Northeastern Pennsylvania -
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Small Business & Entrepreneur Resource Guide aims to help local firms thrive in their communities while also attracting others to the region.
The guide, developed through a collaboration among Penn’s Northeast, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPA and the Willary Foundation, highlights the process for starting a business, potential funding sources and business incubators and economic development resources.
Through discussions, John Augustine, president and CEO of Penn’s Northeast, a regional economic development agency, and Ken Okrepkie, regional manager for Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ northeast division, discovered the need for the manual.
Funding through the Willary Foundation helped pull the project together and get the material in print form, Augustine said.
Penn’s Northeast serves Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
“We realized there really wasn’t a comprehensive, one-stop-shop resource guide for startups and entrepreneurs across all the counties,” Augustine said. “Everybody kind of does their own thing and everybody is a little bit different. We thought pulling everything together would make the most sense. We do a really good job helping small businesses and entrepreneurs, but it’s very localized. If you have a business in Scranton, it doesn’t mean you can’t be selling to folks in Tunkhannock or Honesdale. This allows people who are operating throughout the region to see what is available to them — and not just where their home base is.”
Augustine also stressed the need for all counties to work together in making the region a profitable spot for both local companies and those outside the area.
“It’s important that in promoting ourselves we take more of a regional approach to economic development,” he said. “Communities outside northeastern Pennsylvania don’t look at us as individual cities or individual counties and it’s important that we’re bringing all the resources within our nine counties and marketing them to the outside — whether internationally or throughout the country — or even locally. We’re stronger as a whole than we are individually.”
Augustine recognizes many aspiring entrepreneurs may have a promising plan but need a push to move forward with the mission.
“A lot of people have different business ideas, so it’s about letting them know where they can go for startup assistance, specifically with the Small Business Development Centers and incubators throughout the region,” he said. “The next piece everybody needs and wants is funding and there are a lot of low-interest loans people can access.”
However, Augustine added the task of locating the help can be burdensome, which makes the guide useful.
“Trying to find a lot of these resources on your own could be overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to get a business up and running,” he said. “We wanted to create a simple resource people could pick up and use as they start their business.”
Okrepkie feels the guide will further boost the strong economic landscape in the area.
“Our region boasts a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that includes a series of business incubators, capital investment in technology companies, and economic development professionals poised to support turning ideas into companies that create jobs and wealth for northeastern Pennsylvania,” he said in a news release. “At Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPA, in addition to investing money in technology companies, we are proud to leverage our relationships with hundreds of consulting resources to solve the challenges that come with building businesses.”
