Invent Penn State is a multi-million-dollar initiative launched in 2015 by Pennsylvania State University’s President Emeritus Eric Barron to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.
Invent Penn State’s signature program, Happy Valley LaunchBox, has a mission to connect local entrepreneurs to the support, resources and facilities they need to accelerate their ventures in the area. It’s good for them and it’s good for the economy, but it needed its own home. Which is exactly what it found at the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub in State College, PA!
The Innovation Hub provides cutting-edge makerspaces, collaboration areas and classrooms for up-and-coming entrepreneurs in the area. Pennoni provided civil/site and traffic engineering services for the new 85,000-SF, 6-story building.
Designed to instill a feeling of opportunity, the building engages the streetscape with maker spaces that are visible to passers-by on the sidewalk, according to architect KieranTimberlake. The space is unique in that it’s not on PSU’s main campus, but rather in the downtown area. Though the program is Penn State funded, it’s open to all. No affiliation to Penn State required. The Innovation Hub offers coworking spaces and rooms for LaunchBox programing such as business coaching, events and workshops, no-cost legal advice, no-cost intellectual property advice and so much more!
The project was recently awarded ENR’s Mid-Atlantic 2022 Best Project in Higher Education/Research!
For more information on our higher education service offerings, contact Todd Stager.