TechVentures2, the 47,000 square foot addition to the original Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania TechVentures business technology incubator and post-incubator facility, was not even completed when it was already generating buzz last summer.
Recognition from the US EPA for projected carbon dioxide emissions and from Inc Magazine as one of 10 startup incubators to watch came last June and August, respectively.
Open since last Oct. 20 on Lehigh University’s Mountaintop Campus, TechVentures2 continues to garner accolades. In January, Bethlehem-based Spillman Farmer Architects won the American Institute of Architects Eastern Pennsylvania Award of Merit for its design work for TechVentures2.
The new space is largely inhabited by post-incubator companies like Texas Instruments Lehigh Valley and Saladax. It is expected to create up to 200 jobs and retain 100 existing jobs by bringing together entrepreneurs, Ben Franklin’s staff, and Lehigh University faculty and students to grow the region’s tech economy.
The fourth floor’s Innovation Institute is a meeting, learning and conferencing space that can be used by local corporate partners and programs.
Up on the roof is a photovoltaic solar array that powers the latest energy management and light-harvesting technologies manufactured by nearby Lutron Technologies out of Coopersburg.
The expansion was funded by a $6 million grant in 2009 from the US Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, combined with other federal and state grants, Ben Franklin funds and private funding.
Photos copyrighted by Barry Halkin, Halkin Photography