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With $2.4M more from state budget, Ben Franklin CNP announces new funding recipients

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Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA breathed a sigh of relief as the passing of the state budget in June revealed $2.4 million in new funding for early-stage companies across its 32-county footprint. In turn, BFTP CNP released its latest list of companies receiving funding. The list represents a sampling of PA’s varied business strengths–from life sciences to solar energy.

One company who received funding in this latest round is Envinity, an alternative energy consulting firm specializing in energy audits and creating systems using existing alternative energy products to find the most cost-effective energy mix for homes and businesses. Unlike most Ben Franklin companies, Envinity doesn’t make anything. But for people skeptical of green energy, Envinity helps reveal the value of alternative energy measures to save property owners money.

“We are unlike the typical Ben Franklin investment in that we are actually taking technology developed by other companies and implementing it in a very real world, practical setting for end users,” says Envinity CFO Bob Beaury. “Ben Franklin saw this as a unique opportunity because they traditionally have worked with companies that are developing these new technologies.”

If the 2010 budget, signed on July 6, proves anything, its that Gov. Rendell is betting high on renewable energy and the power of PA innovation. The next day, the Governor signed a jobs bill at the Connelley Technical School, a green jobs training center, and promised $600 million in state investment for green energy and job training efforts. With further investment from job incubators like Ben Franklin, companies like Envinity hope to continue making the case for renewable energy investment until the next budget meeting.

“We clearly have a unique fit but one that is necessary,” says Beaury. “Our relationship with them provides a conduit for the other companies to get their technologies deployed as well as telling Ben Franklin what the real world, cost issues, implementation issues, customer issues are when these technologies are deployed.”

Source: Bob Beaury, Envinity
Writer: John Steele

Energy, News

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