Through Invent Penn State’s statewide LaunchBox and Innovation Network, the Veterans Business Outreach Center at Penn State has established new regional access points in the western and eastern regions of the state.

The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast features AJ Bruno, founder and CEO of QuotaPath, a leading sales compensation management platform.

Invent Penn State’s NSF I-Corps Short Course is accepting applications for its virtual September cohort. The no-cost program helps researchers test a startup idea through customer interviews and educational programming on the lean startup methodology.  

On Aug. 13, the Penn State Small Business Development Center’s Agriculture Center of Excellence will host an in-person seminar, “Fields of Opportunity: Starting Your Agritourism Journey,” at this year’s Ag Progress Days in Pennsylvania Furnace.  

This spring, Penn State Harrisburg’s Department of Continuing Education and the Harrisburg LaunchBox powered by Penn State launched the inaugural cohort of the Permit Accelerator — a 10-week, human-centered, design thinking and innovation program created to help Commonwealth of Pennsylvania employees tackle permitting challenges with fresh, human-centered approaches. 

While working as a nursing assistant, Fan Lin, a recent Penn State Harrisburg graduate, developed the Entertainment Buddy — an assistive phone holder with an integrated wireless charger designed for hospital beds, nursing homes and wheelchairs. Lin has taken full advantage of the broader Invent Penn State entrepreneurial community to bring her idea to life. 

The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast features Anne Pauley, a technical program manager at Google. She currently leads the implementation of world-class manufacturing processes for the Google Pixel smartphone. 

Using artificial intelligence-driven pattern recognition, TalkingSick — a startup launched based on research conducted at Penn State — analyzes short voice recordings to detect deviations from a user’s healthy voice baseline. These deviations could signal potential respiratory illnesses before physical symptoms appear. The startup team participated in the U.S. National Science Foundation I-Corps National Teams program in June.

Berks LaunchBox recently announced seven recipients of the “IMAGINE Your Business” grant. Funded by the County of Berks Imagine Berks Fund, this grant provides up to $2,000 to early-stage entrepreneurs to support various business needs such as prototyping, marketing and product development. The initiative aims to foster innovation and economic growth within Berks County.

State College community member Dawn Ziegerer launched The Great Story Workshop to help leaders and entrepreneurs use storytelling to overcome challenges and become more effective, relatable communicators. To grow her business, Ziegerer connected with Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank.