The 5 branches of the NWPA Innovation Beehive Network gathered in February 2020 to highlight the past year's accomplishments. While there, our podcast team interviewed major figures from each of the organizations, along with investors and additional business leaders from the Erie community: Jude Shingle (Blasco Library), Dr. Guiyou Huang (Edinboro University), Dr. Steve Mauro (Gannon University), Dr. Perry Wood (Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority), Dr. Leanne Roberts (Mercyhurst University), Jon Meighan (One Leg Up!, Lake Erie Rubber & Manufacturing), & Amy Bridger (Penn State Behrend).
As stated in the episode, the audio quality in this episode is not up to our usual standards. We did the best given the environment and room. We apologize for the inconvenience. Head to nwpabeehive.com/buzz-generated to get a complete transcript of the episode.
Sponsored by: Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership
Music: Kevin Macleod’s "pamgaea" available via Creative Commons Attribution-International 4.0. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, No changes were made.
Music by audionautix.com. Audionautix's "Roboskater" by Jason Shaw available via Creative Commons Attribution-International 4.0. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, No changes were made.
Transcript
NARRATOR: In this episode of "Buzz Generated," the team at Edinboro's center for branding and strategic communication joined the other hives for the gathering at Penn State Barron's knowledge center. Intended as a State of the Union for the Northwest Pennsylvania innovation Beehive Network, speakers marked out a course for the future while recognizing successes from the past year. Meanwhile, Edinboro undergrad and producer of this podcast Keith Hepler found a quarter of the room to ask a couple of questions to those in attendance.
Speaking with university leadership, investors, and other familiar voices that our listeners will recognize from previous episodes, he inquired further about the year end review and the bright future of the Beehive project. A short disclaimer-- we realize the audio quality isn't what you are accustomed to hearing from our show. We take quality very seriously, but we were limited by our environment, and we did the best we could. With that out of the way, join us for this special episode. Together, let's discover what the buzz is all about.
KEITH HEPLER: I know your name, but for everyone listening, Perry Wood, executive director, Erie County gaming revenue authority. And for everybody who hasn't listened to the episode, we highly advise you to go back. It was very enlightening.
And Dr. Perry Wood has a lot of information that really sheds some light on where Erie is and where Erie is going. OK, so we just wrapped up two years at the Beehive, right? Everyone that's talked to us so far has really emphasized that collaborative nature as being unique and as being momentous. What's our greatest achievement? And I use the term we because it's really hard not to feel like that when you become a part of it.
PERRY WOOD: Well, I think that's amazing that folks are starting to view themselves as a team. And that is perhaps the biggest accomplishment. I mean, if you look at the past, universities have been involved in economic development projects for the last several decades.
But it's mostly one-off projects, maybe work with one school. This is a new system. It's a new way of looking at innovation and how we can work together.
And what's amazing about it is that each university is doing what they do best in a sustained effort. So an entrepreneur can approach the system and access it from any of the four schools, including the Blasko Library as the fifth point of contact, and then find out, OK, these are all the resources are available. This is what I need.
And the system is designed to serve that entrepreneur as the main user. So it's been continually adapting itself. it's getting better about communicating and sharing the entrepreneur and doing exactly what the entrepreneur needs to do to succeed. And that's how we're going to grow the economy here in Erie County.
We need entrepreneurs to succeed. We need entrepreneurs like we heard about today that already have a company but need to spin something off to secure their company or they have an idea. Where do they go to? This Beehive is a new system to which they can go to and find success.
KEITH HEPLER: We've talked about where we've been, and you've already kind of alluded to it. Where do you see us in 18 months, 24 months?
PERRY WOOD: I think to the extent that the universities in the library have institutionalized the Beehives into their university is really key because what we find is that the trend right now in the United States is that universities that become entrepreneurial need to do it not just because they've got some grant dollars but because they have an interest in making entrepreneurship part of their mission. And so we've seen that time and time again.
The typical way is to create some type of institute or some kind of outreach program. And so the beehives, once they become a part of the budget, the faculty and the students embrace it, they're institutionalized. And that will increase their ability to be around 10 years from now.
JUDE SHINGLE: My name is Jude Shingle. I'm the emerging technology librarian at the Blasko Library.
