The tech industry is growing in Happy Valley and the surrounding region.  We spoke with three tech leaders about their secrets to success.

The number of women-owned businesses in the United States has doubled in the last 20 years, and so has the revenue they generated, according to American Express OPEN’s annual State of Women-Owned Businesses report. Nearly 850 women-owned businesses start up every day. As of 2017, there were nearly 12 million women-owned businesses in the country, employing 9 million people and generating $1.7 trillion in revenue.

There are several angles from which to look at the start of a new business. There’s the legal perspective, there’s the funding perspective and there’s the general, “are you committed enough to this idea to stick with it?” perspective.


Representatives from the array of entrepreneurial resources in Central Pennsylvania offer some pointers on taking your venture to the next level, when you’re not sure where to go or what to do to get your startup off the ground.

On May 29, the Ben Franklin TechCelerator@State College awarded a cash prize to the winner of its latest Business Startup Accelerator.

Kevin Houser’s Lyralux is commercializing Dim to Vivid™, a light source technology that enhances colors at low-light levels.

After an impressive debut in 2016, the Invent Penn State initiative returned to Innovation Park at Penn State to host its second Venture and IP Conference April 19–20, 2018, at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. More than 600 participants attended the conference, including 80 startup companies and more than 40 venture capitalists and industry advisers.


The Venture & IP Conference provides a space for entrepreneurs and investors to connect and celebrates the creative thinking and innovative minds at Penn State.