Happy Valley’s Sales Engine: Rev it up for YOUR company at this FREE workshop

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After interviewing hundreds of business leaders across the region, our HappyValley Industry team has reached a troubling conclusion. While our area is a top performer in Research, Engineering and Management, our business community struggles with that critical interim step: selling!

So many of our sponsors and readers are asking, “How do I sell more?” So we decided to host a FREE workshop that answers this important question.

Join the Happy Valley’s Sales Engine: Rev it up for YOUR company workshop to discover:

We’ve gathered Happy Valley’s best sellers and have challenged them: “If you had only 3 hours to share your best insights on how to triple sales in 12 months, what would you offer?”

Click here to register and benefit from their guidance.

Seating is limited to 50. Deadline to register is February 17.

More Info:

10 AM-1 PMFebruary 28Hyatt Place, State College

This free event includes lunch and networking — but there are only 50 spots available! Click here to save your spot.

You can reach Greg Woodman at 814-237-0481 x 131 or at greg@affinityconnection.com with questions, or information about sponsoring the event.

‘The hydrogen economy is here’: Nikola Corp to source hydrogen from KeyState for zero-emissions trucks

By Cara Aungst

Photo: KeyState Energy.

Nikola Corp. is partnering with a handful of hydrogen producers within the U.S. and Canada to supply hydrogen that will fuel 7,500 heavy-duty, zero-emission trucks by 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported on Feb 11. The article said that one of their main suppliers in the mid-Atlantic region will be KeyState, Pennsylvania’s first carbon capture and storage project, which is being built in Clinton County.

“This news is a big step toward the clean hydrogen economy being realized,” KeyState CEO Perry Babb said in an exclusive interview with HappyValley Industry. “In most cases with clean hydrogen, the business case is very challenging. With the partnership between a clean hydrogen producer, KeyState, and a buyer, Nikola, we are one step closer to the hydrogen economy — it’s here at that point.”

Babb said that the facility will produce some of the world’s lowest-carbon, lowest-priced large-scale hydrogen for the mobility market.

“KeyState will produce over 30 million kilograms of hydrogen per year, which equates to about 30 million gallons of diesel. That would be more than enough for 900 hydrogen-powered trucks traveling 500 miles every day.”

"This news is a big step toward the clean hydrogen economy being realized."

The KeyState gas synthesis project will extract stranded gas from Marcellus Shale to manufacture hydrogen, ammonia and urea, and permanently store the resulting CO2 nearly a mile underground. The project is currently valued at $1.2 billion, with another half billion allocated for its hydrogen liquefaction facility.

In an earlier interview, Babb said that Pennsylvania was leading the charge in ushering in the hydrogen economy, and said that KeyState’s collaboration with Penn State was helping lead the way. Today he says, they are one giant step closer.

“The project will bring high-paying manufacturing jobs to Centre, Clearfield, Clinton and Cambria counties,” Babb said. “And this supply partnership with Nikola Corp. is a big step toward the clean hydrogen economy being realized.”

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.

How the Moshannon Valley turned economic disaster into multi-million dollar success

By Holly Riddle

Photo: Provided.

Just a short drive from Penn State’s University Park campus, the greater Moshannon Valley region welcomes visitors with its expansive and beautiful natural landscape and charming small towns like the region’s heart of activity, Philipsburg. However, for the average traveler with no business ties, Moshannon Valley may still just be a blip on the map as one travels the nearby major highways to get from Point A to Point B. For those in the know, though, it’s clear to see how the Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership (MVEDP) has been hard at work for decades.

Revitalizing the regional economy, helping companies create jobs, making an economic impact worth millions and drawing in major businesses that have relocated from around the country, MVEDP proves that Moshannon Valley has a lot to offer businesses — including quite a few things that they won’t find in other, nearby towns and cities.

Economic collapse spurs innovation

Before MVEDP got its start, the Moshannon Valley economy was grim. Coal mining and garment manufacturing were two of the region’s previous economic drivers. As mines closed and manufacturing moved overseas, thousands of jobs were lost.

“In the late 1980s, local leaders came together and asked, ‘How are we going to address this economic decline? Let’s establish an economic development office with a full-time economic development professional to assist local leaders in revitalization’,” explained Stan LaFuria, executive director at MVEDP.

