Pennsylvania is unusual among the 50 states. Actually, it’s not a state at all — legally, it’s a commonwealth. Its vast geographic area touches the northeast portion of Lake Erie and the Atlantic Ocean.

At one end of the commonwealth lies Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, signifying the birth of the United States. On the other side of the commonwealth, in Western Pennsylvania, the fundamentals of the industrial economy were forged in the coal mines and steel mills.

In the present, Pennsylvania faces challenges. Its population growth has slowed to one of the lowest rates in the nation, partially because of the inability to retain and attract the workers, it continues to lose ground on the number of new businesses being created, and unemployment reached 6.2 percent in February, the highest rate in a decade. While jobs are being grown in Pennsylvania, the rate is below the national average and that of its competitor states.

The future of Pennsylvania is largely dependent on initiatives such as Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the Keystone Opportunity Zone Program and the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, which aim to create employment in targeted growth sectors.

Ben Franklin Lives

Ben Franklin Technology Partners (BTFP) is a statewide network that fosters innovation to stimulate economic growth and prosperity. Operating regionally with four centers strategically located throughout the commonwealth — central and northern, southeastern, northeastern and southwestern — BTFP brings together the best of Pennsylvania's people, ideas, and technology to serve as a catalyst for advancing the state's knowledge-based economy.

The program boosted Pennsylvania’s economy by $8 billion between 1998 and 2001, and generated $400 million in additional tax revenue, according to an economic study by Nexus Associates. BTFP generated 93,105 job-years at a cost to the commonwealth of $3,342 per job-year. (Job years is defined as the number of jobs created that lasted a full year or more multiplied by the number of years they have existed.)

Dennis Yablonsky, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, said the study validates the critical need for continued investment in BTFP and similar programs.

“The study confirms that Ben Franklin Technology Partners continues to excel at its core mission of catalyzing entrepreneurship and technological innovation as primary drivers of economic growth,” he pointed out. “In the process, the investment in BFTP is returning substantial dividends in the form of tax revenue and additional income.”

BFTP of Northeastern Pennsylvania recently committed $400,000 in investments of three early-stage companies.

Galaxy Manufacturing Co. of Scranton received $100,000 to help the company establish itself as a premier producer of industrial power brushes by designing, assembling and testing four pieces of specialized and proprietary equipment that will be used to manufacture these brushes. Brushes will be custom-designed and contracted for private label original equipment manufacturers in industrial, commercial and consumer applications.

Susquehanna Candle of Berwick received $150,000 to support the commercialization of its proprietary candle products. Susquehanna Candle has developed a highly fragranced, cosmetically perfect candle, “Lil Powerhouse,” which is made of a candle wax matrix that is specially designed to carry large quantities of fragrance oil and to burn slowly.

Advanced Metal Coatings of Watsontown received $150,000 to implement enterprise-wide processes and procedures that will position the company as a “one-stop shop” for finishing and metal fabrication needs of clients on the East Coast. The full integration involves improvements to the company’s infrastructure, including process flow, process controls and shop-floor tracking.

In the Northeastern Pennsylvania, BFTP, which is located at Lehigh University, awarded nearly $700,000to seven early-stage companies.

GateChange Technologies of Bethlehem received $150,000 to build a simulator of an innovative semiconductor device, Dynamic Instruction Set Processor (DISP), for client demonstrations. The simulator will be used to demonstrate the GateChange DISP architecture. The company has filed several patents on its technology.

Demco Automation of Quakerstown received more than $14,600 to design and implement operational and process flow improvements for the production of the “Demco Wedge” assembly machine. The modular assembly system allows manufacturers to reconfigure and reuse their production systems as their products change. This eliminates the risk of equipment obsolescence.

Keystone Zones Aims to Revive Distressed Areas

Pennsylvania divides itself when dealing with economic development. Not only is there the four BTFP regions, but there are also 12 Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZ).

KOZ is designed to entice businesses to economically challenged communities by offering tax benefits to businesses and individuals. To qualify, a zone must meet at least two of 12 predetermined criteria assessing its economic condition

In the period between Jan. 1, 1999, and Sept. 30, 2002, nearly 400 projects have created more than 10,000 jobs, with a total capital investment of $1.57 billion.

One of the latest companies to take advantage of KOZ is AppTec Laboratory Services, a biopharmaceutical and medical device-testing firm based in St. Paul, Minn. The company in February announced it will construct a state-of-the-art facility at the KOZ-designated Philadelphia Naval Business Center, creating 200 new jobs.

The $20 million project will include construction of a 75,000 square foot facility, which will allow the company to relocate its Camden, N.J., facility to Philadelphia.

"The new facility will be crucial to our ability to expand and continue to serve our clients with the highest level of customer service," said Bonita Baskin, CEO of AppTec.

Currently, AppTec Laboratory Services has facilities in St. Paul, Camden and Atlanta, and employs more than 150 people.

In addition to the benefits from locating in a KOZ, Pennsylvania is supporting the project by providing a $750,000 financial package, through a $250,000 Opportunity Grant and up to $500,000 through the Machinery and Equipment Loan Fund (MELF).

Pittsburgh on Cutting Edge

For decades, Pittsburgh was the ultimate industrial-age city with an economy based on the sweat and toil of its steel workers.

Today, the city’s economy is has turned to knowledge-based industries in an attempt to get a piece of the post-industrial economy.

The Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, a nonprofit organization of academia, the commonwealth and businesses, provides development funds, expertise and project management to facilitate breakthroughs in advanced system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs and applications.

SoC is an advancement in semiconductor manufacturing technology, making it possible to create a single chip that contains one or more processors, memory, communication interfaces, analog interfaces and embedded software. SoC is changing how new products are designed because engineers can reuse design content, dramatically decreasing time-to-market cycles.

In January, the Digital Greenhouse awarded $1.5 million in research funding to local universities and technology companies.

"Our goal is to continue funding projects that present the best opportunities for commercialization, and support the economic stability and job creation potential for this industry in southwestern Pennsylvania," said David Ruppersberger, president and CEO of the Digital Greenhouse.

One company receiving funding, Thar Technologies of Pittsburgh, will investigate the design and development of a cooling solution for printed circuit boards (PCBs).

Commercialization of the solution will be two-pronged and directed toward manufacturers and applications developers. A board-level cooling solution will enable stable board-chip interaction and therefore increased system stability.

- Ken Krizner, Managing Editor