news & events

Editor’s note: This event has been canceled in response to the global coronavirus outbreak. Contestants will still pitch ideas to judges in a closed event and winners will be announced at a later date. Six area startups including Emko Technologies (Evan Klapec), Odin’s Eye (Dr. David Parrott),Workflow Automation (Cesare Ferrari), Shop Local Fundraising (Kristen and Boyd Lewis), Lattus (Peter Schramm and Nick Furar), and Vandervort Photography (Kelly and Judy Vandervort) have been participating in Ben Franklin’s 10-Week Business Startup Boot Camp, the TechCelerator@DuBois. These company teams will pitch their business concepts to a panel of local judges for the opportunity to...

DuBOIS, Pa. — Partnering with the North Central PA LaunchBox, Ben Franklin’s TechCelerator @DuBois, is inviting emerging entrepreneurs, students, professors, small businesses, and the general public from across the region to apply to the next 10-week Business Startup Boot Camp. The weekly sessions will run from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 15 until March 19, 2020, at the North Central PA LaunchBox (Old Deposit Bank Building), located at 2 E. Long Ave., Suite 120, in DuBois. Coaching sessions will follow. Business mentoring from Ben Franklin’s Transformation Business Services Network and Clarion University’s Small Business Development Center will...

DuBOIS, PA - Joe Lanich with Laughing Owl Press, of Kane, PA, who is developing software that brings digital convenience to high-end letterpress printed products took first place in the BIG Idea Competition following presentations by the eight finalists to a panel of judges. He receives $30,000 to develop his business. David Conklin with Wilds Sonshine Factory in Kane, PA, has been announced as the second-place winner. Conklin is distilling a new spirit derived from the sunflower plant grown solely in the PA Wilds Region. He will receive $20,000 in funding to develop his business idea. Pitches got underway at...

DUBOIS, Pa. — The Glenn and Ruth Mengle Foundation of St. Marys, Pennsylvania, has made a $15,000 gift to support the North Central PA LaunchBox Powered by Penn State DuBois. These funds will be used to enhance the downtown LaunchBox location with state-of-the-art technical equipment that will be made available to entrepreneurs and business representatives using the facility. This includes audiovisual equipment such as a laser projector, 170-inch projection screen, and wireless audiovisual systems that can be used for seminars and presentations. “The Mengle Foundation’s gift will provide entrepreneurs and the overall business community the technical access they need to...