PENNTAP wins national award for decreasing 'digital divide'

University Park, Pa. — Using the Internet and e-business tools is essential for success for businesses of all sizes, but for small companies, bridging the "digital divide" isn't always easy. Many don't have the resources, the knowledge about technology solutions or the skilled employees to exploit e-business effectively. That's why Penn State's Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP) developed the e-business Technical Assistance Program (e-TAP) especially for small- and medium-sized companies. A cadre of e-business technical specialists located throughout the state provided hands-on technology assistance and education to more than 1,450 Pennsylvania companies to help them increase their e-business capabilities, resulting in $55 million in economic benefits to the companies. As a result, the e-TAP initiative has been honored with the 2005 Award for Excellence in Business Development from the University Economic Development Association (UEDA).

The three-year e-TAP initiative resulted in $5 million in private capital investments on e-business technology, $38.5 million in sales benefits and 1,050 jobs created or retained.

"The rapid development and deployment of Internet technologies and the growth of e-business applications have created not only opportunities, but also substantial confusion and apprehension in the business community," Jack Gido, PENNTAP director, said. "While larger companies have sufficient resources to cope with the communication revolution, many smaller firms do not. The e-TAP initiative was designed to decrease the 'digital divide' between large and small companies."

PENNTAP ( http://www.penntap.psu.edu ) helps Pennsylvania businesses improve their competitiveness by providing a limited amount of free technology assistance and information to help resolve specific technical questions or needs. The University Economic Development Association ( http://www.universityeda.org ) is a nonprofit association that provides information and a forum to enhance the performance of organizations providing business, economic development and technical assistance to businesses and communities.

Wayne Figurelle, e-TAP initiative program manager, made a presentation on e-TAP and accepted the award during UEDA's annual conference in Monterey, Calif.

"The e-TAP initiative truly indicates the level of commitment by our staff to helping clients with their technology needs," Figurelle said. "Each member of the e-TAP team has a real passion for improving the economy of Pennsylvania and improving the competitiveness of the clients we help."

The assistance one company received led to an improved Web site and nearly $1 million in economic benefits, including nine jobs created or retained. Tedd Wood Inc., a manufacturer of kitchen cabinets, employing 60, in Juniata County, had created a Web site several years ago, but it wasn't generating much business until an e-TAP technical specialist helped the company develop a new Web site. "Not only have we seen a substantial increase with sales that are directly tied to the Web, but our employees feel better about seeing their product being shown in such a (desirable) manner," said Matt Pannebaker, Tedd Wood president.

According to Figurelle, PENNTAP launched its three-year e-business Technical Assistance Program in 2002 in response to a significant increase in requests for assistance with Internet, Web and information technology-related business issues. Funding for the e-TAP initiative was provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development through the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority and the U.S. Economic Development Administration. As part of the initiative, PENNTAP established a statewide partnership with the Pennsylvania Business Retention and Expansion Program.

PENNTAP deployed e-business technical specialists across the state, co-locating them with economic development organizations, to provide rapid response teams for small businesses. In addition to providing direct technical assistance to companies, the technical specialists also conducted more than 120 technical outreach seminars on e-business topics for more than 3,300 participants and made more than 470 presentations to almost 8,000.

One of the participating companies was Penn-Union Corp., a manufacturer of electrical connectors in Edinboro. Dan Imel, total quality manager, said, "If not for the help of PENNTAP, we could not have been successful. This project will keep us at the leading edge of technology and will enhance our ability to continue as a manufacturer in Pennsylvania competing against foreign companies."

Since the conclusion of the e-TAP initiative, PENNTAP's e-business consultants have continued to assist medium-sized Pennsylvania companies with information technology issues. Their new focus is on advanced information technology issues for industry clusters critical to a region's economy, Figurelle said. For example, PENNTAP assists the plastics industry cluster in northwestern Pennsylvania and the biomedical industry cluster in the southeast.

A reconstituted network of PENNTAP information technology consultants is now located in six regions of Pennsylvania:

-- Central Region: Carlos Colon, Lewisburg, ccolon@psu.edu, (570) 847-3457;
-- Northeast and Northern Tier Region: Donna Yale, Towanda, dyale@psu.edu, (570) 596-3585;
-- Northwest and North Central Region: Donald LeGoullon, Oil City, donl@psu.edu, (814) 677-3152;
-- South Central Region: Donald Krysakowski, York, djk12@psu.edu, (717) 887-7905;
-- Southeast Region: Gerard Rein, Philadelphia, gjr11@psu.edu, (215) 275-7212; and
-- Southwest Region: Joe Polk, Pittsburgh, jpolk@psu.edu, (412) 352-6836.

Additionally, two PENNTAP information technology specialists are assigned to assist the health- care sector statewide:

-- Eastern Pennsylvania: Christina Gettins, Allentown, christinag@psu.edu, (570) 881-2699; and
-- Western Pennsylvania: Greg Snyder, DuBois, gws10@psu.edu, (814) 592-9950.