“Today we begin a new chapter of inspiring innovation and economic vitality and collaboration and investment in the region,” said The Pennsylvania State University President Dr. Eric J. Barron during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Dec. 17 to mark the official announcement of “Penn State Lehigh Valley LaunchBox,” a PSU-funded business accelerator program operating out of the second and third floors of 532 Hamilton St, Allentown.

The program is part of the “Invent Penn State” initiative, which aims to utilize Penn State’s knowledge bank and resources to foster burgeoning entrepreneurs in bringing fresh concepts and products to market.

Invent Penn State and LaunchBox is a partnership between PSU and the local community. City Center Investment Corp., developer of mixed-use properties and the firm behind much of the restoration and new construction resurgence in center city Allentown, donated the space for LaunchBox within its “Velocity I>A” co-working space.

In addition to providing the physical resources, City Center will continue to offer internships and is among several leading businesses providing mentoring and funding to LaunchBox participants.

“City Center is thrilled to be collaborating with Penn State around innovation and their LaunchBox program,” said City Center President-CEO J.B. Reilly. “When we developed Velocity we did it because we wanted to help create an environment to support entrepreneurship and innovation.

“Penn State’s interest in being here to do that same thing was just so natural and having them be part of the Velocity program was just a natural fit,” Reilly said.

Velocity I>A provides two floors of co-working space that incudes open-range seating, small offices and shared conference room, lounge and breakroom. It provides space at below market rate and fosters collaboration, networking and comradery. It is outfitted with Wi-Fi, fax and copiers and is accessible to participants 24/7.

Under LaunchBox, all Velocity amenities would be available at no cost to enrollees via the micro-grant program.

Barron presented LaunchBox with an initial $50,000 in seed money to fund the program, with 11 community partners, including City Center, pledging an additional $70,000.

Proposals already submitted for consideration range from health and wellness promotion, mobile app development, drone exploration and even personalized funeral urns.

Penn State Lehigh Valley is one of six Penn State campuses to receive funding under Barron’s Invent Penn State initiative. The other sites are Abington, Behrend, Harrisburg, New Kensington and Wilkes Barre.

The program will award micro-grants to fledgling businesses and pair them with alumni, business and academic leaders. It is open to Lehigh Valley residents and Penn State faculty, students and alumni who have a scalable business idea.

“Through Lehigh Valley Launchbox we are developing an alliance of public and private entities and for-profit and non-profit organizations in the hope that we can work together to create an urban entrepreneurship eco-system,” explained Penn State Lehigh Valley Chancellor Tina Richardson to the assembled crowd of local dignitaries, business leaders, entrepreneurs and media.

“Our location here allows us to experience the resurgence of downtown Allentown. Look around us. The transformation in obvious. This connects us to the revitalization of the city and invites us to become further ingrained in the fabric of this rejuvenated community,” Richardson said.