Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/NEP) will honor seven innovators who have achieved success through Ben Franklin funding and assistance, have helped others to achieve success, or have improved their businesses through innovation. The annual Ben Franklin iXchange will take place on Thursday, May 7.
BFTP/NEP named Hometown’s Highwood USA as the company that best exemplifies entrepreneurial achievement. A manufacturer of extruded-plastic, synthetic-wood products for outdoor furniture, hot tubs/spas, decks and other exterior lumber uses, the company “demonstrates the successful leverage of Ben Franklin support to accelerate the growth of a young firm,” said BFTP/NEP in a statement. “Founded in 2003, Highwood proactively and continuously innovates its processes, introduces new products, and identifies and develops untapped niches in the marketplace…Through thoughtful planning, bold strategy and skillful execution, the firm continues to grow, providing high-value jobs in Schuylkill County for years to come.”
Slatington's Luminaire Testing Laboratory (LTL) was honored for its success as a BFTP incubator graduate. In 1989, LTL was the first company to locate in Allentown’s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center. In 2010, the owners sold the company to Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the well-known international electrical testing company. The founder recently launched another new company.
“The LTL story demonstrates the importance of business incubators in providing support to early-stage firms,” explained BFTP. “It portrays a successful business exit, executed by a founder who was able to attract an international business to the region that continued to create and retain good jobs. Finally, the LTL story illustrates the commitment of a serial entrepreneur who is now developing a second venture.”
LifeAire Systems in Allentown will be honored for product innovation. The company’s revolutionary air purification systems “will impact a continuum of patient care, beginning with the protection of the embryo, to the infant in the neonatal intensive care unit, to the patient in the operating room, and to the elderly in long-term care facilities.”
Wilkes-Barre's EthosGen, meanwhile, is revolutionizing the $1 billion renewable energy market with a patented and proprietary Thermal Energy to Electric Power System. The company best demonstrates “a 'break-the-mold/ approach to integrating new or existing technology into its business,” said BFTP/NEP.
BFTP/NEP also recognized Wilkes-Barre’s Medico Industries, which produces metal parts for oil and gas drilling companies, the automotive industry and other customers, for manufacturing achievement. “A focus on constant improvement has enabled the company to establish a truly flexible manufacturing facility that has economically transitioned through many changes in industrial needs,” explains BFTP/NEP.
Andrew Stanten, president of Altitude Marketing in Emmaus, “an unwavering supporter of regional entrepreneurship [who] freely shares his expertise and experience widely with startups, established manufacturers and students in northeastern Pennsylvania” was named winner of the entrepreneurial advocate award. Edward J. McCann, Jr., retired COO of the Berks County Workforce Investment Board, will be honored for his “strong vision, dedication and commitment [that] have helped the Ben Franklin Technology Partners accomplish its goals.”
The awards dinner is set for May 7 at the Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University.
Source: BFTP/NEP
Writer: Elise Vider