Carbondale Technology Transfer Center’s 9th Annual Entrepreneurship Academy The Carbondale Technology Transfer Center (CTTC) held it’s 9th Annual Entrepreneurship Academy with students from Carbondale Area Jr/Sr High School, Forest City Regional High School, and Western Wayne High School. The CTTC’s Entrepreneurship Academy seeks to expose high school students (primarily sophomores and juniors) to the concept of entrepreneurship and its supporting characteristics. These business skills include leadership, marketing, effective business practices, and a spirit of independent thinking. Students participating in the program are educated through classroom instruction along with hands-on learning through the completion of a project in conjunction with a local business. This year, students worked with local businesses on project selected by the business owners. Carbondale Area students worked with Burning Bush Café to develop a marketing plan and pieces for one of their products. Cliff Krajkovich, owner of Burning Bush Cafe, tasked the students with developing different ways to market and promote his business, including their partnership with the Monastery. The students offered a variety of ways to highlight the business, including through social media. The winning team of students suggested creating “behind the scenes” videos that are popular on TikTok, which show how different menu items are made. Forest City Regional students worked with Birtchtown Weddings and Events to come up with some creative ways to market the venue for events other than weddings. Jessica Polednak, owner of Birchtown Weddings and Events, challenged the students with coming up with different ideas on how to utilize and market the property for events outside of wedding season. The class offered a variety of different ideas, ranging from indoor cornhole tournaments, to Santa’s Christmas Wonderland in December, to even a mechanical bull. Western Wayne students worked with Adams Cable to develop a marketing plan and pieces for their new product, Echoe Stream. Stephanie Kemmerer, Director of Marketing at Adams Cable, had the student teams develop a marketing plan for Echoe Stream and a target demographic of their market. They incorporated both on-air and print promotions to showcase the product and its advantages. Congratulations to all of this year’s Entrepreneurship Academy students on a very successful year and thank you to Cliff of Burning Bush Café, Stephanie, Claire, and Wendy of Adams Cable, and Jessica of Birchtown Weddings and Events, for your participation in this year’s Entrepreneurship Academy!
Ben Franklin Technology Partners Invests in IGNITE Client The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s (BFTP_NEPA) board of directors has approved the investment of $252,500 in support of regional economic development. Five companies from BFTP_NEPA’s 21-county service area received funding. Investments identified as a continuation project indicates that the client achieved pre-determined milestones and is receiving more funding to accomplish additional project work. BFTP_NEPA announced the early-stage company investment of the GUIDE, IGNITE client of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. GUIDE, Scranton Enterprise Center, Scranton, Lackawanna County Ben Franklin Investment: $100,000 Complete the development of a new version of GUIDE’s mobile application and commercialize the app to organizations including mid-sized corporations, first responders, and veteran groups. GUIDE provides a wellness and mental health Software-as-a-Service mobile app. The app combines daily, micro-learning practices with a peer support community to improve mental and emotional well-being and provide personal, professional, and community development.
Chamber Announces Promotion of Brianna Florovito The Chamber is proud to announce the promotion of Brianna Florovito to IGNITE Program manager. IGNITE is the entrepreneurship and business incubation program of the Chamber, which helps new businesses grow in Lackawanna County. In this role, Brianna will manage the IGNITE Program by fostering entrepreneurs and their companies through education, counseling, networking, and mentorship. Her responsibilities include overall program management, client development, funding, marketing, events, and more. Brianna started at the Chamber in 2019 as the workforce and entrepreneurial development specialist where she focused on economic and workforce strategies for the Chamber and its affiliates – SLIBCO, The Scranton Plan, and Skills in Scranton. Brianna is also an instructor at Lackawanna College teaching GED classes. She recently co-authored an article “Subject Position and Manifestations of Workplace Followership” that was published in the Journal of Organizational Psychology.
SBDC Reimagining Your Creative Business Series The SBDC is premiering a new series geared toward creative entrepreneurs. This unique entrepreneurship series is designed to provide creative entrepreneurs of all types with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to reimagine their for-profit small business in the wake of COVID-19. Topics covered will include: Current Opportunities & Challenges for CreativesFine-Tuning FinanceReimagining Your Marketing & BrandingPutting Your Reimagined Plan into Action with Social Media & eCommerce The series will take place on Wednesdays in February from 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm, and businesses can attend one or more sessions. More information can be found at https://www.scrantonsbdc.com/reimagining-your-creative-business-series/.
