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 GJKIZ
Crowns Collegiate
Business Plan Winners: The 2nd annual GJKIZ Collegiate
Business Plan Competition closed on March 20 at Mount Aloysius
College with four student teams presenting their business plans to
the judging panel. The "Final Four" were winnowed from
twenty-five initial entries, of which eight made it to the written plan
reviews. The winners were:
1st
Place: Kim Mamula, It's Time to Climb, Saint Francis
2nd
Place: Barb Servello, Servello Family Studio, Mount
Aloysius
3rd
Place: Susan Dodson and Susan Wood, Crafty Capes.
Mount Aloysius
Honorable
Mention: Gabriel Kapfhammer
and Jordan Hess, Efficient Integration Technologies,
Saint Francis
Kim
Mamula, Jordan Hess, Gabriel Kapfhammer, Susan Dodson, Barb Servello,
and Susan Wood.
The
GJKIZ expresses its appreciation to judges Dave Angeletti (Conference
Archives), Mike Artim (Cambria Rowe Business College), John
Johnston (Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern
Pennsylvania), Andy Kuzneski (Kuzneski Financial), Jay
McClatchey (Applied Computational Technology), and Richard
Somiari (ITSI Biosciences).
Dr.
Richard Somiari, Jay McClatchey, John Johnston, and Andy Kuzneski
prepare to listen to business plan presentations.
Special
thanks to JWFI and the BFTPCNP for underwriting the
$15,000 in cash prizes.
Collaborate, Investigate, Innovate
. . . Building Effective Relationships for SBIR/STTR Funding:
The GJKIZ is partnering with the PA Innovation Partnership and Concurrent
Technologies Corporation in hosting a day-long, interactive workshop
focused on best practices for establishing partnerships to pursue Small
Business Innovation Research grants. The workshop will feature an
SBIR overview; invited SBIR Program Managers from DARPA, NASA, Army,
and Homeland Security; a legal review of intellectual property
protection; success stories from previous award winners; invited
speakers from Pitt, CMU, and CTC to discuss leveraging
available R&D resources for small businesses; and a discussion of resources
available to Western Pennsylvania businesses to assist them in
pursuing SBIR/STTR solicitations.
The
workshop will be held in downtown Johnstown on Thursday, May 31 from
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Cost of the basic workshop is $35, which
covers breakfast, lunch, and break refreshments. (Northrop
Grumman has graciously agreed to sponsor the workshop to help defray
workshop facility costs.) Interested
workshop attendees can also purchase a ticket ($10) to that evening's Opening
Reception to the annual Showcase for Commerce.
Congressman John P. Murtha presides over the Showcase opening,
which features exhibits from over 170 businesses, including major primes
such as Boeing, BAE, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman, among
several others.
A
detailed registration form and flyer will be emailed soon. For
info about this and other Showcase workshops, contact Sherry Click at
814.535.8675 or sclick
@jari.com.
Our
friends at the Pittsburgh SBDC also host various SBIR workshops.
To get on an email notification list, contact Paul Petrovich at
412.648.1545 or ppetrovich@katz.pitt.edu.
Doing
Business With the State and Federal Governments: JARI and
other partner organizations are hosting a day-long state and federal
contract/procurement workshop on April 25 in Somerset. For
more info, contact Sherry Click at 814.535.8675 or sclick
@jari.com.
New
GJKIZ Company Launched: Windber Research Institute
announced the launch of Strategic Medicine, Inc., a
for-profit spinout that is charged with commercializing the
Institute's research. Dr. Michael Liebman is President of
SMI.
Practice
What You Preach for College and University Professors: Juniata
College is sponsoring an "Entrepreneurial Retreat for
Professors" (billed as an entrepreneurial "bootcamp")
June 3 through June 5 in Huntington. The GJKIZ endorses this
training for all GJKIZ college and university faculty. For more
info, to register, or to apply for a scholarship, click here.
