First food and beverage TechCelerator fuels scalable solutions in cancer recovery drinks, gut healing foods and supply chains

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has launched the 2023 round of its TechCelerator program, and for the first time, the food and beverage industry is in the spotlight. This year’s group of participating startup founders is focused on the science and innovation of food and drink.

"This program has challenged me to get uncomfortable and develop a level of confidence in myself I’ve never had to work on before.”

The TechCelerator program is a free, 10-week program that helps businesses bring their ideas to reality. It offers weekly sessions with experts in marketing, sales, finance and more. Within the program, startups explore their business ideas, gain mentoring and business coaching and develop their pitches. Here’s what the current startup founders are up to.

Centre County founders

Hannah Carney, Unbaked Flour Co, with signature donuts. Photo: Provided.

Unbaked Flour

Unbaked Flour Co. is a small startup in State College. Hannah Carney, one of the startup’s four founding gut microbiome research graduate students from Penn State University, said, “We create unbaked snacks for unmatched gut health by providing a research-backed two-in-one solution for individuals struggling with digestive disorders or chronic disease.”

Carney is honored to be a part of the TechCelerator Program. “I don’t have any prior business education or experience. Thinking about supply chain logistics, business strategy, pitching our concept to potential investors and managing a team are all out of my comfort zone,” she said.

She shared one of the most profound takeaways from the program so far: “Successful entrepreneurs have a deep sense of self-trust to take the next steps, even if they may not feel ready to do so. This program has challenged me to get uncomfortable and develop a level of confidence in myself I’ve never had to work on before.”

Developers, Zee Elhaj and Michael Emerick. Photos: Provided.

On Time Delivery

Co-founders Zahi (Zee) Elhaj and Michael Emerick have developed a solution to assist restaurants in their food delivery operations. On Time Delivery is a software solution that will give managers a bird’s-eye view of their entire operation.

“This will allow them to make more informed decisions. Drivers use a mobile app to streamline their operation on the road, and customers receive more accurate ETA, status updates and the ability to track their order once it's on the way,” Elhaj said.

The duo has operated their State College restaurant, Are U Hungry, for the last two years.

“So far, we've built a solution and have been testing it from our restaurant, processing over 50,000 orders,” Elhaj shared.

“We hope to learn more about taking the solution to market with the TechCelerator Program,” he said.

Dr. Pete Bordi. Photo: Provided.

Cancer Recovery Drink

Pete Bordi worked in product development at Penn State University for over 30 years. He created Dr. Pete’s Recovery Drink for athletes during his time there. However, he discovered that cancer patients could not tolerate the formula used for this drink.

“In collaboration with health care systems, I began researching how to formulate a recovery drink that could help those patients,” he said. “I got a grant and was about to create an all-organic recovery drink specifically for cancer patients.”

"You can’t get this level of engagement and passion anywhere else.”

Since the TechCelerator program began, Bordi says he’s been impressed by the passion of the team and the resources provided to participants.

“It is a holistic approach. There are five to six Ben Franklin staff members in the classes and one-on-one calls,” he shared. “I had a call today [that] challenged me and made me think. You can’t get this level of engagement and passion anywhere else.”

“You can see that the passion for supporting and developing entrepreneurs is genuine,” he concluded.

Other participants across the Commonwealth

Of course, the TechCelerator also welcomes other startup founders from around the state. These include…

8fronds Pineapple Eddie Jerk Sauce (Karen Thomas and Adrienne Paul, Erie County). This team has created a sauce product that is plant-based, allergen-free, sugar-free and free of chemical preservatives that can be used as a marinade or sauce to give meals prepared at home great flavor and interest while saving time.

Honey Bear Kitchen (Natalie Wallace, Dauphin County) produces super-premium non-dairy ice cream free from six of the eight major food allergens using a proprietary mix of 14% plant-based fat churned with a low overrun, giving it the mouthfeel and creaminess of dairy-based ice cream. As of December 2022, Honey Bear's ice cream roster included 20 flavors.

KEVO (Paul McMahon & Ryan Maloney, Erie County) is leveraging growing trends in cold brew consumption and single-serve coffee. KEVO has developed a patented, innovative device to make a single cup of cold brew using coffee pods (also known as K-cups) or regular grounds. The device can also use an immersion method with K-cups, producing a fuller-bodied flavor.

