Every day, Ben Franklin clients bring cutting-edge ideas to market that directly impact Pennsylvania’s economy by fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem, supporting innovation in established manufacturers, and cultivating, attracting, and retaining in-demand talent. Across the commonwealth’s 67 counties, Ben Franklin’s client portfolio includes many of Pennsylvania’s best and brightest minds. We know that talented workers go where job opportunities exist and actively seek to live in communities that provide ample opportunities for career growth. Ben Franklin keeps high-paying jobs in Pennsylvania by focusing on the needs of local tech-based companies and innovative small manufacturers, and the entrepreneurs who lead those companies. We actively help startups survive their higher-risk formative years and lay a stable foundation to build upon so they can attract and retain top staff and keep Pennsylvania globally competitive. Ben Franklin provides a high return on investment for Pennsylvania because we live with our investments beyond the concept stage, as partners in their development. Our approach includes not only financial assistance, but many other things our clients need to succeed – including subject-matter expertise, equipment, workspace, coaching and mentoring, and a support network that includes a selection of the nation’s best universities and colleges. With four regional centers and offices throughout the state, Ben Franklin support is everywhere in the Commonwealth. We actively engage with clients on a regular basis. This comprehensive and integrated approach to supporting companies is Ben Franklin’s “secret sauce,” developed and customized over decades of experience. It is why clients, no matter where they are, cite Ben Franklin’s support services, as well as its investments, as being key factors in their success.

The combined power of Pennsylvania’s diverse population of amazing entrepreneurs, and the industry-leading services provided by Ben Franklin, have helped to make the Commonwealth one of the top ecosystems in the world to start and grow a technology company, to scale a manufacturing operation, or to create solutions that truly improve the human condition. Our commitment to inclusive practices and policies is steeped in all we do and has been an organizational priority for years. In fact, Ben Franklin has experimented with and refined dozens of diversity-specific programs across the state, forging relationships with numerous community partners, and continues to roll out innovative solutions that reach more entrepreneurs in more communities at the very earliest stages of technology entrepreneurship. Ben Franklin oversees a portfolio of hundreds of investments in tech startups and established manufacturers in Pennsylvania. The entrepreneurs and companies who make up this investment portfolio are as unique and as diverse as the industries comprising our Commonwealth. These companies include women-run and minority-led businesses, CEOs from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, and innovators who have come to Pennsylvania from other countries to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. How is our commitment working? Today, Ben Franklin is one of the nation’s most active and progressive investors in diverse founders of seed-stage, technology companies, and established manufacturers. And while we’re always striving for greater improvement, these achievements are ahead of national and regional benchmarks.

When most people think of innovation, they think of computers, microchips, or other technology-based devices that push the boundaries of what we think is possible. But innovation is not so narrowly defined. Innovation also includes advances in manufacturing, health care, and a variety of everyday products and services that all of us utilize in our daily lives. Ben Franklin Technology Partners was ahead of its time when it launched nearly 40 years ago to help Pennsylvania make the transition from its struggling heavy manufacturing economy to the technology-based economy that would carry it forward. Over time, Ben Franklin became one of the most widely known and emulated technology-based economic development programs in the nation. Since its inception, Ben Franklin has invested in more than 4,500 technology-based companies, boosted the state’s economy by more than $25 billion, and helped to generate 148,000 jobs through investments in client firms and spinoff companies. Not only are these jobs in-demand and sustainable, but they also pay an average of $79,364 annually, which is 52 percent higher than the average non-farm salary in the commonwealth. Ben Franklin clients create the kinds of jobs young people seek to build their careers in Pennsylvania. More recently, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben Franklin clients worked around the clock to address public health issues in numerous ways, from testing and treatments to essential logistics and other support mechanisms. Our clients supported those on the front lines and kept Pennsylvanians employed during that trying times, helping our Commonwealth transition from response to recovery.

Startups and innovative established manufacturers seek fertile ecosystems and Ben Franklin has led and partnered to create an ecosystem where companies in Pennsylvania can bring their ideas to life and thrive. Ben Franklin has made Pennsylvania more attractive for businesses, while supporting and nurturing the types of jobs and opportunities that talented workers seek, keeping our students, children, and grandchildren in our state. Our clients’ achievements in an array of industries and throughout Pennsylvania ensure that they provide a return on taxpayer investment. For every dollar invested in Ben Franklin by the Commonwealth, we generate a return of $3.90 in incremental tax revenue for Pennsylvania and have boosted the state’s economy by more than $25 billion. Pennsylvania’s resilience has always been one of its greatest attributes. Through ingenuity, technology, and skillful implementation, Ben Franklin’s work continues to help Pennsylvania maintain and grow a strong economy by supporting new enterprises and vital traditional industries, helping them apply technology to compete and succeed in a global marketplace. Whether we look back over the past year or the last three-plus decades, Ben Franklin is a proven winner. Pennsylvania has created an approach to growing its economy that embraces tech-based entrepreneurship and innovative manufacturing and harnesses the power of the state’s most vital resource – its residents.