Williamsport - Lycoming Keystone Innovation Zone

Open Discussion Scheduled for this Month’s Williamsport Inventor’s Club

KIZAdmin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:19:53 +0000

The Williamsport Inventor’s Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 25 at 5:00 p.m. at the James V. Brown Library’s Lowry Theatre. The Lowry Theatre is located on the third floor of the new Library wing. This month’s meeting will be a general discussion which will be led and facilitated by a member of the group.

The Williamsport Inventor’s Club is a confidential gathering of inventors that allows for open discussion of invention practices, problem solving and advice exchange. Anyone is welcome to attend, however a non disclosure agreement will need to be signed by all attendees prior to the start of the meeting. No R.S.V.P. is required for this event.

The Williamsport Inventor’s Club is an initiative coordinated by IMC, Inc. and the Williamsport SCORE chapter. Membership is free for local inventors and business people who are interested in sharing their ideas and receiving valuable feedback in a confidential forum. The group also hosts inventors, patent lawyers, and local manufacturers to share information through presentations and discussions.

For more information on the Williamsport Inventor’s Club, please visit the website at

www.wlkiz.com. If you have any questions, contact Sarah Horton at seh3@pct.edu.

Discount on Barcodes for Inventors

KIZAdmin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:39:14 +0000

The road to inventing can be a long and expensive road, however, once your product hits the market, all that hard work pays off. But before that happens, all retail stores and internet companies, such as Amazon, require that your product be labeled with a UPC barcode.

In order to get a UPC code for your product you have to join the GS-1 (The official provider of barcode numbers) which costs $750.00, in addition to an initial fee and the annual renewal fees for each barcode number that you have purchased.

There is one alternative option to this pricey yet necessary step. UPC codes are available from resellers, such as www.GotBarCodes.com, at a highly discounted price. By purchasing your barcodes through a reseller, you will only pay a little more than 1% of the price that the GS-1 charges. Each barcode can be purchased for as little $8.49 per code with no additional fees or renewals.

As a special offer to the Williamsport Inventors Club, UPC barcodes can be purchased from www.GotBarCodes.com for 10% off the regular price.

If you have any questions about GotBarCodes.com or purchasing UPC codes for your products, please contact Linda Anderson at linda@kangaring.com or 602-679-9123.

For more information about the Williamsport Inventor’s Club click here or e-mail Sarah at seh3@pct.edu.

IMC Announces Launch of HelixHead Website

KIZAdmin — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:09:55 +0000

IMC is happy to announce the launch of http://www.HelixHead.com, a website featuring HelixHead – the highest performing helical cutterhead on the market today. HelixHead is distributed by Hermance Machine Co., Inc. in Williamsport, PA.

The patent pending HelixHead was developed by Matthew Strouse of Strouse Industrial, LLC in Williamsport, PA. HelixHead’s superior design incorporates noise reduction technology, advanced chip channeling and dust diversion, as well as an increased knife life over traditional cutterheads. It is used in planers, moulders and jointers to support woodworking and other industries. Each HelixHead is one of a kind and custom designed to the exact specifications of customers’ machinery.

The HelixHead website was launched as part of a branding and marketing strategic project facilitated by IMC. IMC also assisted with the product development, design and patent application for HelixHead.

“We are excited to have our website up and running. It highlights all the features and benefits we worked hard to incorporate into HelixHead. We also already received our first inquiry through the site and are looking forward to doing business with new customers,” said Matthew.

IMC is passionate about supporting manufacturing growth and innovation in central Pennsylvania. IMC is one of seven Industrial Resource Centers located throughout Pennsylvania and is an affiliate of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST MEP program. They are dedicated to helping the region’s manufacturers build better business strategies and solutions.

Visit www.HelixHead.com to learn more about the HelixHead high performance helical cutterhead. For more information on IMC and their services, visit www.imcpa.com or e-mail info@imcpa.com.

Ladder Companion to be featured at National Manufacturing Innovation 2012 Conference

KIZAdmin — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 17:22:28 +0000

IMC client, Ladder Companion, LLC, will be featured in the Make it in America display this year at the national Manufacturing Innovation Conference 2012, hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturers Extension Partnership (MEP) program in Orlando, Florida from Saturday, May 5 – Wednesday, May 9, 2012.

MEP works with small and mid-sized U.S. manufacturers to help them create and retain jobs, increase profits, and save time and money. The nationwide network provides a variety of services, from innovation strategies, to process improvements, to green manufacturing. MEP also works with partners at the state and federal levels on programs that put manufacturers in position to develop new customers, expand into new markets and create new products.

Make it in America is a new addition to the MEP National Conference to highlight clients of the MEP system. Only a few are selected for this opportunity. The purpose of the exhibit is to celebrate outstanding U.S. manufacturers that are proud to make their products in the USA.

Ladder Companion is a project and tool tray that attaches through the rungs of an extension ladder to make projects easier, quicker and safer. IMC has been with Ladder Companion, LLC every step of the way over the last few years to bring the product from idea to market. IMC assisted Ladder Companion, LLC with services such as preliminary market research, multiple design phases, a patent application, multiple prototypes, planning, manufacturing support research, a product video, and the launch of the company’s website, www.LadderCompanion.com.