MP for Erie (Matthew Gacura, Erie County) is commercializing a process to grow mushrooms from agricultural/plant waste generated from farms, wineries, breweries and other food producers. This win-win process will utilize otherwise hard to dispose of waste while producing nutritious, low-cost food that could benefit impoverished communities.

Sarah’s Gourmet Pretzels (Heidi Lushko, Cambria County) specializes in wholesaling and delivering fine, decadent chocolate gourmet pretzels for the benefit of children rescued from sex trafficking and in need of safety and restoration.

For more information about how Ben Franklin Technology Partners fuels startups in Pennsylvania, go to https://cnp.benfranklin.org/.

Taking a groundbreaking idea from the lab to the orchard

By Holly Riddle

Photo: Kari A. Peter.

Late last year, HappyValley Industry covered the Ben Franklin Technology Partners 2022 BIG IDEA Contest. The 2022 contest focused specifically on the agricultural, food and beverage industries and the second-place winner — and recipient of $10,000 to further his business — was Penn State researcher and associate professor of plant pathology and environmental microbiology, Timothy McNellis. His groundbreaking product is called Blightavast, a unique new solution to combat fire blight, and his new company is called Immunagreen.

We wanted to know more about the impact Blightavast stands to make on its industry, how McNellis ended up winning a BIG IDEA Contest prize and what he’s done with his winnings thus far, so we reached out to see what we could learn.

Finding a solution for a Pennsylvania problem 

McNellis was hired at Penn State as an assistant professor in 1999 and says he’s been working on fire blight research ever since.

“When I arrived [at Penn State], my supervisor at the time recommended that I should work on something that was important in the state of Pennsylvania. My supervisor helped me connect to people working on fire blight because I'm a bacteriologist and fire blight is one of the most important bacterial diseases in the state of Pennsylvania. Apples are an important crop here and the disease is a challenge for growers in the state every year,” explained McNellis.

"Apples are an important crop here and the disease is a challenge for growers in the state every year."

If you’re not up to speed on your agricultural terms, fire blight is a contagious bacterial disease that impacts apple and pear trees, killing blossoms, shoots and, in severe cases, the entire tree. When allowed to run rampant, it can cause extensive damage to orchards, which, of course, comes with major economic impacts. One study from the 2000s estimated that the annual cost of fire blight control and losses in the United States totals more than $100 million.

Currently, growers use antibiotics to combat fire blight, but this solution isn’t ideal.

McNellis said, “People want to use fewer antibiotics in agriculture and, in fire blight, there is a problem with antibiotic resistance in the target bacterium. That gets a lot of press — antibiotic resistance in medicine — and the same happens here, in that you keep using the antibiotic and eventually the target becomes resistant. So what do we do? Do we switch to a new antibiotic or is there some other approach? In fire blight, there's a need for other approaches, not other antibiotics … Our product is a non-antibiotic that has potential to at least partially replace antibiotic use.”

Blightavast’s active ingredient is biological, a harmless microbe, which comes with a lessened environmental impact compared to other options. Any residue only lasts a few weeks after application, so there’s no impact on the end consumer. For the grower, cost and labor incurred from using Blightavast will be comparable to current solutions.

Making the big switch from research to commercialization

But while Blightavast seems like a no-brainer solution to a very real problem, McNellis came across the beginnings of the Blightavast product almost out of sheer luck.

He said, “We made a discovery in the lab that looked like it might have an application in the field. On a hunch, we tested it and it worked pretty well right off the bat, which surprised me. I thought, if it works that well, we should really try to commercialize it.”

The switch from research to commercialization, though, was not necessarily an easy one. McNellis admits he didn’t have much prior experience in the business side of things. Suddenly, in order to get a viable product to market, he needed to not just consider whether or not the product worked, but also whether or not it would be marketable to its intended buyer.

“There's the technical challenges of making sure it works, but if you have something that works that's too expensive, then it's useless,” he said. “Especially in agriculture, it has to be cheap. That's the challenge now, to formulate this in a way that is cheap enough for us to make a profit and for growers to also be able to pay for it and maintain their profits.”

