Patrick Murphy, Drexel University Team Up to Transform Old Industrial Site in Bucks County into Small Business Incubator

(Bristol, PA) – Tuesday, April 6, 2010, Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-8th District) joined officials from Drexel University to formally announce the school’s intention to create a small business incubator at the Bridge Business Center in Bristol Township. The incubator will help transform what was an old industrial site in Bristol into a workforce development center and small business hub for companies focused on innovative and cutting-edge renewable energy technologies.

“I’m proud to partner with Drexel to create jobs in Bucks County,” said Congressman Patrick Murphy. “Bucks County is a growing magnet for innovative renewable energy companies, and I look forward to developing these partnerships that bring high-paying jobs to Lower Bucks.”

“Drexel is committed to environmental sustainability and cutting-edge technology,” said Brian Keech, Drexel vice president for Government and Community Relations. “We look forward to creating partnerships through the Bridge Business Center that will further enhance the University’s focus on renewable energy technologies.”

Resources will be focused specifically on start-up companies conducting research and development to increase the military’s energy independence and energy security. Drexel will provide support and resources, and it plans to build a power lab at the site to give entrepreneurs and researchers the ability to test and develop new renewable energy and energy efficiency technology.

The incubator program will be modeled after the successful Applied Communications and Information Networking (ACIN) program in Camden, NJ, which has supported over100 small high tech companies and employs more than 325 workers on site.

Drexel partnered with Congressman Murphy, and they intend to lease nearly 15,000 square feet in the center, helping to transform what was a nearly abandoned industrial site into a workforce development and small business incubator. The site has been a national model for economic revitalization, turning abandoned warehouses and deserted research labs formerly part of the Rohm and Haas chemical company into lab and office space, research facilities, and light manufacturing.

This latest effort builds on Congressman Murphy’s previous work in developing public/private partnerships to support job creation and workforce development in cutting-edge fields, including the recent creation of the Green Jobs Academy of Bucks County Community College.  To date, Murphy has helped bring 2,700 jobs to Southeastern Pennsylvania.

For Immediate Release, April 6, 2010
Contact: Sara Schaumburg, (202) 225-4276