The
purpose of the Zone
Along with Penn State
DuBois and the DuBois Area Chamber of Commerce, North Central
Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission (NCP) was able
to obtain the designation of a Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) within the
Tri-County Area of Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties. A
community-wide planning effort was implemented to enforce the existing
need for this program. The educational institutions, chambers of
commerce, economic development organizations, service providers,
investors and industry within these three counties have all come
together in support of this program.
The designation of the
Tri-County Keystone Innovation Zone creates an environment whereby the
potential to capitalize on innovation spun out from PSU DuBois and
industry partners improves greatly. The required collaboration and
forward-thinking already exist in the region, and the designation of the
Zone serves as a catalyst to create the environment needed for the
start-up of new companies and the commercialization of new technologies.
The
Zone Geography
The Tri-County KIZ sites
have been clustered around the communities that have strong
concentrations of targeted industries, integrated with the partner
educational institutions and service providers. Penn State DuBois has
historically involved itself with industry throughout the Tri-County
area, and travel by industry representatives to DuBois is not uncommon
in this rural part of Pennsylvania. All sites chosen are no further than
25 miles from DuBois and are within a five-minute
drive from at least one of the business service partners that have
committed to the KIZ.
KIZ Areas of Emphasis
The target industry
clusters that have been identified by the community-wide planning effort
are:
Keystone Innovation Zones Power Point Presentation
A Keystone Innovation Zone
Company (KIZ Company) is a for profit business entity which is all of
the following:
-
Located within a Keystone
Innovation Zone
-
Has been in operation for
less than eight years
-
Falls within one of the
targeted industry segments adopted by the Keystone Innovation Zone
Partnership in its strategic plan
