Penn State recently announced that Penn State Berks will open a new innovation hub this month within the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, Penn.
The Berks Launchbox will feature a maker space with 3D printers for prototyping, co-working space for startups, entrepreneurship workshops, an Idea Test Lab accelerator program, meetups on topics related to business development and technology and special youth programs. The hub will be open to members of the Greater Reading community of all ages.
“My colleagues and I at Penn State Berks are delighted to enter into this partnership with the GoggleWorks as it will provide mutually beneficial opportunities for enhancing entrepreneurship education, support for start-ups, innovation, and engagement in economic development across multiple constituencies in our community,” Penn State Berks Chancellor R. Keith Hillkirk said.
The Berks LaunchBox is supported by Invent Penn State, a $30 million statewide initiative to foster economic development, job creation and student success launched in 2016 by Penn State President Eric J. Barron. Invent Penn State provided two seed grants to Penn State Berks, in partnership with Penn State Health St. Joseph, to develop innovation hubs. The first seed grant helped launch an innovation hub within Penn State Health St. Joseph’s downtown Reading campus.