CCKIZ Board Profiles
Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone
Partner Profiles
To learn more about the Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone (CCKIZ) program,
to see if your company qualifies as a KIZ company or for an introduction to any of the CCKIZ,
visit www.cckiz.org or contact Mary Fuchs, Project Director, Chester County KIZ
(610-458-5700 x308, mfuchs@cceconomicdevelopment.com)
The award-winning Ben Franklin Technology Partners is one of the nation’s longest-running technology-based economic development programs. For more than 25 years, BFTP has provided both early-stage and established companies with funding, business and technical expertise and access to a network of innovative, expert resources. Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ goal is to accelerate technology development and commercialization in the State of Pennsylvania, and to create high-paying, sustainable jobs for Pennsylvanians. www.sep.benfranklin.org
ByTheZip.com is a Chester County Keystone Innovation Zone company that offers local and regional businesses a complete advertising toolbox for marketing to local customers who research and find businesses online. By using ByTheZip.com’s step-by-step methods for success, businesses can see growth almost immediately. The results are more income and greater customer loyalty. www.bythezip.com
Chester County Economic Development Council (CCEDC) is a private, non-profit economic development organization that has been nurturing economic growth in Chester County and the surrounding region for more than 50 years. The Council’s portfolio of business growth services includes: low-interest financing including SBA and USDA loan programs, business attraction, retention and expansion, workforce development and training, energy consulting, customized international business assistance, land and building site selection, brownfields consultation and remediation, urban redevelopment, and agricultural economic development. The Council also offers economic development services specifically designed for local municipalities and state-of-the art conference and training facilities at its facility in Eagleview. www.cceconomicdevelopment.com
CresaPartners – The Tenant’s Advantage – offers an array of integrated services, developed and implemented to give clients the full advantage of our advisors’ expertise, discipline, and judgment. Since the founding of our firm, the primary focus of CresaPartners has been to serve the best interests of tenants. By representing tenants, not landlords, we ensure objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest. Unlike traditional real estate firms, we are service oriented, not transaction oriented. We provide an array of integrated corporate services and work to align your real estate needs with your business plans. Our advisors and project managers form partnerships with our clients, providing ongoing service that goes “beyond the deal.” www.cresapartners.com
Founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Drexel is a top-ranked, comprehensive university recognized for its focus on experiential learning through co-operative education, its commitment to cutting-edge academic technology and its growing enterprise of use-inspired research. As Philadelphia’s leader in curricular innovation and educational technology, Drexel has a history of integrating the latest technological advances into the learning process. Drexel University’s mission is to serve our students and society through comprehensive integrated academic offerings enhanced by technology, co-operative education, and clinical practice in an urban setting, with global outreach embracing research, scholarly activities, and community initiatives. www.drexel.edu
Elko & Associates concentrates on serving privately held, emerging and middle market companies. Our traditional accounting and tax services include audit and accounting, tax, consulting, fraud and forensic accounting, business valuation, business succession and financial planning services. Our technology group serves a number of companies including software, hardware, communications, life sciences, clean tech and technology services. We are knowledgeable in and are ready to assist you with, revenue recognition, asset capitalization, internal controls, tax credit programs, financing, capitalization, stock based compensation, state and local tax, international tax, mergers & acquisitions, as well as outsourced accounting. www.elkocpa.com
Evolve IP is a Communications as a Service (CaaS) provider that has created a new way for businesses to buy, manage, and secure the technologies that they use to communicate. Our unique approach represents an unequaled option in the market for companies to turn their vital communications technologies into a competitive advantage. With a broad range of expertise in the areas of Managed Telephony, Hosted Applications, Managed Networks, and Security & Compliance, Evolve IP can partner with businesses of all sizes to provide a complete outsourced solution or an augmentation of a current infrastructure. www.evolveip.net
We are a law firm built to serve business leaders. They come to us for guidance because we understand their issues, their priorities, and the way they think. Our job is to help our clients manage risk and make better business decisions by offering practical, innovative advice. Probably the best compliment we receive from clients is that we treat their issues and their businesses as if they are our own. We deliver a full range of legal services — from the traditional (Litigation, Corporate, Labor and Employment) to the emerging services (Intellectual Property and Tech and Venture Finance). Fox Rothschild brings expertise in early and growth stage technology, life science and clean tech companies to the CCKIZ board. www.foxrothschild.com
Franklin Commons is a mixed-use educational, corporate and recreation facility. This adaptive reuse of a former mill and manufacturing site in north Phoenixville offers classroom, office and even recreational space that can be custom-designed and built-to-suit. With 225,000 square feet, 200,000 of which is on one floor, the space is ideal for educational providers to configure and renovate to meet the growing demand for lifelong education. For corporate, recreational or office space needs, the flexible open floor plans and first-class common areas make the Franklin Commons a perfect choice. www.franklincommons.net
Kreischer Miller is one of the largest full-service public accounting and advisory firms in the greater Philadelphia region, with significant experience advising clients ranging from startups to divisions of fortune 100 firms. Kreischer Miller places a great deal of emphasis on having our senior team members accessible to our clients, and recognizes that technical expertise and responsiveness are critical to building long-term professional relationships. Additionally, Kreischer Miller is one of the few firms in the Philadelphia area that offers clients truly an interdisciplinary portfolio of services combining expertise in accounting, tax, business advisory, technology and human resources. www.kmco.com
