Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Visits Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania During a Tour of the Philadelphia Navy Yard
May 13, 2010, Philadelphia
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and a national delegation participating in the Rethink. Recover. Rebuild: Reinventing Older Communities conference, today visited The Navy Yard and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP/SEP). The conference, sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, is focusing on reinventing older communities in the wake of the foreclosure crisis and the federal government’s economic stimulus programs.
RoseAnn B. Rosenthal, President and CEO of Ben Franklin, welcomed Chairman Bernanke, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser, and other officials at the Building 100 Innovation Center. The Building 100 Innovation Center is a partnership among Ben Franklin, DVIRC and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) for innovation, entrepreneurship, and business growth. Today Ben Franklin’s headquarters, the building dates back to the 19th Century, originally built as a Marine Corps Barracks.
“We would like to thank Chairman Bernanke and all those who took the time to visit us and the Building 100 Innovation Center. It was a wonderful opportunity to address the importance of innovation, technology and entrepreneurship to the work of reinventing our communities, and the need for early-stage seed capital to grow the enterprises that will fuel our economic recovery,” said Rosenthal.
Rosenthal noted that since 1982, Ben Franklin has provided more than $140 Million to over 1,600 regional enterprises. Over the past ten years alone, Ben Franklin companies have raised more than one billion in follow on investments.
She also described Ben Franklin’s role with others around efforts to develop the unique energy assets both at the Navy Yard’s Clean Energy Campus and around the region, in support of a broad Power Valley strategy.
Also today, concurrent with the visit by Chairman Bernanke, Ben Franklin held its 4th Annual Almanack Series Capital Connect event at the Building 100 Innovation Center. Co-hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Venture Investors, nineteen client companies presented before over 80 venture capital and angel investors at the event.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania is the region’s catalyst for Stimulating Entrepreneurial Potential. Since 1982, we have invested in innovative enterprises and created commercialization pathways and partnerships that generate wealth through science and technology.
Ben Franklin is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Ben Franklin Technology Partnership. We provide entrepreneurs and established businesses with the Capital, Knowledge and Networks to compete in the global marketplace. We have provided more than $140 million to grow more than 1,600 regional enterprises across all areas of technology.
Our partnerships with universities and others strengthen the innovative fabric of our region. We are founding partners of The Nanotechnology Institute™ (NTI), Mid-Atlantic Nanotechnology Alliance (MANA®), Pennsylvania Green Growth Partnership (PAGGP), Pennsylvania Advanced Textiles Research and Innovation Center (PATRIC), Pennsylvania Environmental Technologies for the Pharmaceutical Industry (PETPI) (part of the The Water & Environmental Technology (WET) Center) and the PA Biotechnology Center of Bucks County. We are founding partners of the Energy Commercialization Institute (ECI) and other partnerships emerging through our Regional Energy Strategy, funded through the Commonwealth’s Alternative Energy Development Program. Ben Franklin is also a founding partner of the Emerald Stage2 Venture Fund, the Minority Angel Investor Network, and is a partner of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group (MAG) Fund I & II and DreamIt Ventures.
For additional information, please visit www.sep.benfranklin.org, Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter.
BFTP/SEP Contact:
Jaron J. Rhodes
Manager, Marketing and Communications
(215) 972-6700, ext. 3214
jaron@sep.benfranklin.org
Tags: , filed under Uncategorized