• Keystone Edge reports on the growing trend of regional scientists foraying into business startups, amidst the region being ranked the second densest collection of bioscience companies in the country — behind Boston.
• The Inquirer reports on another startup trying to offer residents the solar-power-by-lease option.
• The Philadelphia Business Journal reports that two Philadelphia University laboratories, one of ‘engineered human protection’ and another of biomedical textile structures, have received nearly $1.8 million in federal funds.

• The Wilmington News Journal reports that long-delayed legislation banning the use of cell phones while driving is expected to pass.
• Fox 29 reports on an entrepreneur that says video gaming helped develop his business savvy. Watch the video below.

Every Friday morning, we make sure you didn t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.

According to Wes Garnett, Delaware is the only mid-atlantic state that does not have a coworking space.

“It’s not just because no one has started it,” he says, “but because no one has even heard of coworking.”

Much like many Philadelphians, Garnett sees a northern neighbor taking technology talent from his city when there are plenty of reasons to stay home. Though Delaware is well-known as a tax shelter for large corporations, the state hasn’t exactly been rolling out the red carpet for entrepreneurs, something Garnett and his partners hope to change through coIN Loft.

“In 2007, Delaware was ranked 50 out of 50 for attracting entrepreneurs. The next year we jumped to 35,” he says. “Either way we suck.”

The life-long Delaware resident, along with business partners Pedro Moore and Steve Roettger, is leading the charge to create coIN Loft, a coworking space in Wilmington, Delaware. The trio is anticipating opening in March and the space will have 17 desks available in three tiered memberships: basic (a few times per month), part-time (two to three days per week) and full-time. Members of coIN Loft will also be eligible to participate in crowdsourced client projects.

The origins of coIN Loft – short for “community innovation” – stemmed from a October article in Entrepreneur Magazine citing coworking as an upcoming trend in the startup world. Both Roettger and Garnett saw the space as a chance to change Delaware’s lack of an entrepreneurial mindset as well as a way to attract clients to Verge, their Wilmington-based company that offers consulting services to early-stage startup companies.

The business partners began immediately looking for a space. Something that, as any of the Indy Hall founders would tell you, should come only after a community is established, something Garnett acknowledges.

The floor plan for coIN Loft. (click to enlarge).

“We did everything backwards, it’s in our nature to be running really fast to the things we want to do,” he says.

In researching a space, the group also came across a real estate developer shopping around a coworking space that named “Verge Coworking,” confusing given coIN’s consulting gig.

“It’s like in school when you wanted to talk to a girl you thought was hot and she turned out to be your best friend’s girlfriend,” says Garnett. “It was like the Twilight Zone.”

That coworking space eventually fell through, but that won’t stop coIN Loft’s urgency. The group just signed a year lease, and the group, using roughly $25,000 of outside investment and $25,000 of their own funds, is beginning to renovate the space as weather allows.

“In Delaware things just take forever,” he says of coIN Loft’s urgency. “People really want to see things change but most people just sit on sidelines.”

coIN Loft’s organizers say it has a handful of verbal commitments for full-time members and has seen interest in the Wilmington community as a next step for the city finding its identity. The community, which has already held two Ignite events, even created an entire neighborhood dedicated to housing creative professionals.

“If we could build the reputation of coIN up,” he says, “it will make people say:  ’These guys [in Wilmington] are just as talented as anyone else’.”

Every Monday, Technically Not Tech will feature people, projects, and businesses that are involved with Philly’s tech scene, but aren’t necessarily technology focused. See others here.

Full Disclosure: Independents Hall co-founder Alex Hillman is a current sponsor of Technically Philly.

They’re going to incubate profitable good works.

That’s much the angle of GoodCompany Ventures, which opened its Philadelphia Naval Yard Business Center offices with a ribbon-cutting ceremony highlighted by appearances from Mayor Michael Nutter and Chuck Lacy, a former president of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, yesterday.

All the startups they take in will be for-profit and looking to make a difference or two.