Liberty Property Trust is a $6.5 billion real estate investment trust (as of March 31, 2011) which owns 79.6 million square feet of office and industrial space in over 20 markets throughout the United States and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1972 and headquartered outside Philadelphia, Liberty develops, acquires, leases and manages properties with the mission to enhance people’s lives through extraordinary work environments. As an extension of this promise, Liberty is the nation’s leading commercial developer of high-performance green buildings. Liberty’s more than 730 office buildings and industrial properties offer exceptional locations, flexible design, thoughtful amenities, cost efficient operations and state-of-the-art technology to the company’s 2,500 tenants. Liberty continuously increases the value of its portfolio through expert management, marketing and development. www.libertyproperty.com
MVM Associates, Inc’s business model incorporates the selling of tradable Pennsylvania Tax Credits – Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ), Research and Development (R&D), Film, Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) and Enterprise Zone (EZ) – and obtaining buyers for those credits. With over 25 years of combined experience in providing and educating hundreds of clients about various state incentives and programs, MVM has been able to provide businesses with opportunities to expand their products or services and increase business growth by working together with us to evaluate the various state programs that best match their company’s need. MVM provides professional service and exceptional follow through producing end results with successful outcomes and awards. www.mvmgrants.com
ParenteBeard is one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier CPA and business advisory firms. Our Emerging Growth Business Services Practice caters to entrepreneurs in the business internet, mobile technology, life sciences and cleantech fields. We offer seasoned professionals and a customized approach to guide you through every stage of your life cycle, leveraging our centers of excellence in accounting, audit, domestic and international tax, and transaction advisory services. Whatever your needs are, we have the talent and resources that a firm of our size and commitment to emerging growth companies can provide. We keep it simple, get it right and deliver on time. www.parentebeard.com
PECO, an energy delivery subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, is headquartered in Philadelphia. PECO is the largest electric and natural gas utility in Pennsylvania, serving approximately 1.6 million electric customers and 490,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. Approximately 90% of PECO’s customers are residential and the remaining 10% are commercial and industrial. With a history of more than 100 years of service to the Greater Philadelphia region, PECO has a long-standing commitment to a culture of excellence. PECO’s safety performance is ranked among utilities as one of the best in the nation and the company has been widely recognized for its community service, economic development and operational and environmental efforts. www.peco.com
Penn State Great Valley School of Graduate Professional Studies extends the resources and reputation of one of the nation’s leading research universities to suburban Philadelphia. Penn State Great Valley delivers outstanding graduate degree programs, professional development courses, and conference planning services. Forty-four full-time and sixty-nine part-time faculty members teach valuable practical skills, share cutting-edge knowledge, and work with corporate, government, and educational neighbors to address real-world problems and enhance employee performance. www.sgps.psu.edu
Pennsylvania Bio’s message is to ensure Pennsylvania is the global leader in the biosciences by creating a cohesive community that united our biotechnology, medical devide, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, research, and financial strengths. www.pennsylvaniabio.org
Progenra, Inc. is dedicated to finding new medicines for a variety of diseases through the ubiquitin pathway, a critical mechanism of cellular regulation. Progenra’s assay platform and unique profiling capacity can identify selective inhibitors of critical ubiquitin pathway enzymes associated with cancer, osteoporosis, and other debilitating diseases. This technology and multiple selective compounds are available for licensing. www.progenra.com
ProTecs is a technology based service company providing program management, construction management and designing and building services to emerging and midsize companies in the regulated High‐Tech industries. These industries include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, semiconductor, specialty chemical, petroleum, photovoltaic, mission critical/data centers and contract service organizations. ProTecs provides creative, value‐driven approaches and entrepreneurial solutions to help our clients bring their products and services to market in the most cost effective and timely manner, while meeting their financial, process, compliance, and safety goals. www.protecsinc.com
Silicon Valley Bank is the premier commercial bank for companies in the technology, life science, venture capital, private equity and premium wine industries. SVB provides a comprehensive suite of financing solutions, treasury management, corporate investment and international banking services to their clients worldwide. Through their focus on specialized markets and extensive knowledge of the people and business issues driving them, Silicon Valley Bank provides a level of service and partnership that measurably impacts their clients’ success. Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., the company serves clients around the world through 26 U.S. offices and international operations in China, India, Israel and the United Kingdom. Silicon Valley Bank is a member of global financial services firm SVB Financial Group (Nasdaq: SIVB), with SVB Analytics, SVB Capital, SVB Global and SVB Private Client Services. www.svb.com
West Chester University, a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, is a public, regional, comprehensive institution committed to providing access and offering high-quality undergraduate education, select post-baccalaureate and graduate programs, and a variety of educational and cultural resources for its students, alumni, and citizens of southeastern Pennsylvania. The Dr. Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center (ELC), a center of the College of Business and Public Affairs at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, serves as a catalyst for regional economic development by promoting entrepreneurship at West Chester University, in Chester County, and throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. www.wcupa.edu or http://cottrellcenter.org