McNellis sought help from a range of Penn State and Ben Franklin resources as he got started. He participated in the Ben Franklin TechCelerator Program first, a process that he calls “extremely useful,” noting he “can’t say enough about how awesome the course is.” While he didn’t win any of the prize money available to TechCelerator participants, the experience and what he learned did set him up to succeed in the BIG IDEA Contest.

Now he’s using the $10,000 contest prize to pay for additional field testing to both affirm efficacy and receive Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval that is required before bringing the product to market. Testing takes place on experimental farms intended for this use throughout Washington State, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan.

“It's very encouraging that the EPA is letting us do these tests without any special permit or oversight after their initial safety review of our product,” commented McNellis.

Looking to the future, post-EPA approval, McNellis is already thinking about expanding Blightavast’s use to other crops, which will build the business further.

“Although the disease is serious for apples, the overall market is not really large,” said McNellis. “We estimate about a $20 million market value that we're trying to get our share of, which sounds big, but, really, in the bigger picture, it's not that large, only enough to drive a small operation. So, we’re thinking about how to move this technology to address other plant disease problems, and that's still under development.”

"WE ARE a great place to start a biz!” Local experts on Happy Valley’s secret for business success

Photos: Provided.

Ben Franklin Technology Partners makes investments in cutting-edge startups in a 32-county footprint; in fact, it is the largest early-stage investor and supporter in the area. Last year alone, Ben Franklin assisted 301 businesses in the Commonwealth. The programs and resources that Ben Franklin provides help to create an ideal ecosystem for launching and growing businesses in Happy Valley.

Ben Franklin boasts a sea of experts that eagerly assist entrepreneurs and guide them to success. We wanted in on the action, so we asked the Ben Franklin experts these questions:

  1. What's one thing you wished every startup founder knew? What advice can you give them?
  2. What makes Pennsylvania, specifically Happy Valley, a good place to launch and grow a business?

Here’s what they had to say.

Bob Dornich

Bob Dornich, director of Ben Franklin’s TechCelerator program, shared this advice:

“Before investing a fortune or mortgaging your house, be able to lay out what problem are you solving for whom; how do they solve it now (including doing nothing); and how will you solve it?”

As for what makes Happy Valley the perfect breeding ground for success, he said, “The local resources in the Invent Penn State community are beyond comparison! The support level at Ben Franklin is exceptional, with expert advice in marketing, sales, branding, finance, strategy and so much more. In addition to their mentoring, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA also has an investment arm to provide capital to these startups’ businesses.”

“On top of all this, you can overlay the bucolic haven that is Happy Valley. A pristine, pastoral countryside with almost no crime and a great community with phenomenal resources, and the icing on the cake is the kind and generous nature of the folks here. Overall, WE ARE a great place to start a biz!”

Aside from the available resources and knowledge, Dornich said that there is a whole world inside the Happy Valley corridor.

“On top of all this, you can overlay the bucolic haven that is Happy Valley. A pristine, pastoral countryside with almost no crime and a great community with phenomenal resources,” he shared. “And the icing on the cake is the kind and generous nature of the folks here. Overall, WE ARE a great place to start a biz!”

Jesse Harper

Entrepreneur-in-residence Jesse Harper shared his thoughts on the go-to-market strategy.

“So many founders focus on the technical aspects of their product or service and not enough on the go-to-market strategy to grow a business around that innovation. Hiring the right staff to help close that gap is one of the most important things you can do,” he said.

“Your first sales hire is critical,” Harper emphasized. “They will educate the customer – sell a concept first and a solution second. That is going to take a salesperson with flexibility.”

He also said that Happy Valley has a deep-rooted commitment to innovation.

“There are numerous resources from the LaunchBox, Invent Penn State, Innovation Park, etc. There is access to the world-class facilities, professors, professionals and students at Penn State University and one of the strongest and most active alumni networks in the country,” he said.

“1855 Capital is highly active locally and is further supported by Ben Franklin Technology Partners and their Techcelerator and Big Idea contests where very early-stage startups can receive investment, business mentoring, and support to assist emerging entrepreneurs as they take those first steps,” he continued.

Harper added that State College is a cool mix of college town and success. “State College offers a vibrant downtown and is within driving distance of several large East Coast cities. As an entrepreneur, you have access to resources, funding, top-notch research facilities and a highly educated workforce,” he concluded.