KEITH HEPLER: We just wrapped up the last two years of the Beehive. What's our greatest accomplishment when you look back on that?
JUDE SHINGLE: Yeah. I mean, I'll talk from my perspective at the library. Probably the biggest accomplishment has been the learning what an entrepreneur looks like. So what I have noticed is that there's a lot of folks who have great ideas.
They don't necessarily see themselves as entrepreneurs just yet. But there's a moment when you start giving them access to this network, and you start saying, hey, these resources are available that they start to think of themselves in that way. And to me, that's amazing.
So what you're allowing people to do or what this network does, it gives a pathway to entrepreneurship or a pathway to innovation. So you're not just sitting at home with an idea. You actually have a series of steps that you can take to get your idea off the ground. I think that's one of the best and biggest accomplishments that we have.
KEITH HEPLER: Fantastic. So we've talked about where we've been. Where are we going?
JUDE SHINGLE: Yeah, I see that this idea is just kind of going to crystallize. I think we've started to figure out how this pipeline works, how do you get someone through all these different services of the Beehive. I think what's going to happen in the next two years is we're going to kind of get that down to a science.
And we're going to get-- what I'd like to really see is kind of broaden the reach of who the community identifies as entrepreneurs. So you know, maybe it's new Americans. Maybe it's more folks from underserved communities. Maybe it's some of these beehive partners partnering together to create new businesses. I think that's just going to happen naturally over time as the concept kind of becomes more well-understood.
LEANNE ROBERTS: I'm Dr. Leanne Roberts. I'm the provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Mercyhurst University.
KEITH HEPLER: We just wrapped up two years reflection on the Beehive and where it's been. What's one of our proudest achievements that you've seen over these past two years?
LEANNE ROBERTS: I think one of the most important things to point out about the Beehive is that you have four universities and a library but more specifically four universities that collaborate extremely well. It is surprising to outsiders looking in when they say, well, four universities that come to the table and collaborate on projects? Then you have project managers at the university level who coordinate students on projects.
And that is really appealing to funders largely because they don't find that. At universities, you have a lot of brainpower. The funders like to utilize that brainpower in both the students and the faculty. And when you put four universities and the library together, that's where the magic really happens.
KEITH HEPLER: So I guess to piggyback off of that, we looked at the past two years. Where do you see the next 24? Where do you see us going?
LEANNE ROBERTS: So all four of the universities in the library have either finished or in progress of setting up their actual Beehive spaces. It is professionalizing the Beehive spaces. So when the clients actually walk in, the space is specific to the work of the Beehive that is specific to that university.
So the level of the reputation is going to just continue to ratchet up over the next 24 months. It is going to become more appealing to more and more funders. And that is just going to be generating activity. So we're going to continue to grow. I think what we'll likely see is more clients, more funders, and hopefully more students being able to learn through the experience of servicing the clients and the beehives.
KEITH HEPLER: Thank you. For anyone who has not listened to the premiere episode of "Buzz Generated," we had John Meighan on, the creator of One Leg Up Pet Toys. And we have him back here.
So John, it's nice to have you back. And I guess going back to that, we've talked about-- you rather talked about where we were and where you came from over the past 24 months. That's a shining achievement. And I guess if you were to look at the Beehive as a whole, what else do you see as a shining example of what the beehive's prowess is?
JOHN MEIGHAN: Yes, so I mean, I think the shining achievement of the Beehive is that we-- and actually, I started working with them only 12 months ago. And so in 12 months, we took something that didn't even exist on the market. We were able to create, prototype, develop a product, bring it to market, and actually use the Erie work force to make the product.
We've hired marketing people to develop the marketing. We've hired artists to do artwork for us. So it's just amazing. You know, the Beehive helps us get this business started. And the amount of business that it's creating in that area region, I think it's difficult to quantify unless you see the entire process and everything that's getting done.
KEITH HEPLER: Where do you see the organization 24 months from now?
JOHN MEIGHAN: You know, I think it's-- I started when they were pretty new and they were working some bugs out, and I've seen a lot of improvement in how they're working together. I think two years from now, you're going to see that they're even better at what they're doing. They're probably going to be even faster to respond. And I think it's going to be amazing to see how many new companies are started from this and also maybe just products in general for some existing companies that are going to get off the ground and create new jobs and new work in Erie because this resource helps people get from an idea to something that's actually tangible.
