news & events

The Council for Retail and Sales (CRS) held its first Meet the Experts event at Factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on April 25. This first event focused on the "Changing Landscape of the Food Industry" and featured a panel of experts from various companies who have a vested interested in the food business.  The April event is the first in a series of Meet the Experts speaking engagements, each of which will focus on the changing landscape of a specific industry. The panel of experts included Larry Davis, vice president of Food & Nutrition North America, Brenntag, Dallas, Texas; Keith Caldwell, operating partner,...

Lehigh Valley LaunchBox continues its educational event series focusing on the unique challenges and victories of female entrepreneurs called “LaunchBox Ladies: From Passion to Profit” with a program on Thursday, June 6. This event "toasts" three of the female Lehigh Valley LaunchBox grant recipients, who will share with students and community guests their personal entrepreneurial journey. A donation will be requested at the door. The event is open to the public on a limited first-come, first-served basis. Networking and the program will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus. Light fare will be provided,...

Leaders from the Office of Industrial Partnerships are announcing a new, multi-element industry partnership between Penn State and Factory, a food, beverage, and pet scale-up company in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Extending from Penn State Lehigh Valley to the University Park Campus, the new collaboration has the potential to bring economic and intellectual value to the growing Pennsylvania-based company, while offering tangible benefits to Penn State students and the broader Penn State community. Backed by $250 million in capital, Factory is a collaborative operating company that invests in small to mid-size food, beverage and pet brands, providing not only capital but also partnerships,...

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Creative collaboration fuels innovation, and the Teen Entrepreneur Challenge (TEC) is poised to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs. Offered by Penn State Lehigh Valley, Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, and Perkiomen School, the 10-day summer camp is for rising high school sophomores, juniors and seniors interested in developing the foundation for a successful business or product idea. Students will learn key strategies for launching a startup and developing an entrepreneurial spirit from Penn State professors, Perkiomen School teachers, business leaders, and Lehigh Valley LaunchBox grant recipients. Field trips and hands-on, real-world exercises will expose students to the...

We periodically check-in with Lehigh Valley LaunchBox grant recipients to ask how their business or product development is coming along, hear the advice they have for other entrepreneurs, and see how they have benefited from the microgrants, support and mentorship from Lehigh Valley LaunchBox. Kedar Narayan is a 10-year-old entrepreneur who runs heartforwildlife.com and the company SaiGuru, LLC. He received a microgrant from Lehigh Valley LaunchBox. What inspired you to start your business? "I really loved nature and crafts at a young age, and when I found out what the pollinators were a couple summers ago and how they were going into...