Governor Corbett Visits Award-Winning Ben Franklin TechVentures2 Business Incubator; Praises Impact on Job Creation in the Northeast

BETHLEHEM, Pa., Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett today toured the Ben Franklin Partners' TechVentures facility, a highly successful business incubator located at Lehigh University that has helped to launch dozens of start-up companies that support thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.

"My administration has been happy to partner with Ben Franklin and TechVentures to create the innovative, high-tech and high-wage jobs that emerge from this program," Corbett said.  "We want to bring young people to Pennsylvania's best schools and keep them here to live out their dreams." 

Made possible through a partnership of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Lehigh University, Ben Franklin TechVentures provides support to young and emerging technology companies.

Since 1983, Ben Franklin TechVentures and its predecessor, the Ben Franklin Business Incubator, has graduated 55 successful companies that support more than 5,400 jobs. In 2011 alone, the companies grossed more than $620 million in revenue.

Lehigh University students participate in programs offered by the Baker Institute on-campus at TechVentures². The program, which opened its building in 2011, is fully integrated into Lehigh's undergraduate curriculum, allowing students to begin building their business ideas before they even graduate.

Lehigh University was recently named one of the nation's top 25 schools for entrepreneurship by Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review.

"One of my highest priorities as governor is to ensure there is a job available for every Pennsylvanian who wants one. With this center, its clients and its graduates setting the pace, I'm sure we can get there," Corbett said.

The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania is one of four of its kind around the state. An initiative of the Department of Community and Economic Development, Ben Franklin is one of the nation's longest-running technology-based economic development programs.  In the 30 years of its existence, the Ben Franklin Partners has been responsible for creating 15,479 jobs in the Northeast alone.

"In the past two years we have seen positive changes across the state; manufacturing jobs have grown by the highest number in a decade and we've added almost 75,000 private sector jobs to our economy," Corbett said. "We are headed in the right direction and facilities like TechVentures and the companies that receive support here are a critical part of our long-term success."  

Media contact: Kelli Roberts, 717-783-1116

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of the Governor

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