Jul 27, 2022 4 min read

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Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus, is teaching students how to become entrepreneurs.

The Fayette LaunchBox, a partnership with the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, is already home to a number of small businesses that can stay there for one year, rent-free. 

“The program was invented to help people in Pennsylvania become entrepreneurs,” explained Rachel Kaplan, who along with Barbara Koffler is a co-director of the LaunchBox. “Penn State is a great partner for this, because our students and our communities in which our organizations are located are able to reach a lot of people and help them reach their entrepreneurial goals.”

Kaplan knows a bit about the entrepreneurial biz as she owns a small consulting company for corporate communications and a review company called Rachel’s Reviews. Her grandparents and parents also were small business owners.  

Fayette LaunchBox programs include the annual summer research cohort, Shark Tank pitch competitions, business-oriented internship programs and a StartUP speaker series.

As a prelude to the summer cohort, the college hosts two learning fairs each year at which students present products and discuss their research. 

Kaplan, Koffler and Dr. W. Charles Patrick, Penn State Fayette’s chancellor and chief academic officer, review the projects, which can lead to students participating in the six-week summer cohort. 

“We try to recruit students from that (to) go through a cohort to develop that idea further with a faculty mentor,” Patrick said. “They get paid. Part of the deal with them getting paid is they don’t just develop an idea, but they go through several workshops on running a business.”

Kaplan added that factors considered in selecting ideas include how the product or service will make the world a better or more efficient place, or how it will add value to what’s already out there.

Kaplan said three products really stood out this year.

They were a pool sensor developed by Salanieta Waqanivalu; a public, contactless thermometer developed by Josh Heller, and a modern twist on the red light/green light game that came from Josh Krause to help combat childhood obesity.

Heller, an electromechanical engineering technology major from Dunbar, developed a thermometer with a motion sensor which provides a temperature reading in a short period of time. 

Waqanivalu, an electromechanical engineering major from Uniontown, explained that she wanted to create a sensor that would indicate when a child or animal was near a pool.  

“It was very interesting from a business perspective,” she said of the summer cohort. “I learned a lot from it. The speakers either started their own companies or had very knowledgeable advice on how to do that.”   

Heller also spoke favorably about his participation.

“They did a great job of helping me through the process and explaining how businesses can get started through crowd funding and other fundraisers,” he said. “They gave techniques for marketing. It was a great opportunity for me and the other students.”     

Patrick said the feedback he has received from students has been quite positive.

“The students that go through our summer cohort have been really thrilled with the opportunity,” he said. “They walk away with better confidence in taking an idea through development and getting it to the point where it could potentially go on and they can find capital (for) themselves. We’ve gotten nothing but good feedback.”

Other parts of the LaunchBox include The Shark Tank, which this year involved students from Uniontown Area High School, as well as students from the college and community members.

“We had a menagerie of products,” Kaplan said. “It was a nice group of students and community members that participated. I was really happy with the turnout.” 

Another facet of the program is StartUP Week, which focuses on entrepreneurial endeavors and topics. 

Local entrepreneur Bec Corvin was featured this year. She is a Penn State Fayette alumnus who is a co-owner of Colby’s in Connellsville and owner of Bec White Safety. 

The benefits are many, especially for the students that participate.

“They’re taught to think as an entrepreneur,” Kaplan said. “They learn to think about world around them as a land of opportunity. They learn the value of being a self-starter. They learn how to manage their own time and how to manage money. It’s really ground-breaking.”