Original Innovation
Center Created More Than 115 New Jobs, and Expansion Will
Continue to Create Even More
WILKES-BARRE - Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11), Senator
Bob Casey (D-PA), and Willie Taylor, Regional Director of the U.S. Economic
Development Administration's (EDA) Philadelphia Regional Office announced
$2,263,500 for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business &
Industry's (CBI) Innovation Center at Wilkes-Barre II (ICWB
II). The funding will expand an
existing program to create affordable office space for local small businesses
in Wilkes-Barre which will help them develop their companies and encourage
start-up companies to locate and grow in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Since its opening
in 2004, the original innovation center has housed 15 startup companies, which
have added more than $2 million into the local economy, and fostered the
creation of more than 115 new jobs, paying average annual wages of $62,000, to
date. Members of the EDA's regional
office staff also joined Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber representatives and area
elected officials in Downtown Wilkes-Barre for the announcement. The project, which CBI's real estate
development affiliate, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Development Corporation
(GWBDC), will undertake, involves the construction of a 30,000 SF building with
an estimated cost of approximately $5 million.
The facility will be built at 27-29 South Main Street in order to
accommodate the expansion of the Innovation Center@Wilkes-Barre (ICWB).
"The
Innovation Center at Wilkes-Barre has provided a unique opportunity to bring
new small businesses to the area, create jobs, and promote economic development
in Northeastern Pennsylvania," said Congressman Kanjorski. "I applaud the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber
of Business & Industry for its innovative initiative as part of the
downtown revitalization program. The expansion of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber's successful
program will enable the goals of the innovation center to continue so that more
small businesses can grow and thrive in Northeastern Pennsylvania, while also
benefiting the area's economy and its residents."
"The funding for the
expansion of the Innovation Center is great news for Wilkes-Barre," said
Senator Casey. "By expanding this proven
facility, we can create more resources for businesses, thereby creating jobs,
bolstering the local economy and furthering entrepreneurial development in the
area."
Commenting on the announcement,
Chamber President/CEO Todd Vonderheid stated, "We are very thankful to EDA and
our federal delegation - Senator Robert Casey, Congressman Paul Kanjorski, and Senator
Arlen Specter -- who advocated for this application. This new building will give our community the
kind of space required to allow us to not only build on the success of our
existing incubator, but most importantly to create a more formal relationship
between area colleges, universities and private investors that will ensure the
necessary support for entrepreneurs over the long term."
The new Wilkes-Barre small business incubator will create
17,110 square feet of affordable office space for lease to local small businesses
and start-up companies. Because of the
success of the original incubator, the CBI has worked to expand the program to provide
more room for new small business tenants, thereby furthering additional
entrepreneurial development in the Greater Wilkes-Barre area. The CBI will rehabilitate an abandoned
building in downtown Wilkes-Barre to house these businesses.
This announcement allows the GWBDC to initiate the design
process for the ICWB II project. Previously, the GWBDC performed environmental
abatement and demolition activities on the project site; it is anticipated that
building construction will begin in the first quarter of 2011, and will take
approximately one year to construct.
By undertaking the ICWB expansion
project, the CBI will be able to leverage its original ICWB investment,
continue to expand the business and job creation generated by the ICWB
incubator program, and advance the larger revitalization program for Downtown
Wilkes-Barre.
"Today's
announcement continues the U.S. Economic Development Administration's long
record of support for economic and entrepreneurial development in the Greater
Wilkes-Barre area," noted Larry Newman, CBI's Vice President of Planning,
Policy, and Development. "We are extremely grateful to Regional Director Willie
Taylor and his team in the Philadelphia Regional Office for their ongoing
belief in the importance and effectiveness of our organization's work; without
the EDA investment announced today, the construction of an expanded Innovation
Center in Downtown Wilkes-Barre would simply not be possible."
In addition to the EDA award announced today, the ICWB II
project is being funded through $2 million in Industrial Development Program
and Local Share Account grant funds from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's
Department of Community and Economic Development, with the remaining debt and
equity being provided by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Development Corporation.
The
Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry is a community, economic
development and business service organization charged with the mission of
collaborating with community and regional partners to create quality employment
and business opportunities and improve the area's quality of life through
strategic planning, programs and
investments in our community.
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