Ben Franklin Technology Partners threatened by 60 percent budget cut

In a restricted budget season, you have to make your case for survival.

Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partners program has earned the state $3.50 for every $1 invested, according to an independent study by the Pennsylvania Economy League for the years between 2002 and 2006, as cited in a Morning Call Op-ed.

In 25 years, the program’s Southeastern Pennsylvania branch — based at the Naval Yard in South Philadelphia – has provided more than $130 million to grow more than 1,600 regional enterprises, but still, lingering in the state Senate is a bill that would cut 60 percent of the body that funds the statewide BFTP program.

“This is an extremely challenging year for the state budget, and difficult decisions must be made,” wrote R. Chadwick Paul Jr., the president and CEO of the Northeastern Pa. arm of BFTP, in the Op-ed in the Call. “But decreasing funding for Ben Franklin would reduce Pennsylvania job creation and job retention, and result in a net revenue loss for the commonwealth.”

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MAC Alliance CEO Thomas Balderston steps down

Thomas Balderston

According to Peter Key over at the Philadelphia Business Journal, Thomas M. Balderston has resigned his post as the Chief Executive of the Mid Atlantic Capital Alliance.

The MAC alliance is an affiliate of the city’s Chamber of Commerce that works to link up entrepreneurs and those with capital in our area. The group regularly hosts events for local business owners and investors.

Balderston made the move known at the group’s annual awards luncheon last Thursday, presumably making the move to focus on his own fund at King of Prussia-based Balderston Capital that he started in 2001.

The move is a big deal for the MAC Alliance, and is its first change in CEO since the group widened its coverage area. When Balderston took the helm of the then-named Greater Philadelphia Venture Group in 2006, he announced that he would be stretching the group’s reach from New York City (a.k.a. the 67th ward) to Washington D.C. Using his 20-plus years in the venture business he did just that, helping MAC Alliance expand to outside of city limits while continuing its march back to relevancy.

Balderston is still listed as CEO on MAC’s Web site. He also is still on the Board of Directors for Ben Franklin Technology Partners and is listed as a Principal investor in Rosemont Investment Partners.

Hat tip to the Phildelaphia Business Journal.

Regional women-in-business report, annual award show success, room for growth

Women-led emerging growth companies in the Philadelphia region raise on average more than $10 million per company — called “significant outside capital” — according to a report released last week by WIN, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA and the Wharton Small Business Development Center.

The May 7th reception, where the report was discussed at BFTP’s offices in the Innovation Center of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, came along with other news for Pennsylvania women in business.

Gov. Ed Rendell saluted the honorees of the state’s 14th annual “Best 50 Women in Business” list, at a Harrisburg reception held Monday.

“Pennsylvania applauds the vital contributions that women entrepreneurs and leaders make to their communities and to the economic development of our state,” Fast Eddie said.

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Regional entrepreneurship foundation takes major players on its advisory board

A slew of big names were named to the advisory board of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship to Youth.

All told, 13 new members were appointed, including former RedLasso CEO Kenyon Hayward, RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, the longtime president of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart, according to a press release.

The regional incarnation of the New York City-based nonprofit is headquartered at Temple and follows the group’s mission of providing entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities.

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Philly gets no love from latest Ben Franklin Tech Partners investments

At its quarterly meeting this week, the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority announced that several universities and Keystone Zones will receive state money to help foster the growth of green technologies. Absent in the latest round, however, were any local businesses, though Chester did get some cash thrown its way for its Keystone Innovation Zone.

Now, to be fair, the Southeastern branch of Ben Franklin Technology Partners certainly has shelled out some cash in the past. However, being the Philly cheerleaders we are, its hard not to be disappointed.

In addition to allocating some money for green initiatives, each branch of the four regional branches of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners also discussed where to place the money received from the Alternative Energy Investment Fund.

According to Governor Rendell, the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority has invested $4 billion since 2003 and has created 27,000 jobs.

Read the full list of recent investments after the jump.

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Ben Franklin Tech Partners of Northeastern PA announce $454k investment

We can’t help but give a shout out to our neighbors in the North.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania have announced plans to invest $454,000 in 11 companies in its region.

That’s after Philly’s local Technology Partners announced a $2 million investment in 11 companies in the Philadelphia region last week.

Nearly a third of the northeastern investment – $150,000 – went to Element ID, a Bethlehem-based company working on commercializing a competitive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag for use in materials handling.

Recruiting company Pinpoint Strategies, of Bloomsburg received $50,000 for its use of software, video, and animation tools to recruit hard-to-find health care professionals.

And lest favoritism effect the journalistic process, we can’t help but mention Wine Gadgets, an Allentown based company that markets products that preserve wine once a bottle has been opened. The company received $24,900.

It would seem that the state-funded early-stage entrepreneurship incubator is thriving as the U.S. economy continues to struggle.

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Ben Franklin Technology Partners invests $2 million in regional companies

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania announced yesterday plans to invest $2.05 million in 11 companies in and around Philadelphia.

The regional partner of the statewide economic development network bought $750,000 worth of three Philadelphia companies and spent the rest on eight groups in the ‘burbs.

In a struggling economy, that’s good news. Technology companies funded by BFTP boosted the gross state product by an estimated $9.3 billion from 2002 to 2006, according to a study released by the Pennsylvania Economy League last month.

The largest investment was $400,000 for BioNanomatrix, a University City developer of analytic and imaging platforms that aim to reduce the time and cost used to analyze DNA. BioNanomatrix has previously received $250,000 from BFTP.

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