Innovation Zone touts new jobs in emerging companies
Maria Kleinz works to filter a dye at her job at MTTI. She was an intern with the company when she was a student at WCU and was offered a full time job after she graduated. Staff photo by Amy Dragoo
WEST GOSHEN — Maria Kleinz, a recent West Chester University graduate with a chemistry degree, had a job created just for her.
A former intern with Molecular Targeting Technologies Inc. in Lincoln Independence Park, she’s now a full-time research assistant there. Molecular Targeting, or MTTI, as it’s known, is an entrepreneurial company that uses small molecules to identify and depict cancer and cardiovascular disease in the human body.
MTTI used state funds, which it got from Pennsylvania’s Keystone Innovation Zone program, or KIZ, to find Maria and train her, explained Chris Pak, the company’s 59-year-old co-founder and chief executive.
“We use the KIZ program to identify talented people and train them,” said Pak, a native of China and a resident of the United States for more than 40 years.
“Today, it’s difficult to get jobs in chemistry with only a bachelor’s degree.”
Once, Kleinz was one of a handful of interns MTTI hires every year. Others came from the University of Delaware and Colgate University.
Especially during current circumstances, as the local and national economies struggle to recover from The Great Recession, creation of any new jobs is noteworthy indeed.
MTTI employs 10 people, of whom five, including Pak, are Ph.Ds.
The state’s Department of Community and Economic Development started the KIZ program in May 2004, and has since plunked down $14 million to develop and sustain it.
It’s meant to help start-up and emerging companies get their feet off the ground, often providing benefits at no cost, said Mary Fuchs, project consultant with the Chester County Economic Development Council, one of several KIZ partners.
Chester County’s KIZ is one of 29 in the state. Its 19 fledgling companies, of which MTTI is one, may avail themselves of any and all KIZ programs. Among other benefits, KIZ offers access to lenders, venture capital networks and foundations, reimbursement for intern training and tax credits, which can range as high as $100,000 per year for a single company.
MTTI will eventually use the credit to defray its own tax liability, chief executive Pak said.
To be eligible for KIZ help, companies must be in the bio/life sciences, information technology or energy fields, in existence eight years or fewer and located within specific KIZ areas.
Chester County is unique in that its KIZ companies are spread out geographically, Fuchs noted. “A lot of other zones are clustered around a research institution. In Chester County, it’s the existing companies that have spun out new businesses close to them.”
MTTI is a perfect example.
Pak, who worked in research and development for Centocor during the 1980s and 1990s — then an independent biopharmaceutical concern and now part of the Johnson & Johnson conglomerate — licensed small molecule technology from Centocor when Hubert J.P. Schoemaker, its co-founder, was still chief executive. (Schoemaker, a pharmaceutical pioneer who went on to found Neuronyx once J&J bought Centocor, died in 2006 after a long battle with cancer.)
The county has seven KIZ areas, located in numerous office parks in the Route 100/Turnpike, East Exton, West Exton, Goshen, Downingtown, Great Valley and Chesterbrook areas.
The Chester County Economic Development Council, which manages Chester County’s KIZ program, recently announced that 15 of the 19 KIZ companies increased revenues by a collective $7 million in second-half 2009, created a total of 30 new jobs and retained 116 more.
“These are all niche businesses, businesses that have defined their markets and are growing and moving forward,” Fuchs said.
The development council has a declining state grant to run the program. It received $225,000 in 2008, $187,500 in 2009 and $125,000 this year to do so.
“The intention is that, as these companies start to operate better on their own, they become more self-sustaining,” she added.
Among Chester County’s 19 KIZ companies are ByTheZip.com, Frontage Laboratories, Isolagen Inc., Level One, Melior, Neuronetics, Othera, Progenra, Promedior Inc., Reaction Biology, Solstice Neurosciences, Tetralogic Pharmaceuticals, Virtual Chester County and Y-Prime.
Also partnering with the Chester County Economic Development Council are the Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Southeastern Pennsylvania, CresaPartners, Drexel University, Fox Rothschild, Kutztown University, Liberty Property Trust, MVM Associates, PECO, Penn State University/Great Valley, Pennsylvania BIO and West Chester University.
To contact correspondent Sarah E. Moran, send an e-mail to semoran219@msn.com.
Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone companies report more than 7 million revenue increase in last six months – 30 new jobs created and 116 jobs retained
Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone companies report more than $7 million revenue increase in last six months. ~ 30 new jobs created and 116 jobs retained
EXTON _ Fifteen of the Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone companies collectively reported more than $7 million in increased revenue for the second half of 2009. The companies also report 30 new jobs created and 116 retained.
The Chester County KIZ companies are start-up and accelerator companies that are located within the designated zone, have been in operation eight years or less and are in the bio, life sciences and technology industries. KIZ is a Department of Community and Economic Development initiative focused on the building of knowledge-based economies and the cultivation of entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania. These activities are accomplished through the gathering and aligning of resources educational institutions, private business, business support organizations, commercial lending institutions, venture capital networks and foundations.