Roger Dagen

To startup founders, executive-in-residence Roger Dagen said, “I wish they all knew the importance of doing customer discovery before launching their product/service.”

Dagen also noted the value of Happy Valley's support services.

“These services include Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, the Invent Penn State Happy Valley Launch Box offices in our region, the free services of the Penn State Law Entrepreneurship Assistance Clinic and the Penn State Law Intellectual Property Clinic. These free services help the startup entrepreneur understand and overcome the many challenges of a startup business, thereby reducing the risks associated with a startup business. Also present is the support network provided by CREN (Centre Region Entrepreneur Network), a group of aspiring and successful entrepreneurs who gather together to share their experiences in starting and growing their businesses,” he said.

Craig Womeldorf

According to executive-in-residence Craig Womeldorf, first-hand market research is key for startup founders.

“The only real way to determine if they have a business that can gain traction and grow is to find out who their customers are. They need to use all resources at their disposal to see if their solution solves a problem for a market segment and brings the customer joy,” he said. “Then, adapt to what they learn, and find out if there is a true match. It will save them huge amounts of time and capital to do this hard work first.”

"They all either provide a key ingredient or know where to direct the founder or growing businessperson to the rest of the ingredients needed to create a dish that customers cannot resist.”

Womeldorf believes the ecosystem found in Happy Valley is a recipe for success. He said, “Founders can start with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Happy Valley LaunchBox, SBDC, PennTAP, the CBICC, multiple Penn State alumni and community support resources and they all either provide a key ingredient or know where to direct the founder or growing businessperson to the rest of the ingredients needed to create a dish that customers cannot resist.”

“Combine those resources with the quality of life, people and expertise in the area, and I can see why Forbes thinks so highly of Pennsylvania and Happy Valley!” he said.

FREE intrapreneurship conference focuses on employees as change makers

Mark your calendars for the Conference on Intrapreneurship Employees as ChangeMakers, taking place May 11 at the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub. The conference, which is free, is presented by the Penn State College of Engineering’s School of Engineering Design and Innovation and will focus on how employees can create innovation from within a company.

Registration is limited to 80 attendees. RSVP NOW to save your spot! You can register here or at the QR code below. For questions, please contact Frank Koe, teaching professor, at ftk2@psu.edu.

"Innovation is a popular word these days,” organizer Frank Koe said. Koe is a teaching professor of engineering entrepreneurship. He said that, while all companies see themselves as 'innovative,' he is curious about how they define the term in their own firms.

“A recent Gallop poll discovered that nearly 54% of employees have been found to be unengaged at work,” he said. “Everyone matters these days and the companies that can bring out the best in everyone and see that employees have more to offer than fulfilling a job description to the letter will innovate at the speed of change and be true innovators."

The conference will bring together small and medium-sized businesses to discuss the inclusion of intrapreneurship within their company cultures.

Group discussions will include:

Registration is limited to 80 attendees, so RSVP now to save your spot! You can register here or at the QR code below. For questions, please contact Frank Koe, teaching professor, at ftk2@psu.edu.

Bellefonte’s SpringBoard set for expansion

By David Rockower

Springboard, which opened in 2017 as an incubator and coworking space, is moving to The Lofts in downtown Bellefonte. Photo: Ellen Matis.

With its local breweries, boutiques and cafes, the vibe in downtown Bellefonte is one of revitalization and change. Just a short drive from State College, Bellefonte continues to develop its own personality and, since 2017, SpringBoard has offered area entrepreneurs and small business owners a space to generate ideas, collaborate and practice their crafts. It’s clear that SpringBoard has been instrumental in helping Bellefonte thrive; in fact, SpringBoard has attracted so many entrepreneurs, its outgrown its space.

Ellen Matis, board president of Downtown Bellefonte Inc, said, “SpringBoard … is an initiative powered by Downtown Bellefonte Inc., a Main Street organization which aims to revitalize the downtown — in part by providing small business support and attracting and retaining businesses.”

“As a result of the initiative, more businesses have opened in downtown Bellefonte, more visitors are frequenting the community and more resources are available to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs."

