable barley wine.

Stoudt's is also making a name for itself in the cuisine game. On-site it has a popular local pub and houses the top-flight Black Angus steakhouse.

Original Souce: Winnipeg Sun
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Northeast Pennsylvania art shop owner Ken Marquis's Landfillart Project turns hubcaps into art and creates awareness about environmental concerns, reports the Citizens Voice.

After seven months, Marquis has artists involved from every state and 44 countries throughout the world. But he says the project is only 40 percent complete. At its conclusion more than 1,000 artists will have completed the same project--turning a hubcap destined for the landfill into a piece of great art.

Marquis first asked local artist friends from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties to create art using one of the hubcaps. Each artist was given a primed hubcap--or a "metal canvas" as Marquis calls them--and they could do whatever they wanted with it. To Marquis' surprise and delight, none of them flinched when he gave them a hubcap as a canvas.

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A canceled order forced Theodore DelGazio's Main Line Engineering Associates of Exton into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but sacrifice and a return to basics has the company back on track, reports Forbes Magazine.

The petition included DelGaizo's narrative detailing how the company fell ill and what it would do to recover. Next, he hammered out a payment plan for all of MLEA's creditors to vote on. (Debtors owing less than $2.2 million, adjusted annually for inflation, have 300 days to submit a restructuring plan to the judge; they have another 45 days to get creditor approval.)

MLEA pored over every vendor contract to decide whether to assume or reject it. Assumed contracts--say, a utility bill--would be paid in full; rejected ones (like those for the nitrogen-plant gear) would entail a payment by MLEA of only a fraction of the amount owed.

Three months later DelGaizo presented his 25-page restructuring plan to the court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. "I told [the judge] that we would never take on another of these turnkey projects again," he says. "For us, getting out of trouble was about getting back to basics." MLEA's approved penance: full restitution to the asset-based lender and 15 cents on the dollar to unsecured suppliers. That erased $1 million of debt from the books.

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Remnants of a downtown Scranton industrial structure gutted by fire 15 months ago will be replaced by a multi-million dollar, upscale apartment complex, reports the Times-Tribune.

The four-story, brick complex, simply called 317, will include 40 high-end apartments and incorporate the upper floors of the former Penguin Lounge building, a three-story structure at 324 Penn Ave., that Mr. Joyce’s group acquired in 2006.

"There are upper-end paying people that are looking for a better place," said Charles Hibble, owner of Weichert Realty, Hibble & Associates, who redeveloped a warehouse section at the rear of the former Coon Building, 329 Penn Ave., into six luxury apartments in 2006. "I have a waiting list. I get people calling me all the time."

Some interest comes from the Commonwealth Medical College, which will open in the fall. Medical students have committed to rent dozens of the apartments, which start at $1,500 a month for two-bedroom units, Mr. Joyce said.

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Three projects in Luzerne County were awarded a combined $4.3 million in state funding that will result in nearly 500 new jobs, reports the Times-Tribune.

Misericordia will receive $2.75 million to expand the College of Health Sciences--a $6 million project that will address the growing need for health care professionals--that is expected to create 25 full-time jobs and an estimated 57 construction jobs.

Nearly $1.6 million in grants will be awarded to new businesses opening in the CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Jenkins and Pittston townships, said Michael Rossman, director of the Governor's Action Team, which is made up of economic development professionals who serve as a single point-of-contact for businesses that are considering locating or expanding in the state.

Home Depot Warehouse, a 465,000-square-foot distribution center scheduled to open in February 2010 in CenterPoint in Pittston Twp. will get $1.35 million. It will create more than 350 jobs and serve retail locations throughout the northeast, Mr. Rossman said.

Original Souce: Time Tribune
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Investors, including three economic development organizations, announced the creation of the NEPA Venture Partnership, which will invest in up to 15 projects annually, reports the Times Leader.

The addition of a venture capital component to the regional effort to nurture entrepreneurial projects has been 10 years in the making, said Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce as he announced the creation of the NEPA Venture Partnership.

The Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Co., the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry and CAN DO Inc. of Hazleton each invested $50,000 in the fund. The Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, the state and 12 private investors also contributed, raising the fund’s total to approximately $4 million.

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Pennsylvania has created an attractive business climate with $3B in investments and 100,000 jobs in last six years, reports Business Facilities magazine.