Eligible KIZ companies have the opportunity to access a number of benefits that may be available to them at, typically, no cost. Among the benefits the companies may qualify for are KIZ specific tax credits, intern reimbursement, training reimbursement and access to translational research and grant funds.
Key partners in the Chester County KIZ include: Chester County Economic Development Council, Ben Franklin Technology Partners-Southeastern Pennsylvania, CresaPartners, Drexel University, PECO, an Exelon Corporation, Fox Rothchild LLP, Kutztown University, Liberty Property Trust, MVM Associates, Penn State University Great Valley, Pennsylvania BIO, and West Chester University.
The Chester County Economic Development Council is a private, non-profit economic development organization that has been nurturing economic growth in Chester County and the surrounding region for 50 years. The Council’s portfolio of business growth services includes: low-interest financing, small business lending, workforce training, retention and expansion, customized international business assistance, land and building site selection, brownfields consultation and remediation, urban redevelopment, and agricultural economic development. The Council also offers state-of-the art conference and training facilities at its facility in Eagleview. For more information, see www.cceconomicdevelopment.com.
A Message from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell
Welcome to Chester County, located in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Whether you are relocating your company, expanding and growing your existing business or have a dream of starting up a new one, Chester County is the place for you.
The Chester County Economic Development Council can help you. The CCEDC has partnered with the Commonwealth for over forty-two years, assisting companies to find suitable sites and acquire construction financing. Today, the Council also offers an extensive range of economic development resources, including manufacturing consultation, technology assistance, international trade promotion and workforce development. The results have been impressive.
Since 1960, CCEDC activities have resulted directly in the creation of nearly 85,000 new jobs, the retention of over 110,000 existing jobs, the acquisition of approximately $3.5 billion in financing loans and the establishment of over 3,750 new companies in Chester County alone.
Given the challenging economic situation facing the Commonwealth today, Chester County must continue to focus on investing in their economy, achieving real results for their community. Contact the Chester County Economic Development Council to find out more about the services available to your company and the quality of life your family and employees can enjoy in Chester County. I wholeheartedly encourage companies to put down roots, and invest in Pennsylvania!
Best Wishes,
Governor Ed Rendell
Life Science Career Alliance
Two biotechnology certificate programs established at community colleges to combat critical skilled employee shortfall
Three community colleges to offer program in spring, with two more joining in the fall
PHILADELPHIA – In partnership with regional community colleges and biotechnology companies, the Life Science Ca-reer Alliance (LSCA) has developed two industry-validated college certificate programs designed to fill increasing num-bers of skilled employee shortfalls. One of the certificates is for cell/tissue growth, while the other is for fermentation. Both models contain components of quality control/quality assurance to ensure a standardized training need and a more efficient curriculum.
Not only will this program create career pipelines and enhancement opportunities for classroom participants, but it will usher in a new way to enhance existing skills, training courses and recruiting trends throughout the region. Upon com-pletion of the course, the program features an internship component that introduces students to real life lab experiences and workforce skills.
“The Delaware Valley is a hotbed for biotechnology; future industry growth in the region will be dependent on the contin-ued ability to supply qualified workers,” said James Logan, the Biotech Project Senior Program Manager. “Working with this innovative industry enables the LSCA and workforce practitioners to develop programs to meet the knowledge, skills and abilities required for a Biotechnology Technician. Even better, we were able to assemble five community colleges to work with industry leaders to design, create and validate a curriculum that will be taught identically at each campus, a rarity today.”
Logan noted that no other local initiative of this kind links colleges and industry so closely together to create a standard-ized biotechnology, industry-driven education and workforce model.
“Work in the biotechnology field requires a unique set of skills that these certificate programs will now be able to teach to their students,” said Loreen Bloodgood, Trinity Manager for Global Manufacturing and Supply (GMS) Biopharm at GlaxoSmithKline. “These programs offer a new way to potentially identify the employees that will be needed in the future as the biopharmaceuticals business continues to grow.”
Logan noted that the certificate program will serve up to 100 participants, half consisting of college students and half in-cumbent workers. Depending on the participating college those who complete either program may receive college cred-its and all will receive a “Biotechnology Technician Certificate” of completion.
Burlington County Community College, Montgomery County Community College and Bucks County Community College will begin offering the certificate programs during the 2009 spring semester. Community College of Philadelphia and Camden County College will begin during the 2009 fall semester. Logan said other community colleges may begin offer-ing the course as well.
Industry partners include Tengion, Centocor, GlaxoSmithKline, Strategic Diagnostics, DuPont, ImClone, and The Fraun-hofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology, Kensey Nash Corp., LifeSensors Inc., Wyeth and Morphotek.
About the Life Science Career Alliance (LSCA)
The Life Science Career Alliance (LSCA) is a nonprofit dedicated to mobilizing regional resources to ensure that a skilled workforce is available to support the life science sectors of our economy, including hospitals and pharmaceutical, bio-technology, medical device and diagnostic companies. LSCA seeks to promote the regional economy and workforce development through career enhancement for adults and youth.