KEITH HEPLER: Well, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.
JOHN MEIGHAN: Thanks.
NARRATOR: This episode of "Buzz Generated" is sponsored by the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, the voice of the business community in the Erie region. The Chamber provides advocacy and access to people, education, and information so that businesses have the leadership, resources, and expertise needed for continued prosperity throughout the region. Schedule a time to meet with a business action team and learn more about how the chamber can help, or visit the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership online at www.eriepa.com. The growth of our vibrant community and Erie, PA depends on a dynamic business environment. The Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership aims to provide just that.
KEITH HEPLER: What is your name?
AMY BRIDGER: Amy Bridger from Penn State Behrend. I'm the senior director of corporate strategy and external engagement.
KEITH HEPLER: OK, so we're here celebrating what the Beehive is. What is its greatest accomplishment? You had John Meighan from One Leg Up just say a few words in front of everybody. What else comes to mind?
AMY BRIDGER: When everyone thinks of the Beehive, they think of entrepreneurs and how we've started the ecosystem for entrepreneurship, which is really great. But as a university representative, our goal is really student development. So for me, it's all about getting students at whatever university to get real world experience and applying their classroom learnings to the projects that could then impact economic development.
So for me, it's actually about the students. The fact that our students at Behrend are able to be named inventors on seven patents as undergraduates is incredible. The fact that John Meighan stood up there and talked about the fact that Edinboro's students helped him professionally package it, which made a difference, so that our engineers designed it and then your folks ended up working on the packaging, is tremendous.
So that's the best win for me in terms of university involvement. And then the second thing is just getting the universities to work together because we have a really strong group of folks, various positions throughout all four universities in the Blasko Library that can work together any day of the week. And we know each other really well.
So we can go for grants together. We can have tough conversations together. And that elevated innovation of ecosystem piece is really important.
KEITH HEPLER: So what's next? Where do you see the beehive going in the next 18 months?
AMY BRIDGER: Yeah, that's a really great question. So I think everybody is growing and expanding. I'll speak just for the Penn State Behrend Beehive for a second, which is we're adding app development to ours in terms of design and development.
And I think that's a really important piece that we're being asked. I think that expanding our geographic area and helping people in Crawford county and the surrounding counties, getting outside of Erie county a little bit more, is great. A lot of our beehives are working at full capacity. So we don't really advertise all that often for projects, which means we need more funding and more sustainable funding.
So for instance, at Penn State, we've actually offered a $1 million match. If we get a donor for $1 million to name our Beehive, we'll match it with $1 million. And that will actually allow us to have sustainable funding that's consistent which allows us to plan for years in advance because that's in perpetuity. And I believe that we are searching for that type of funding for all the other Beehives as well.
KEITH HEPLER: So if you could start with your name and--
STEVE MAURO: Yep.
KEITH HEPLER: --just have a couple of questions for you.
STEVE MAURO: Yep. Steve Maruo. I am in charge of the [INAUDIBLE] Beehive.
KEITH HEPLER: We just celebrated two years. What's the biggest accomplishment?
STEVE MAURO: Yeah, so you know, I mean, there's so many success stories to tell, right? But you know, actually, the thing that I'm most proud of is the collaboration and the network and just being able to get the word out there. I mean, if you see the total number of clients that we served, I mean, we are over 100 in terms of people who are cycling through. But you know, the thing that I'm really most proud of is just the volume that we've had in such a short amount of time and the impact that we're having on the region.
KEITH HEPLER: So 18 months down the road to two years, where do you see us?
STEVE MAURO: Yeah, so I, mean we absolutely want to keep doing what we're doing, right? And so to continue to serve small businesses, entrepreneurs, ideators, right? And so we'll definitely want to continue doing that but then expand, right?
So expand both in volume and footprint, expand on the geographic which we could serve, and the type of clients that we bring in. So I mean, they really distribute across all sectors, but really kind of getting into some of those areas where maybe we don't have as much of a flow I would say would be a next step. You know, internally at [INAUDIBLE], we're also thinking about ways that we can tie this into the curriculum, make it sustainable, and make it part of how students can earn credit for the work that they do.
KEITH HEPLER: Very cool.
If you could start with your name.