Frank Leuthner, President of the company said, “We are so excited and honored to have been chosen to display our Ladder Companion product at this year’s Manufacturing Innovation Conference, and to be a company that can say that its product is truly made in the USA.”

IMC is one of seven Industrial Resource Centers located throughout Pennsylvania and is an affiliate of the U.S. Department of Commerce, NIST MEP program. They are committed to helping the region’s manufacturers build better business strategies and solutions. For more information, visit www.imcpa.com or e-mail info@imcpa.com.

FundaGeek, Crowd Funding for Inventors

KIZAdmin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 18:41:14 +0000

FundaGeek is the first crowd funding resource expressly for technical innovation and basic research. If you have a hot new product idea, or if you’re a researcher in need of funding, then FundaGeek is for you.

FundaGeek is a crowd funding web resource for inventors and innovators, that has been developed under the guidance of the United Inventors Association of America (UIA).

Click here to learn more about FundaGeek.

Client developing method to prevent ice and snow buildup on solar panels

KIZAdmin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:17:01 +0000

Keevin Larson – KIZ Client and President of K.C. Larson Inc. – and his solar energy project were featured in this week’s Keystone Edge publication. Read the article here.

The James V. Brown Library’s Resources Feature of March Williamsport Inventor’s Club Meeting

KIZAdmin — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:04:57 +0000

The next Williamsport Inventor’s Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 28 at 5:00 p.m. at the James V. Brown Library in the Lowry Theatre. This meeting will feature a presentation by Shawn Newcomer and Alex Hartmann on information search techniques and the Library’s information resources that are available to the Inventor’s Club.

Shawn Newcomer is the Adult Programming Coordinator at the James V. Brown Library. He has extensive experience with research and is passionate about books, movies and music. He will share in a presentation with Alex Hartmann, Legal Reference Librarian. Alex is a bibliophile, Anglophile and audiophile who has been a professional law librarian for over twenty years, and also experienced in database creation, indexing and internet content editing. Alex Hartmann was asked to create the patent application for an automatic lawnmower that was invented in the late 1980s and eventually patented three years later.

The Lowry Theatre is located on the third floor of the new Library wing. If you are planning to attend, please R.S.V.P. to Sarah Horton by Friday March 23 at seh3@pct.edu.

For more information on the Williamsport Inventor’s Club, please visit the website at www.wlkiz.com. If you have any questions, contact Sarah Horton at seh3@pct.edu.

Innovation Zones have proven their worth

KIZAdmin — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:23:29 +0000

Another feature on the Keystone Innovation Zone program by the Sun-Gazette. Read the article here.

Tax credits move 8 local companies forward

KIZAdmin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:42:12 +0000

The Williamsport / Lycoming KIZ was featured in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette for the more than $497,000 in tax credits that they were able to award to eight local companies.
To read the whole story, Click Here.

Patent Lawyer Scheduled to Speak on the America Invents Act at the Williamsport Inventor’s Club Meeting

KIZAdmin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:43:09 +0000

The February Inventor’s Club Meeting will be hosting Patent Lawyer, Pat McCollum to discuss the America Invents Act and the effect that it will have on patent laws, businesses, entrepreneurs and inventors. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. at the Lycoming Launchpad – Building 2 which is located at 136 Catawissa Avenue, in Williamsport.

On September 16, 2011, President Obama signed into law the Leahey-Smith America Invents Act, which is a major rewrite of the United States patent laws providing some of the biggest changes to the U.S. patent system since 1952. “The America Invents Act makes significant changes to the patenting process that many of us have been familiar with for decades. Inventors, technology companies and investors should be aware of these changes, and how the new patent law is intended to bolster innovation, streamline the patent system and reduce patent litigation,” Pat said.

Some of the changes provided through the America Invents Act include changes from first-to-invent law to first-to-file law, a new post-grant review process, restriction of false marketing lawsuits, and many more changes that will be discussed in full at the February Inventor’s Club meeting.

Following the presentation on the changes made by the America Invents Act, the floor will open up for a discussion session where attendees can voice any questions or concerns they may have.

The Inventor’s Club provides a round table for inventors to discuss problems, ideas and lessons learned with one another in order to help turn their ideas into commercially viable products. This meeting provides a comfortable and productive atmosphere for local inventors to share resources, tips and receive feedback from one another. (All attendees must sign a confidentiality agreement).

Attendance is free to all Inventors Club Meetings; however, a minimum of 4 meetings must be attended each year in order to be considered an active member. Please RSVP, to seh3@pct.edu or call 329-3200 x8073 by Friday, February 17. All attendees should enter at the North entrance of the Lycoming Launchpad building, which will be marked by balloons.

The Inventor’s Club is hosted by the Williamsport / Lycoming Keystone Innovation Zone at IMC, Inc. and is supported by the Williamsport SCORE chapter.

To learn more, visit www.wlkiz.com.