A study by Moody's Economy.com, an independent national economic research firm, says that Pennsylvania has weathered the economic downturn due to aggressive economic stimulus efforts, below average cost of living, a strong roster of leading educational institutions, and affordable housing relative to other Northeast states.

The study ranks the state 17th in its forecast for short-term employment growth (two years), which is the best ranking the sate has ever received and better then neighboring states. In addition, state exports have grown by $5.3 billion to a total of $34.4 billion since 2002, the 6th largest amount of growth in the nation, larger than New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, Illinois, and Michigan.

Original Souce: Business Facilities
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Mr. Stallworth, the president and CEO of Genesis II; Bruce V. Rauner, chairman of GTCR Golder Rauner, LLC; and the Varischetti family of Brockway, Jefferson County, bring to six the new partners the NFL has approved under the realignment of Steelers ownership under Dan and Art Rooney II.

Mr. Rauner, Mr. Stallworth and the Varischetti family join James Haslam III, the Paul family and Thomas Tull as new partners to help maintain the Rooney family ownership of the Steelers.

Fifty Pennsylvania women who own the companies they created, direct their companies' communications and marketing strategies, guide their firms through challenging legal issues, and significantly impact their communities can now add a new accomplishment to their resume: they are now one of the state's best in business.

Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced Pennsylvania's "Best 50 Women in Business," calling them terrific examples of Pennsylvania's brightest business minds and role models for anyone who aspires to succeed.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, an incubator for 24 early-stage technology companies that employ 118 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, announced plans to expand its building by 47,000 square feet, reports the Express-Times.

Completion is slated for 2010. The price tag is not yet determined though Ben Franklin spokeswoman Laura Eppler said the cost will be paid by public and private sources. The project also will require approval from city planners.

Eppler said the economic downturn provides the organization an opportunity to expand since many people leaving old careers pursue entrepreneurialism.

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Tree of Life, Inc., a national food distribution company based in Florida and specializing in organic and natural products, expects to open a distribution center at an 84-acre industrial complex under construction in Lower Macungie Township, reports the Morning Call.

The company plans to move into a 580,000-square-foot warehouse by late summer or early fall, said Gene Carter, the company's senior vice president of logistics. It will replace a similar distribution center in New Jersey that the company plans to close in 2010.

Tree of Life will receive $400,000 in state funding for the project, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development.As part of an agreement reached with the state, Tree of Life is required to create 121 jobs within a three-year period after it opens. The company said it would wait until later this year to release specific information about the jobs, salaries and how people can apply.

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State Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) believes future state and local taxes collected at an arena can help pay off the loans taken now to build it for the former Philadelphia Phantoms American Hockey League team, the Morning Call reports.

Both Allentown and Bethlehem are interested in luring the American Hockey League franchise--one step below the NHL--to the Valley.

Since the arena ''requires a lot of public investment, my preference would be for it to be an urban development,'' Browne said. ''Of course, I have some Allentown interest.''

The fundraising mechanism Browne sees is known in government-speak as a TIF, or ''tax increment financing,'' a tool commonly used to spur redevelopment of an economically distressed area.

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Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans expects to hire 600 workers for its new store in Collegeville, which is slated to open in October, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Hiring for the new 132,000-square-foot store--which will feature what is being billed as the first pub in a Southeastern Pennsylvania supermarket restaurant--will begin this month, with interviews taking place the final week of March, said Blaine Forkell, a 26-year Wegmans veteran who will manage the store. (Application information is at www.wegmans.com.)

The Collegeville store, on Commerce Drive near Routes 422 and 29, will feature both the chain's Market Cafe restaurant and the pub, unique among Wegmans' local outlets, ''as long as our restaurant liquor license is approved,'' Forkell said. ''It is the first design of its type in the Philadelphia region.'' The chain prides itself on high customer service and low prices, he said, with the perishable side modeled after European markets, prepared foods in what's called the Chef's Case, and baked goods in a patisserie.

 Read the full story here.

Spend a few nights in the State of Independence, rich with Presidential history, unique experiences, and special deals!

We would like to encourage you to explore the destinations below to find ideal lodging for your Inaugural pilgrimage while allowing enough time to make your own history in the Commonwealth.

In question is a portion of land belonging to Angel Trust, a division of the Cooney Bros. Coal Co. of Cresson, where nine of the turbines already have been constructed, said Doug Copeland of Philadelphia, senior project manager for Gamesa Energy USA.