When SpringBoard opened in 2017, early-stage business owners and entrepreneurs could rent desk space at a low cost and then eventually move to bigger spaces as needed. But, over time, that model changed.

“Entrepreneurs most attracted to the rentable desk space model were service-based businesses or remote workers — those that never would necessarily need their own brick and mortar location. As a result, SpringBoard moved into a more coworking-centric model in 2020 and into a second-floor space on Allegheny Street,” explained Matis.

Matis shared that SpringBoard has a wide variety of members and drop-in users. “There are long-term members that own service-based businesses. There are drop-in remote workers that work for corporate companies that just need to get out of the house sometimes. The space is often rented by photographers and videographers by the hour for content creation. Downtown brick and mortar business owners congregate at SpringBoard to discuss ideas or plans. The list goes on.”

The space can also be rented out for longer, multi-day projects. “One of the neatest ways I've seen SpringBoard be used over the years is by photographers and artists. There are photographers that have totally cleared out the space to turn it into a studio for a weekend, and an artist that rented the space out for a quiet place to paint for a weekend,” said Matis.

Collaboration is another important part of Springboard’s mission. “Entrepreneurship can be extremely lonely — I say this as a business owner myself! Having a place to connect with other startups to share ideas, brainstorm and more is an incredible opportunity. As a result, new and exciting business ideas are formed,” explained Matis.

Every year, SpringBoard also offers a grant opportunity that helps a new business owner develop and launch a marketing plan.

“SpringBoard … is an initiative powered by Downtown Bellefonte Inc., a Main Street organization which aims to revitalize the downtown — in part by providing small business support and attracting and retaining businesses."

“As part of their grant, they recieve a SpringBoard membership, are able to receive coaching from local professionals and get access to the other resources that SpringBoard offers,” said Matis.

This grant has helped several businesses expand.

“Hoop Stars, a basketball program designed to teach children the fundamentals of the game, was able to expand exponentially because of the grant opportunity. Last year's recipients, GWG Books and Spring Creek Picnics, are both well-known business names in the Bellefonte area now,” explained Matis.

Kat Hoffman, owner of GWG books shared just how important the grant was in helping to grow her business. “I learned how to design rack cards to advertise and how to leverage social media. The grant allowed me access to a group of local businesspeople who really believe in the strength of other small businesses. It showed me how important knowing your community is and how amazing it can be to be part of a group of local people who are passionate about what they do.”

From entrepreneurs, to artists, to event rentals, Springboard is used by a wide variety of workers. Photo: Ellen Matis.

New growth and a new home

Matis mentioned that Jennilyn Schuster, main street manager for Downtown Bellefonte Inc. and Devin Kos, the organization's marketing and administrative assistant, have done an excellent job expanding the organization's programming and small business resources.

“The ‘How to Start a Business in Bellefonte’ workshop series has been a really big hit, as have panel discussions with different leaders on important topics pertaining to business ownership in our community. As a result, there's often a full house on certain days at the Allegheny Street location, which can make working a bit more difficult for full-time coworking members,” shared Matis.

So, for 2023, SpringBoard will move to The Lofts, a prominent building in downtown Bellefonte.

“The new location will afford SpringBoard users more than double the square footage — which allows for a main coworking space and programming area, two rentable conference rooms or private workspaces and a private phone or video-conferencing room,” said Matis.

Matis is excited about the new location and believes it will continue to inspire Bellefonte’s entrepreneurial spirit. She said, “Coworkers will have views overlooking Spring Creek and Talleyrand Park, the Gamble Mill and the beautiful scenery that makes our downtown unique. Its central location makes it easy to grab a coffee at one of many downtown options, grab a bite at every downtown restaurant or go for a walk on a much-needed break in the park.”

“The new location will afford SpringBoard users more than double the square footage — which allows for a main coworking space and programming area, two rentable conference rooms or private workspaces and a private phone or video-conferencing room."

The new SpringBoard space will be powered by Arize Federal Credit Union. Arize’s marketing manager, Chista Hosterman, is excited to support this new endeavor.

“Arize Federal Credit Union has been invested in the Centre and Huntingdon County communities for many years, and we are taking that commitment a step further by partnering with Bellefonte Springboard on their new space. Springboard is truly a community-driven initiative, and we are proud to provide an investment to ensure local entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed,” said Hosterman.

