Ben Franklin Technology Partners Companies Affected by COVID-19 are Getting $4M From the State

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Thursday that Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) had made $4 million in new funding available to help tech-based companies in Ben Franklin Technology Partners’ (BFTP) portfolio that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The funding will be distributed equally between the state’s four BFTP entities, which operate in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, State College and Bethlehem.

“Our tech companies have been stepping up to provide us with innovative ways to produce personal protective equipment and other supplies, and we must make sure they remain in a position to provide those critical services and ideas in our response to this pandemic,” said DCED Secretary Dennis Davin in a statement.

The funds, spun up in just three days, will be delivered to each BFTP entity through a Technology Development grant. Each region’s org will match the funding, then distribute it to companies that it identifies as experiencing hardships due to the impact of COVID-19. Companies in BFTP’s portfolio will be prioritized, though others will be considered as well — especially those “working toward new technologies relevant both to the pandemic and its effects: think both life sciences and remote learning, for example,” said Jason Bannon, BFTP’s VP of marketing and communications for the southeastern region. Some of that funding may come in the form of small prototyping grants worth between $5,000 and $10,000, Bannon said.

Read the full article here.

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