Sydney Gibbard, a Penn State sophomore, can still remember the poster that caught her eye and completely changed the trajectory of her “business.”
Walking through her dorm lobby last year, an oversized Invent Penn State sign beckoned her with business help and a chance at a $15,000 grant. Intrigued, Ms. Gibbard decided to look into Invent Penn State — a statewide initiative to spur economic development and job creation — and what followed was the establishment of a nonprofit, a board of directors and unprecedented growth. All in one summer.
As a high school junior, Ms. Gibbard and a friend had started a weeklong summer camp to inspire disadvantaged 8- to 12-year-old girls in STEM, a field traditionally dominated by men. Invent Penn State helped change those humble “Girls Code the World” camps into an actual 501(c)(3) nonprofit and guided Ms. Gibbard from reaching a combined 100 girls her first three years to as many as 250 next summer alone.
“We didn’t even know that we could become a startup,” she said, an engineering major at University Park. “And we definitely didn’t have the confidence to take that route, either, if it hadn’t been for Invent Penn State.”
Launched in 2015 as the brainchild of university President Eric Barron, Invent Penn State sought to adopt a similar role to the Penn State Extension, a statewide organization available to answer agricultural questions and provide such education to farmers and the like. Invent Penn State was designed to help the non-farmers — students or not — turn good ideas into good businesses, by providing free business legal advice, free design spaces, free support, and more.
So far, 21 “innovation hubs” have sprung up around the commonwealth to offer help similar to the kind Ms. Gibbard received. And, recently, Invent Penn State’s crown jewel — a new $52-plus million six-story building in downtown State College — held a ribbon-cutting to unveil all the services to be housed inside.
“Innovation is one of my favorite topics, and this building brings innovation to life,” Mr. Barron said. “Its design, functionality and organization are truly innovative and will match the ambitions of all those who will work and create here.”
How will this help?
Lee Erickson — director of the Happy Valley LaunchBox, a program within Invent Penn State — proudly touted all the services in the new building at 123 S. Burrowes St. But, early on, she also wanted to make clear this hub wasn’t just for business experts.
“We kind of specialize in the companies that we call ‘early stage scalable startups,‘” she said. “I call that, ‘we’re-not-sure-what-the-problem-is; we’re-not-exactly-sure-who-has-it-and-we-really-have-no-idea-how-we’re-going-to-make-money. And that’s what we specialize in.”
The 85,000-square-foot steel-and-glass structure is now open to all entrepreneurs — students and non-students alike; entrepreneurs on their first-ever idea or fifth — as a work and collaborative space between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. (The building is open 24/7 to others enrolled in specific hub-based programs.)
The different floors have makerspaces, with equipment to build prototypes; microelectronics, including 3D printers; services like law clinics that will create a terms of service or employee agreement, establish an LLC or help with trademarks, patents and copyrights; and an open-air meeting space.
Royce D’Souza, a Penn State grad, was handling business calls on the second floor on a recent morning. He started his business Lessly, a program that consolidates all takeout orders in one place for restaurants, when he was a student but continues to use LaunchBox resources.
“It can be hard to find your footing, but the LaunchBox and resources locally really help make sure that you’re not building on sand, that you’re building on a strong cement foundation,” said Mr. D’Souza, who said his company is now looking to expand into Boston and Washington D.C.
Ms. Gibbard acknowledged she and co-founder Mina Shokoufandeh likely couldn’t have taken “Girls Code the World” this far without Invent Penn State. Or, at least, certainly not this quickly.
In about a year, the nonprofit transformed from summer camps hosted by her and her friend into a curriculum-based program that currently allows high school girls in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania to host their own camps.
“We had a vision; we just didn’t really know how to channel that,” said Ms. Gibbard, who went through a specialized 13-week program offered by Invent Penn State.
$27 million in venture capital
According to data provided by the university, Invent Penn State has helped start 218 new Pennsylvania companies, which have raised more than $27 million in total venture capital. A total of 302 jobs and 486 internships have also been created as a result of Invent Penn State’s work.
Kenneth Keitt, a 2019 Penn State grad, sees the potential. A former Marine who became paralyzed in a car accident, Mr. Keitt found personal trainers at his local gyms didn’t know — or didn’t feel comfortable — offering fitness tips or advice to work around his physical limitations. Over social media, he discovered he wasn’t alone in his frustration.
So, drawing from his own military experience, he shared his own workout routines, designed specifically for those with similar limitations. Thanks to both a dedicated Lehigh Valley professor and Invent Penn State, he developed a free mobile app — ParaPer4mance — that is now focused on growth before shifting to monetization.
“I had it inside of me. It’s just that I didn’t really understand how to get it fully developed,” Keitt said about his business idea.
He won a college pitch competition, then turned to Invent Penn State for guidance. Invent Penn State helped him turn his pitch into an actual LLC, devise a 40-page list of terms and conditions and then create a mobile app. (He only had to pay for the app, but he received several grants that covered the cost.)
So far, he has partnered with both hospitals and the Florida State Corrections Department to educate wheelchair users. He is looking to grow his subscriber base, which now numbers about 300, before offering premium services and further monetizing it.
A statewide effort
According to the university, a LaunchBox is located within 30 miles of 96% of the commonwealth’s population. There are sites in places like Monaca, New Kensington and McKeesport, among others.
As a result, Penn State is requesting $2.35 million from the state to further help fund Invent Penn State, and Mr. Barron appeared in front of a state senate committee earlier this month to meet with legislators.
In at least one case, he didn’t have to do much convincing. State Sen. John Yudichak — chair of the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee — called it an “exciting, new concept.”
“The biggest thing,” said Ms. Gibbard, who still hears from her summer camp girls years later, “was that this gave us the time and the confidence to pursue things that would have been too daunting otherwise.”
First Published: November 26, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: November 26, 2021, 11:58 a.m.