RALPH FORD: Sure My name is Dr. Ralph Ford. I'm the chancellor here at Penn State Erie for Behrend College.
KEITH HEPLER: Awesome. When you look down the road, in a position that you're in, where do you see the beehive?
RALPH FORD: So when you look at it right now, I'll just reflect a little bit first before I answer that question.
KEITH HEPLER: Absolutely.
RALPH FORD: Right, so 15 companies started. But how many others have we helped in the community? A great deal.
Companies growing their businesses in ways that wouldn't have. So the results, the impact, is significant. It's real.
And it's really due to the collaboration and all of the universities bringing to the community what they bring best. So in terms of your question, you know, what do I see several years out? Always a hard thing to answer.
But I think we continue to grow the network, and that will bring in more and more entrepreneurs. It will bring more and more companies to the region. So I think we've been very effective in working with companies that are here and entrepreneurs, and we want to do that.
I think what we'll start to see is more of those coming from the outside. And we want to be part. We want to join the Erie community because this network is absolutely unique as far as we know in the United States.
So I think we need to continue to get the word out-- this is why your podcast is so important-- and for people to hear outside of Northwestern PA, outside of Western PA. Maybe they're in California. They think, oh, that's interesting. I'd like to go check out Erie. So I would like to see more of a diversification of people coming in from the outside to be part of what we're doing here.
KEITH HEPLER: So maybe you're not allowed to say, but can you name anyone specifically that's kind of approached you wanting to come into the area?
RALPH FORD: I would say sure. There are a lot of companies that we talk to who are here for one reason or another. And we always tell them about the Beehive Network.
And I think it's important for them to hear about that. Now to your point, have any come specifically for that? That I don't know.
But what I would tell you is companies like Value Momentum that are moving into the heart of downtown Erie, I think this was just for them to see the importance of the network that is here. That's one company that I can say we all know who's coming here. But they certainly love to hear about what was happening with the innovation at the universities that are here. So I think it is important that when all of the universities are talking to any of their constituents, they tell them about this network.
KEITH HEPLER: Right.
GUIYOU HUANG: My name is Guiyou Huang.
KEITH HEPLER: President of Edinboro University.
GUIYOU HUANG: That's right. That's right.
KEITH HEPLER: We just wrapped up two years of this collaborative nature of the Beehive.
GUIYOU HUANG: Yeah.
KEITH HEPLER: And what's our greatest accomplishment?
GUIYOU HUANG: Well, I think the ability to collaborate alone. That fact alone is a great accomplishment. Four universities and one library, five different organizations-- the opportunity to come together is already a huge accomplishment. The other thing is this provides a great opportunity for brainstorming on different ideas. It's about entrepreneurship.
KEITH HEPLER: Yes.
GUIYOU HUANG: And I saw some products already right in there that's very impressive the guy who did the ball.
KEITH HEPLER: John Meighan.
GUIYOU HUANG: And Edinboro university has the [INAUDIBLE]. They are all very creative stuff. You're already seeing results of these efforts. That's really impressive.
KEITH HEPLER: Right.
GUIYOU HUANG: Yeah.
KEITH HEPLER: As we look down the road, where you see the organization, that collaborative nature that you're talking about that is so important, where do you see us going next?
GUIYOU HUANG: I think I see small businesses develop, you know, by the students when they are students. And hopefully, [INAUDIBLE] if the students go off to graduate with a business plan already developed, a product in mind, that will help them launch a very important career that will influenced France other people, that will help with the community, right? Their organization is [INAUDIBLE], for example.
And that's how we create opportunities for jobs, the opportunity for involvement in the larger community, starting with the students. So I think the two years already show some results. Another [INAUDIBLE] you see larger results.
I have no doubt because students at this age are very creative. They're energetic, creative. They have ideas that [INAUDIBLE] think about. It's an opportunity that does not exist on every campus.
NARRATOR: You've been listening to "Buzz Generated." This podcast was released through Edinboro University's center for branding and strategic communication. It's produced by Keith Hepler, Britton Roselle, and Chris Lantinen. Thank you to our guests for their insight and to you, our listeners, for taking the time to experience innovation alongside us.
Consider subscribing if you liked this episode to get more as soon as they drop. And if you really enjoyed it, jump over to Apple Podcasts for a five star review. Thank you for listening.