Yesterday, the incubator was also welcoming its inaugural 2009 class of “social entrepreneurs,” including the following: Cyrus-XP, which focuses on advancing the management and delivery of healthcare; CalendarFly, a single source scheduling solution for families (for a test drive, use “student for username and password), and VolunteerBIG.com, a philanthropic social network that was gunning for grant money earlier this year.

GoodCompany aims to provide guidance and support to those for-profit startups that want to tackle large, unmet social needs. Like others, the incubator will offer those accepted training, mentoring, administrative and other pro-bono services. The new effort is co-founded by Resources for Human Development, a social finance firm and Murex Investments, an equity fund backed by leading financial institutions — both of which are based (barely) in Tioga — in addition to other business support.

At yesterday’s event, Lacy, the former Ben & Jerry’s president who is now president of the Vermont-based social capital firm Barred Rock Fund, addressed the attendees, as did Stephen Goodman, a partner at law firm Morgan Lewis, according to a press release from the incubator.

GoodCompany is sponsored by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the Center City love child of the city and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce that promotes economic developing in town, Trellist Marketing, the Wilmington, Del. Web marketer and the Wharton School of Business.

In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.

Wilmington, Del.-based Web marketing and design firm the Archer Group is using new-age computer-user tracking systems to see what you’re looking at. That’s the same Delaware company that recently helped Wawa brand its products on Facebook.

As the Web has matured and its users have too, the group’s “Eye-tracking Usability Lab” is meant to give its designers insight into how computer users, with years of Internet-browsing behind them, are digesting the Web today, as Delaware Online reported. [Full Disclosure: Sean Blanda loves Delaware].

It’s what you’ve heard before: freaky pinpoint infrared sensors that follow eye movements as they bounce from whatever the tester spots. Get the deets and what Archer is doing with the work at the full story.

After the jump, Bussiness Week reports that one of one of our own seed-stage investment firms is saving venture capital, the city’s emergency radio system with Motorola isn’t “reliable” and seven other tech stories you need to read — including our best read story of the week.

In order of importance for your ease:

• BussinessWeek reports on seed-stage investors that are helping entrepreneurs at a time when large venture capital firms are pulling back. Reporter Spencer Ante uses FirstRound Capital, a West Conshohocken-based example, as his lede, even if only the firm’s West Coast offices are mentioned. Burned.
• PhillyTechNews reports that three companies in our region were named to the Red Herring 100 North America. Not a one of ‘em is from Philly proper though.
• As tweeted:
  that BFTP of Northeastern Pa. also announce their investment of nearly $600,000 in nine companies in the Lehigh Valley.
• The Inquirer reports that the Nutter administration is pushing for an upgrade of the city’s emergency radio system. The $35 million bolstering of the city’s fire and police network would be operational by 2011 and would retain Motorola as the vendor but would add — and we’re not kidding about this — “reliability.” Which seems like a strange upgrade because you’d think “reliability” would be a standard for an emergency radio system, but, you know, this is Philly, boys and girls.
• John George of the Philadelphia Business Journal writes a fine profile of Geoff Meyerson, who co-founded West Conshohocken-based Locust Walk Partner, which “provides advisory services to life sciences companies in areas such as product licensing, financing and pipeline prioritization.”
• PBJ also reports that Andrew Altman, the Philly-bred city commerce director who Michael Nutter courted from a government job in D.C., has bolted for a gig leading London’s development for the 2012 Olympics. No successor has been named or what will happen to his $170K salary.
• Knowledge@Wharton is celebrating 10 years of doling out information by showing off its best read stories. Some interesting ones to peep.
• Wired’s Epicenter blog reports that IT employment has shrunk nationally for the fifth consecutive month, though recruiters remain hopeful an end is in sight.

• Our Most Trafficked Story of the Week: South Philly�s Stoya: adult film it girl on DOS, social media and leaving Philadelphia

Every Friday morning we make sure you didn�t miss anything with Friday Tech Links.