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.”
