Partners In Education
Partners in Education (PIE) brings business and education leaders together in an innovative program designed to make sure all students leave school with the academic, technical and employability skills necessary to be successful in the 21st Century workplace. Through PIE, educators and business leaders visit each other's workplace to develop ways to integrate real-life skills into the school curriculum. The group also educates students, administrators and teachers as to what kinds of jobs are available in Greater Hazleton. It isn't unusual to see a human resources manager or even a CEO talking to students and educators about everything from how to write a resume to what a specific company is looking for in an employee.
Your Employability Skills (YES)
In collaboration with local school districts, employers, and business organizations, the Your Employability Skills YES™ Certificate Program program is now available in Northeastern Pennsylvania and is administered by the Northeast Pennsylvania Manufacturers & Employers Council. The program is designed to help youth acquire the fundamental skills that employers regard as important to a well-trained work force. It addresses key concerns of the employers while preparing applicants for quality employment opportunities and a pathway to a secure future. YES™ was developed in York, Pa., by the York Operating Partnership and has a proven record of success at the high school level and in adult continuing education programs. The YES™ program is a 120-hour course with rigorous certification requirements, which are taught in the senior year of high school.
Great Valley Technology Alliance
The Great Valley Technology Alliance (GVTA) is a regional public-private partnership designed to facilitate the development of a knowledge-based, technology-focused economy for Northeastern Pennsylvania. GVTA is an outgrowth of a Battelle Memorial Institute study, commissioned by the economic development organizations of Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Scranton. Its purpose was to better understand and address the structural obstacles which must be overcome in order for the region to make the transition to the 21st Century economy.
Working cooperatively with its partners from higher education, business and economic development, the Great Valley Technology Alliance has created a sustainable strategy for implementing and promoting its policy objectives and programming initiatives that focus on building a community with a strong entrepreneurial culture that attracts and retains talented and creative workers. The shared goals of GVTA's initiatives will result in the development of new business and contribute to the development of the growing regional knowledge-based economy of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Initiatives of the GVTA include the following:
Business Plan Competition
The GVTA business plan competition provides talented college and university students with opportunities to start new business ventures in Northeastern Pennsyvlania. The competition is also open to non-college teams who will compete for a separate prize package.
Computer Contest
The objective of the Great Valley Computer Contest is to introduce and expose the area high school youth to Information Technology in a competitive environment.
Entrepreneurship Institute
The Entrepreneurship Institute provides young people with the fundamental tools they will need to start a business, hopefully right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania. By the end of the Institute students will:
Understand the importance of entrepreneurship to economic growth and development, especially in the Wilkes Barre-Scranton-Hazleton-Poconos region.
- Know of the many sources and forms of help available to entrepreneurs in the region.
- Recognize the characteristics of internationally famous entrepreneurs.
- Explore their own attitudes and characteristics related to entrepreneurship.
- Know and understand the basic terminology and concepts important to entrepreneurship.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the key elements of a business plan.
- Present and defend a business plan in a simulation involving local business leaders.
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute (NPTI) is the culmination of the 1999 Battelle Report, "A Technology Strategy for Northeastern Pennsylvania." This report encouraged the region to build an innovative, knowledge-based and technology-focused economy by harnessing the intellectual capital and energy from within our institutes of higher education. NPTI exists to facilitate collaboration among the region’s fifteen colleges and universities, and to serve as the nexus for academia, business/industry and government.
The mission is to function as a catalyst for innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship in Northeastern Pennsylvania. By serving as a common ground for research, training, employment opportunities, higher educationand knowledge exchange, we are investing in our region’s many valuable resources while working to positively impact the economic future of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Listed below are a few of the efforts orgazined through NPTI:
Intellectual Asset Inventory (IAI)
The aim of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute’s first-of-its-kind for this area Intellectual Asset Inventory (IAI) is to encourage technology transfer and commercialization in Northeastern Pennsylvania’s institutions of higher education.
The IAI comprises a database providing dynamic information from all 14 institutions of higher education in the region, including research, publications, faculty expertise, facilities, equipment, services and intellectual property.
Regional Businesses
Through the IAI, area business and industry can leverage the intellectual capital and resources available at member institutions to:
- perform sponsored research locally;
- validate results using institution equipment;
- forge partnerships with local research faculty; and
- transfer and commercialize technology
Regional Institutions of Higher Education
Local institutions of higher education will benefit from the IAI by having the ability to find peers with low-density skills for collaborative research locally, to share facilities, equipment, and services to maximize capital intensive investments, and to have a virtual showcase of intellectual property on display for transfer or commercialization.
The IAI also provides access to resources and opportunities like its Funding Funnel, which creates a single point of reference for researchers seeking funding, and its memorandum of understanding with the Penn State University Intellectual Property Agreement that gives members access to services that include but are not limited to:
- Intellectual property market assessment
- Development an intellectual protection strategy (patent, licensing, royalty agreements)
- Active marketing of the intellectual property for transfer
- Negotiation of agreements (NDA, confidentiality, disclosures, material transfer options)
Keystone Innovation Zones Program
The Keystone Innovation Zones (KIZs) are designated zones that are established in communities that host institutions of higher education. These zones are designed to foster innovation and create entrepreneurial opportunities. They do this by gathering and aligning the combined resources of educational institutions, private businesses, business support organizations, commercial lending institutions, venture capital networks (including angel investors) and foundations.
For more information regarding the KIZ program, KOZ Innovation Grants, KOZ Tax Credits and the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) Internship program click here.
