Gaming Authority Deals Local Entrepreneurs and Business Owners a Winning Hand!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  March 3, 2011

ERIE, PA – The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) has partnered with Ben Franklin Technology Partners/Central & Northern Pennsylvania (BFTP/CNP) to create the Erie Innovation Fund.  The purpose of the fund is to increase business growth in the Erie area by making additional investment capital available to local entrepreneurs as well as established companies/manufacturers looking for new market opportunities.    

For more than a quarter century, Ben Franklin/CNP has used state funding to provide investment capital and business mentoring opportunities to its central and northern PA service territory.  The proposal process, which is competitive and targets a 32-county footprint, has resulted in the funding of a dozen Erie-based companies in just the past three years.  The money received from the Gaming

Authority to create the Erie Innovation Fund will focus entirely on Erie County, and is making new local dollars available to local companies. 

The Erie Innovation Fund will invest in two types of company projects:

• Erie County-based, early-stage, tech-based companies that can provide a concrete plan for the development and commercialization of a technology that will likely result in job creation.  
   
• Erie County-based, established companies/manufacturers, with less than 500 employees, that have a concrete plan to develop a new product/new process that will likely result in increased competitiveness along with the creation/retention of jobs.  

Screening of the applicants, and the subsequent due diligence process, will expand on Ben Franklin’s existing procedure for determining the feasibility of a company’s proposed business plan. The Erie

Innovation Fund is currently convening a panel of local experts and potential investors to help evaluate submitted proposals.  

Companies that receive funding will also have the opportunity to get business mentoring and support from the Ben Franklin Transformation Business Services Network.   By combining business and technical assistance with financing, companies engaged in tech-based product and market development become better equipped to meet the challenges associated with growth.

Entrepreneurs and business owners who are interested in applying for funding, or potential investors who want to participate in the Advisory Board, should contact Ben Franklin’s Erie Office at 898-6650.

About the Erie County Gaming Authority:

The Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority is charged with distributing 1% of the State Gaming Revenue received by Erie County pursuant to the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act (4 Pa. C.S.A. §1101 et seq.) and in accordance with the Settlement Agreement dated December 13, 2010. Further, the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority invests, manages and deploys “uncommitted” State Gaming Revenue received of the County pursuant to the Economic Development Financing Law (73 P.S. §371 et seq.) in its discretion and in accordance with the aforementioned Settlement Agreement dated December 13, 2010.See www.ecgra.org for more information.