The huge flow of research dollars into universities in Pennsylvania guarantees one part of the equation of successful entrepreneurship: creation of bright ideas to answer life's many challenges. However, the other part of that equation--business skill to turn ideas into profitable enterprises--has been sometimes wanting, at least among professors and technologists who manage the research.   

Well, not anymore. Over the last decade and more, Pennsylvania has cultivated a business landscape where seeds of enterprise enjoy a chance to grow. Peruse the Entrepreneur's Guide of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Anyone with a halfway decent idea, and ambition to see it through, ought to be able to find help with a business plan in Pennsylvania. There’s an abundance of state agencies that have evolved with the task, and the skill building networks that entrepreneurs need have become branded enterprises of their own.  

Technology associations across the state have become increasingly focused on members who need to learn what to do. And between the professor's lab and the cold, cruel world outside, the state's major research universities have installed an increasingly sophisticated structure for preparing the startup. Perhaps most important of all, along with help in preparing the business case, the flow of money to finance promising new enterprises looks a whole lot more attractive, too.