Benefiting the entire community

If all goes as planned, the new location will open in early February. Though its space is changing, SpringBoard’s mission will not. “As a result of the initiative, more businesses have opened in downtown Bellefonte, more visitors are frequenting the community and more resources are available to existing and aspiring entrepreneurs,” said Matis.

Not only will SpringBoard continue to offer a comfortable and innovative workspace, it will also fill a much needed void in the community.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this new space will be the way it can be utilized for private event rentals by the general public — filling what is a huge gap in our community right now. While we have amazing boutique venues like bed and breakfasts, and rentable small, intimate spaces within the downtown, there is no option currently for standard events like bridal and baby showers, birthday parties and other [events], especially in poor weather. The new space has been designed with this in mind, and SpringBoard will be able to transform easily to accommodate them. Renters will be able to utilize the entire Downtown Bellefonte Inc. membership roster to host the perfect event, and be able to be connected with caterers, bar service options, musicians and more.”

Upcoming and ongoing programming at SpringBoard includes:

Americans are starting new businesses at record rates, and Pennsylvania is one of the best places to do it

By Cara Aungst

Photo: PA.gov.

Over Christmas break, a friend messaged me. As a fellow Happy Valley news junkie, he’s always good for sending on local and business headlines with “Have you seen this?!” commentary.

“Not good news,” he said about the just-released report that says Pennsylvania was one of the most “moved-out-of” states this past year.

We’ve all been trained well in the “if it bleeds it leads” mantra of journalism, so it’s easy to see a headline like that and run with it. But, fortunately, the real story is much more complex — and optimistic —  than a report from United Van Lines about how many moving trucks full of worn-out couches and scuffed coffee tables crossed state lines for a more humid climate.

First off, business is growing exponentially across the country, and in Pennsylvania. In mid-December, business pundit Scott Galloway sent out his chart of the week headed “A marker for optimism.”

“We’re living in one of the best times to start a business in over a decade."

“Americans are starting new businesses at record rates,” he said. “In 2021, there were 5.4 million new business applications. That’s 23% higher than 2020’s record. Looks like pandemic economics didn’t have the damaging effect you’d expect.”

“We’re living in one of the best times to start a business in over a decade,” he added.

(You can see the bullish chart for yourself below, courtesy of https://profgmedia.com/chart-of-the-week/)

Galloway’s numbers are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s business formation statistics. Drilled down to a state level, they show that business applications in Pennsylvania rose 54% from 2019 to 2021 and a whopping 113% in a 10-year period from 2011-2021.

Centre County saw a 21% rise in business applications from 2019 to 2021 and a 39% rise in the decade between 2011 and 2021.

Not only is business booming in Pennsylvania, but it’s a good place for business to boom, at least according to Forbes. In a ranking released Nov. 30, Forbes ranked the best states to launch companies, weighing factors that impact businesses and their ability to succeed, like business costs, business climate, economy, workforce and financial accessibility in each state.

It ranked Pennsylvania at No. 4, citing the Commonwealth’s availability of resources and funding for entrepreneurs.

“Total small business loan funding in Pennsylvania is double that of the national average at $27.7 million,” the report said. “Though this figure is dwarfed by California … Pennsylvania's funding is spread across fewer businesses, driving the average amount per business to be over 20% higher than California's and 17% above the national average.”

It added that Pennsylvania is quickly becoming a popular alternative to New York with a lower cost of living and a higher business survival rate — and an income tax that is one-third the amount of New York’s rate of 10.9%.

It also added that Pennsylvania’s business survival rate is higher than the national average — 83.3%, with the national average hovering at 80.6%.

“The startup industry will continue to be the driving factor for the Happy Valley region, with innovation and business growth for many years,” John Peterson, business consultant for Penn State Small Business Development Center, said. “We see healthy startup growth within technology, retail and service-based businesses.

He said that, during and coming out of the pandemic, the Penn State Small Business Development Center has experienced a surge in applications for its expertise and resources.

“We are at record levels helping clients, assisting them to gain capital formation and get businesses started, and clients served in our four-county footprint in Centre, Mifflin, Clinton and Lycoming Counties,” he said.

