Penn College Receives $200,000 Keystone Innovation Grant

Pennsylvania College of Technology was recently awarded a $200,000 Keystone Innovation Grant by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

Following an address in Hershey by Gov. Edward G. Rendell to Keystone Innovation Center stakeholders, Rebecca Bagley, deputy secretary for technology investment for DCED, announced the grant award to Penn College.

The Keystone Innovation Grant is a companion program to the Keystone Innovation Zone initiative created by the governor in 2003.

KIGs are designed to help entrepreneurs who are working with participating KIZ colleges and universities transfer technologies to the marketplace, while also providing seed capital for the commercialization of new products.

The Penn College award will be administered by the college's Workforce Development & Continuing Education staff and is focused on continued support of Plastics SourceNet, a statewide plastics resource; regional and college student business-plan contests; and additional support of KIZ product-development initiatives. The grant follows a $250,000 KIG awarded to Penn College through the KIZ program in 2006.

"Penn College is proud to be a strategic partner to the Williamsport/Lycoming KIZ and to leverage our vast resources to benefit the economic-development efforts in our region," said Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour. "Our efforts in obtaining this grant will assist area entrepreneurs and students to bring their ideas to life."

"We are thrilled that Penn College was able to secure additional funding to support innovation in our region," added Katie Bell, Williamsport/Lycoming KIZ coordinator. "Their efforts in obtaining additional funding have added to the KIZ's ability to deliver quality services to our clients."

For more information, contact Larry L. Michael, executive director of workforce and economic development at Penn College, at (570) 327-4775 or by e-mail .