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Guest Column
Ben Franklin Technology Partners
salutes 2009 Enterprise Award winners
By RoseAnn B. Rosenthal
Eastern Technology Council CEO Dianne Strunk provides an introduction to this column in the Message from the CEO
History and experience show that talented entrepreneurs can drive economic growth during downturns. That is why all of us at Ben Franklin extend our sincere congratulations to the award winners and finalists of the 2009 Enterprise Awards.
It is always inspiring to be in the presence of companies who are forging ahead with new products and business models. Ben Franklin is proud to be an annual sponsor of the Enterprise Awards, and we are even more proud of all our client and alumni award finalists: BioNanomatrix, Cogniscape, CoreDial, Core Solutions, Innova Materials, Jane Hollingsworth from Nupathe, Matt Reichert from Health Market Science, MBF Therapeutics, Real-Time Tomography, Topaz Pharmaceuticals and Y-Carbon.
We give an extra round of applause to Healthy Humans , winner of the 2009 Life Sciences Startup Company Award and a Ben Franklin portfolio company. Healthy Humans is dedicated to helping people with chronic illness to improve their health and manage their disease using customized online integrative medicine plans and nutritional supplements.
Healthy Humans CEO Anthony Gold and founder Chris Conway Ð among the hundreds of other entrepreneurs in our region Ð are to be saluted for taking the necessary risks to succeed. It is so important for us to recognize and promote their accomplishments … for them, for those in our community not intimately involved with the emerging technology company sector and, most important, for the many individuals evaluating whether or not to take the leap into their own enterprise.
Congratulations to the Eastern Technology Council for continuing to reinforce the message of entrepreneurship in our region with the Enterprise Awards!
At Ben Franklin, our doors are open for the next good deal … even with budget cuts of almost 50% this past year. But, that was yesterday. And, NOW, believe it or not, is the time to get the word out to all of our elected state officials to restore funding for enterprise growth in Pennsylvania … to restore full funding for the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority.
As I’ve spent time in Washington D.C. conveying the need for policies that support entrepreneurial growth, I’ve been heartened with the high recognition of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. We are a model for others, but continued budget cuts will cause irreparable damage to this 25+ year partnership of business, institutions and government.
As those involved with the Eastern Technology Council know well, innovation doesn’t stop. Nor will we. Together, we can provide the support that the next great generation of entrepreneurs and companies will need to secure the economic future of our region.
By RoseAnn B. Rosenthal is the President & CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania
