New Online Network Connects Pa. Entrepreneurs And Economic Development Organizations

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (August 19, 2008) – Penn State has a launched a new online network to connect Pennsylvania entrepreneurs with the collective intelligence of all of the state's regional economic development centers to help tackle the questions associated with starting and running a business.

InnovatePA, a collaboration between the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Penn State's Smeal College of Business and Penn State Outreach, is a network of organizations united by their shared goal of stimulating the Pennsylvania economy through business innovation in their local communities.

Each of the member organizations consists of individual experts in advertising, entrepreneurship, finance, management, marketing, sales, and other disciplines. Together, they make InnovatePA into a network of helpers available to assist Pennsylvanians, and companies looking to relocate here, with the challenges that come with launching a new business endeavor or improving the competitiveness of an existing company.

"No single person is an expert in every aspect of business," says Anthony Warren, director of the Farrell Center, who created InnovatePA along with Wesley Donahue, associate professor of management development in Penn State Outreach.

"The idea for the network is to bring together in one place all of the business acumen spread around the state at local chambers of commerce, economic development centers, and colleges and universities," Warren says. "Entrepreneurs can then leverage the expertise of the entire network to assist them in taking their businesses to the next level."

Warren says the online community will be able to help with virtually any business function, from product commercialization and business planning to locating equipment and accessing market research.

"The beauty of the network is that you're not forging one-on-one connections," he says. "You're accessing a trusted, cooperative network whose individuals are experts in a variety of disciplines and can offer help in every aspect of commerce."

Entrepreneurs who want to access the power of this collective intelligence need only to log on to www.InnovatePA.org and choose a local primary helper from the list of members. The helper then works directly with the help seeker to develop a case describing the unique situation and needs of the entrepreneur. The case is then posted securely online and is viewable only to members of the InnovatePA network, all of whom have signed to the network's confidentiality agreement to keep proprietary knowledge secure.

According to Warren, developing a network like this has never been tried before.

"We looked all over the world for a benchmarking network, and there's nothing like this," he says. "Nobody has done this in an open, online network. Our member organizations have never collaborated like this before. It's a new way to showcase all of the economic opportunities and resources that exist in Pennsylvania."

At launch, InnovatePA's members are concentrated along Pennsylvania's I-99 corridor in Blair, Cambria, and Centre Counties, but the organization has plans to grow the network in the coming year to include a member organization in every Pennsylvania county.

Currently, the network of helpers consists of the Altoona Blair County Development Corp., Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Industrial Modernization Center of Pennsylvania, Penn State's Industrial Research Office, Innovation Park at Penn State, the Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership, Penn State Outreach, the Penn State Small Business Development Center, the Research Commercialization Office at Penn State, the Saint Francis University Small Business Development, and Penn State's Technology Transfer Office.

For more information on InnovatePA, visit www.innovatepa.org. For information on becoming a helper organization in the InnovatePA network, contact Anthony Warren at 814-865-4593 or twarren@psu.edu.