Local
Entrepreneur Speaks at Alma Mater: Bill Polacek, Owner and CEO of JWFI, capped the Tribune-Democrat/GJKIZ inaugural Upstarts
and Innovators series on March 2 during the Kaufmann
Foundation's EntrepreneurshipWeek USA. Bill addressed an assembly
at Conemaugh Valley High School to tell students and faculty about the
benefits and challenges of starting a business in Johnstown. Read
the Tribune-Democrat story and see an additional photo here.
Shawn
Piatek of the Tribune-Democrat chats with Bill Polacek prior to
the Entrepreneurship Week USA assembly at Conemaugh Valley High School.
Finance
for Dummies: Ben Franklin Venture Investment Forum and the Penn State
SBDC will hold an introductory Finance workshop on April 26 from 9:00 AM to noon at the Outreach Building in University Park. The cost is $35 per person.
Jill Edwards, Executive Director of Ben Franklin Venture Investment Forum,
will present. Register online at
www.sbdc.psu.edu/registration.html
Jill
also reminds you that the $35,000 Big Idea Business Plan Contest
deadline is April 13, and the 9th Annual Angel Venture Fair is Tuesday, April 24,
in Philadelphia. For info, contact Jill at 717-948-6625
or jilledwards@psu.edu.
NCMA
Meeting: The next meeting of the Johnstown chapter of the
National Contractor Management Association will be on May 17 at 6:00 PM
at Anthony's Restaurant. Becky Styles, President and General
Manager of Lockheed Martin Aeroparts, is the featured speaker. For
info, contact Tim DiGuiseppe at 814.535.7046.
Calling
Pennsylvania Manufacturers, Eh? The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation
and the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic
Development will host a Greater Edmonton opportunities information session, luncheon, and one-on-one
meetings in Pittsburgh on April 25. These sessions are intended to inform Pennsylvania manufacturers of specific business opportunities available in the Greater Edmonton area. There is
no charge for this event. Specific industry sectors targeted
include the oil and gas and/or mining industries. For additional information,
contact Janet Kolokithas at 717.346.0178 or jkolokitha@state.pa.us.
Materials
Day at PSU: The Materials Research Institute will hold Materials Day 2007 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel from
April 10-11 in State College. Materials Day will emphasize how nanoscale science and technology is impacting materials research, and offer enhanced opportunities for collaborations and
technology transfer.
For more info, click here. Deadline to register is April 4, 2007.
Community Partnerships RC&D is hosting
a grant workshop June 11 through 15 at the Union County Government Center in
Lewisburg. The early registration is $550 if registered by May 25th.
For info, contact Lori Mitzel at 717.248.4901 or midstatercd@yahoo.com.
Business
Planning Workshop Series Ends: The
fourth and final business planning workshop installment was held
February 20 at Saint Francis University. Annette
Chunko of the
Saint Francis SBDC presented Operations
for Entrepreneurs.
This
Month's "Good News About Taxes" for Emerging Companies:
Established to assist in the
development of young technology-based companies,
Pennsylvania's Research
and Development Tax Credit Assignment (R&D Tax Credits) program
allows Pennsylvania’s young companies the opportunity to sell unused
tax credits for much needed capital. Learn more about the program here.
Pennsylvania
increased PA's cap on net operating
losses from $2 million to $3 million or 12.5 percent, whichever is
higher. Governor Rendell has indicated his desire to increase the
cap on an annual basis until it's fully eliminated. The Pittsburgh
Technology Council, has more information here.
Finally,
did you know that Pennsylvania’s
property tax system can actually provide a competitive advantage to
businesses located here? It’s
not that property tax rates are that low (Pennsylvania’s property tax rates are about average among competitor
states), but that its only land and buildings that are subject to the
tax. Other states tax machinery and equipment, inventories,
vehicle fleets, and other items. More information is available here.
Other
sources of information about tax reform in Pennsylvania include the Pennsylvania
Business Tax Reform Commission Final Report
and CompetePA.
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