We here at HappyValley Industry are buckled in for 2023 and all it holds, from the threat of recession to moving trucks, thanks to incredible grit and innovation. And we’ll be bringing you stories of the year as it unfolds.

New brewers add to thriving craft beer scene

By Beverly Molnar

Photo: Antifragile Brewing Co.

When you think of “craft beer towns,” you might think of Asheville, North Carolina, which was first named Beer City USA in 2009, or Burlington, Vermont, which holds the record for the highest  number of breweries per capita. But brewers in Happy Valley aim to change that. Over the past several decades, Happy Valley has steadily been growing its brew scene, from Happy Valley’s longest-operating brew pub, Otto’s Pub, to cult favorite Elk Creek Cafe + Aleworks, and a growing list that includes Happy Valley Brewing, Robin Hood Brewing and Axemann Brewery. Meet some of the area’s newest makers, and hear why they chose to set up shop here.

Filling the gap

Antifragile Brewing Co. opened in downtown State College in 2022, with partners John Schaffer and Lisa Harpster at the helm. Both are Penn State alumni and Harpster is a Happy Valley native, and both left the area to pursue careers elsewhere for several years before returning. Before launching Antifragile, Schaffer and Harpster were already entrepreneurs, as the founders of another Happy Valley business, Moody Culture Kombucha.

According to Schaffer, they had “always been into craft beer,” and a lot of the same equipment and similar processes that go into fermenting beer is used in making kombucha. After a beer trip to Burlington, Vermont, in 2017, he said that they realized Happy Valley had “none of that here.” While craft beer is big throughout New England and in nearby Mid-Atlantic cities, like Philadelphia, they recognized a gap in the market in Happy Valley specifically. So, in 2019, they set out to create a destination brewery in downtown State College.

Schaffer found a brewer — Paulo Nami, an exchange student from Brazil — and took over a space previously occupied by a Colombian café. After giving a lot of thought to the business model, not wanting to be just a taproom, but also not wanting to offer extensive food offerings, he and Harpster opened Antifragile Brewing Co. post-pandemic. As for where they got the name, Schaffer said it came from the book “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

“The book changed the way I think about things,” said Schaffer. “[I] approached the brewery and business in an antifragile way, starting small and pivoting quickly. If that worked well, things would go well.” 

Today, Antifragile attracts a mixture of downtown adults and the local, older community, with Schaffer saying the visitor mix is about 95% local adults and 5% students. The brewing company offers plenty of fresh beers, of course, but also fresh cocktails and live music events. 

Photo: Voodoo Brewing Co.

Where everybody knows your name 

Employee-owned Voodoo Brewing Co. opened a few years before Antifragile, in 2019. Unlike Antifragile, which started local and has stayed local (so far), Voodoo Brewing Co. is a craft beer company based in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and has five locations throughout the state, plus franchises in the state and beyond.

Still, Voodoo boasts State College roots in its own way. The general manager, Wes Day, is a graduate of Penn State and previously worked at other area breweries. He said he had already noticed an untapped market in Happy Valley for destination breweries, and felt that State College could do more to become a destination, “like Asheville, North Carolina, on a smaller scale.” 

The brewery sits beneath Maine Bay & Berry, a foodie-favorite shop and restaurant with a focus on fresh seafood and New England products, and Voodoo has benefited from Maine Bay & Berry’s existing reputation and customer base. At first, CEO Matteo Rachocki said the team anticipated attracting more of the student population, but it didn’t turn out that way. Instead, their shared customer base is predominantly Penn State faculty, alumni and local families. Luckily, this outcome was in line with the brand’s goals. 

“We want to cultivate an environment where everyone feels comfortable hanging out,” commented Rachocki, referencing “Cheers” and the effort to create an environment “where everybody knows your name.” “We want people to appreciate our efforts and support that by consistently coming back.” 

Photo: Voodoo Brewing Co.

For the past three years, Voodoo Brewing Co. has shared awards with Maine Bay & Berry for some of the best area outdoor dining, thanks to its creekside seating, fire pits and a “rustic and reclaimed” aesthetic. 

Is craft beer the future of Happy Valley tourism? 

Happy Valley is known for a lot of things … Will it add “Craft Beer Destination” to the list?