Launched 40 years ago, Ben Franklin has become one of the most widely known and emulated state technology-based economic development programs in the nation. And for good reason. 

 

In partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Ben Franklin provides critical funding, business and technical expertise, and access to a network of valuable resources that early-stage and established companies need to grow and succeed in the highly competitive worldwide marketplace. 

 

At Ben Franklin, clients are surrounded with internal and external experts in accounting and finance, marketing, intellectual property protection, supply chain management, and other disciplines. Developed and customized over four decades of experience, many clients cite these high-value support services as being key factors in their eventual success. 

 

This comprehensive and integrated approach to supporting companies is Ben Franklin’s “secret sauce,” with clients citing these support services as key factors in their success. 

 

Ben Franklin clients come from a variety of industries: computer software, hardware, and telecommunications firms; a variety of fabricated metal and industrial machinery manufacturers; and life science companies, including pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech firms, instrumentation, robotics and medical device companies. 

 

Clients in these industries are innovative and technology-intensive, investing in research and development, intellectual property, capital equipment, and highly skilled labor. 

 

As a statewide initiative, serving all 67 counties through four regionally based centers in Pittsburgh, State College, Bethlehem, and Philadelphia, with several satellite offices spread across the state, Ben Franklin also leverages the excellence of Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities and promotes greater collaboration among companies, academia, private investors, and government to build and development technology-based industries. 

 

The numbers say it all. 

 

Since its inception, Ben Franklin has boosted the state economy by more than $30 billion, generating more than 58,000 jobs in client firms, plus an additional 101,000 spinoff positions, for a total of 159,000 new jobs that otherwise would never have existed. 

 

Every dollar invested by the commonwealth into Ben Franklin generates $4 in additional state taxes. 

 

Ben Franklin Technology Partners is making investments that have powered Pennsylvania’s economy for decades and will help the state maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly high-tech world.