Penn State, State College innovation sector could get over $3 million boost from Pa.
Innovation initiatives at Penn State and in the State College area could receive part of a $12.35 million increase in state funding in a push from Gov. Tom Wolf to make Pennsylvania a “national competitor in attracting and retaining entrepreneurs and startups.”
Wolf is proposing the $12.35 million funding increase to “drive an evidence-based, statewide innovation strategy.” Under his proposal, Invent Penn State, launched in 2015, would receive an additional $2.35 million.
Those additional funds were requested by the university as part of its annual state appropriation request, which totaled $359.8 million for the upcoming budget year.
“A strong community and entrepreneurial network are crucial for success. This holds true for startups, as well as established businesses,” said Wolf at a news conference Friday in Pittsburgh. “I’m proposing a strategic statewide innovation investment plan that will help get us on the right track to making Pennsylvania an innovation leader.”
Wolf’s proposal will need approval from Pennsylvania’s General Assembly in the upcoming 2020-2021 budget process.
Invent Penn State runs 21 innovation hubs at Commonwealth Campuses and University Park called “LaunchBoxes,” which have supported almost 2,500 early-stage startup businesses. The LaunchBoxes offer free co-working space, business accelerator programs, legal and intellectual property advice and rapid prototyping resources. With the additional funding, Penn State plans to open four new innovation hubs.
“Penn State is grateful to Gov. Wolf for his strong leadership in support of technology and innovation programming that will help to grow jobs, provide new opportunities, and keep talented people and their bright ideas in Pennsylvania,” said Penn State President Eric Barron in a news release. “This proposal illustrates the potential benefits of public-private partnerships for the state’s economy, and is a great example of the university’s land-grant mission in action.”
Ben Franklin Technology Partners, which operates one of its four offices in State College, would receive an additional $5 million to provide startup funding and technical assistance to companies all around the state under Wolf’s proposal. The funds would be doled out competitively and tied to projects that achieve new levels of innovation and collaboration with state institutions of higher education.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners runs a Techcelerator in State College in partnership with Invent Penn State, a 10-week business startup boot camp aimed at emerging entrepreneurs in the tech sector from Penn State and the central Pennsylvania region.
Wolf’s proposal also designates $2.5 million for Industrial Resource centers and $2.5 million for the Partnerships for Regional Economic Performance Network, Small Business Development centers, Local Development districts and Industrial Development Organizations, divided competitively among the partners. The money for the latter groups will drive “greater impacts to accelerator participation, entrepreneurial internships, decreased student outmigration and business incubation.”
For IRCs, Wolf’s proposal encourages partnering with higher education institutions and delivering innovative services to new and existing companies for talent pipeline, robotics utilization, 3D printing and advanced manufacturing techniques.
Penn State runs a Small Business Development Center that offers free business consulting services for residents in Centre and Mifflin counties to start, improve or expand a business in the area.
The Innovative Manufacturers’ Center, an IRC located in Williamsport, serves a large swath of south to northcentral Pennsylvania, including Centre County. The IMC in Williamsport is one of seven in the state that serve small and mid-sized manufacturers by helping business growth, innovation, process improvement and training.
Wolf’s proposal aims to establish an “evidence-based statewide annual innovation report,” since the state has traditionally lacked a statewide innovation strategy. The state Department of Community and Economic Development will develop the report to help Pennsylvania identify areas of greatest innovation need across the state in order to concentrate improvement efforts there.
In his proposal, Wolf also emphasized encouraging development in non-urban areas and leveraging higher education institutions for research and development, citing several reports from government and policy think-tank Brookings Institution.
“This proposal will help ensure that Pennsylvanians are not excluded from the benefits of innovation no matter where they’re located,” Wolf said in the release. “It will support development in large innovation centers while ensuring that the previously disproportionate share of state innovation inputs is now accessible statewide.”
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