About Berks LaunchBox
What We Do
The Berks LaunchBox represents a collaboration between Penn State Berks and Penn State Health St. Joseph to engage students, faculty, physicians, medical staff, and the community in helping grow the economy and improve the quality of life in the greater Reading area. The signature programs of the Berks LaunchBox are being implemented in collaboration with business and nonprofits across the community.
A key focus will be on creating a culture of innovation around the LaunchBox to significantly increase the number of entrepreneurs in the community.
Community Impact
Our objective is to serve students and community members alike by providing relevant resources, workshops, and educational programs that strengthen our local business culture.
Medical Innovations
Along with clinicians at Penn State Health St. Joseph, we’re engineering creative solutions to diverse medical needs and challenges, while helping launch new start-up ventures in this niche market.
Social Entrepreneurship
This innovative pilot healthcare program seeks to address chronic, diet-related illnesses within Reading by expanding fresh food access and supporting our local farming industry.
Human Movement
The Human Movement Research Center (HMRC) is a collaborative research group studying the importance of physical activity, and ways to digitally track movement and inactivity that can improve health outcomes in our community.
Berks Learning Factory
Connecting our Engineering faculty and students with local manufacturers, the Berks Learning Factory addresses real-life challenges while promoting innovation and business development.
Invent Penn State is a Commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.
Invent Penn State blends entrepreneurship focused academic programs, business startup training and incubation, funding for commercialization, and university-community collaborations to facilitate the challenging process of turning research discoveries into valuable products and services that can benefit Pennsylvanians and humankind.
Launched in 2015 by Penn State President Eric Barron, Invent Penn State is a $30 million initiative that redefined the university’s land grant mission to include entrepreneurship and innovation programs, tools and resources that accelerate the movement of great ideas to the marketplace and make a substantial economic development impact in Pennsylvania and beyond. Invent Penn State is a coordinated effort that spans the university’s 24 campuses, all academic colleges, including the College of Medicine and Penn State Law, and our numerous institutes and centers. Countless Penn Staters, community leaders and industry partners have contributed to developing what quickly has become a burgeoning entrepreneurship ecosystem at Penn State, one that provides resources and support to faculty, staff, student and community innovators. Learn more and view the other LaunchBox locations across Pennsylvania at the Invent Penn State website: https://invent.psu.edu/.