With that idea and a single building, the Moshannon Valley Economic Development Partnership was formed in 1988. Reclaiming a prior cigar manufacturing plant, the organization created its Moshannon Valley Enterprise Center, a 210,000-square-foot, multi-tenant space that housed an incubator.

"It's just amazing to drive by and see the facilities, see the parking lot and see all those vehicles and people working there, making a living.”

“The whole idea about ‘incubation’ back then in the 1980s and 1990s was to help entrepreneurs get their businesses started,” said LaFuria. “They would only stay a certain amount of time, maybe up to five years, and then they would graduate out of your facility and hopefully be successful and have their own businesses and their own facilities elsewhere — so it all started with this building, really.”

MVEDP’s economic development strategy was, and still is, based on providing businesses and entrepreneurs with the right tools, including building space and financing. Over the years, MVEDP has expanded its building and rental spaces beyond the Enterprise Center, to also include the Moshannon Valley Regional Business Park and Moshannon Valley Regional Business Center. The MVEDP is also certified to do state loans through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority. The business park additionally boasts Keystone Opportunity Zone designation, which exempts businesses within the zone from some business taxes.

In many ways, the region’s development is still profiting off the original creation of MVEDP’s first properties. As the properties fill up, more jobs are created and more workers are drawn to the area, and so are even more businesses and organizations. Current construction projects include a new Moshannon Valley Emergency Medical Services ambulance and training facility, and a Graystone Residential complex.

Photo: Provided.

Small starts, big results

LaFuria has been with the organization for more than three decades, and his career longevity is hardly a rarity among the MVEDP staff and board. A number of the MVEDP’s board members have participated for multiple decades and they represent a range of industries including engineering, banking and finance. The MVEDP office staff have likewise been with the organization for more than two decades. Over these decades of work, they’ve been privy to a multitude of business success stories, all made possible by the economic development tools offered by the MVEDP.

“As of late December, the MVEDP could count 25 businesses that have established their operations in the greater Philipsburg area, but that emanated from the Happy Valley and State College region,” said LaFuria. “They all had some type of connection to Penn State, State College or Happy Valley.”

LaFuria recounts one such story: “The parents of a Penn State student had their manufacturing business in Miami, Florida. Through their many trips from Florida to Happy Valley, they grew to love the area and decided to move their business here. Four employees came with them to Pennsylvania, and they set up their manufacturing operation in our Moshannon Valley Enterprise Center. That company, Drucker Diagnostics, started with 4,000 square feet and their four employees and now has close to a hundred workers and 74,000 square feet.”

He mentions another: “These guys were engineering students at Penn State and they designed a truck bed cover as part of a class project. The design was so good that they decided to take their truck cover to market. Diamondback Truck Covers is in our business park now. They bought land from us, built their plant there and now need to expand that plant and grow. It's just amazing to drive by and see the facilities, see the parking lot and see all those vehicles and people working there, making a living.”

“It just keeps getting better and better”

Many businesses that come to Moshannon Valley originally have connections to Penn State or State College and surrounding towns — but then when they see all that Moshannon Valley has to offer, they quickly set their sights on building their businesses there. One of the primary perks that Moshannon Valley offers businesses, that State College just can’t compete with, is rent at $4 per square foot compared to the market rates in State College at over $15 per square foot.

“It's all about dollars and cents really,” LaFuria said. “There's a lot of savings business owners can incur by getting set up here. It's a lower cost, and yet we're still dealing with well-maintained facilities, with full-time maintenance.”

The area also offers a desirable workforce. LaFuria said, “The companies that have come here have needed to find workers as they’ve grown from a few employees to a hundred employees. If you treat people here well and pay them a fair wage, they're going to be very good workers.”

“State College is not that far away. Most of that trip is a four-lane highway, and 25 minutes,” added LaFuria. “The owner of a business or an entrepreneur can easily get here to Phillipsburg and to his plant or business. The housing stock is also improving, and we have younger people coming into the area, wanting to be involved in different organizations. There’s new perspective and new life in the community, and it just keeps getting better and better.”

Looking toward that “better and better” future, the MVEDP plans additional land development and the creation of another business park in the future.

The support entrepreneurs need for success

For business leaders and entrepreneurs who want to be a part of Moshannon Valley’s growing business landscape, MVEDP offers a wealth of support, from entrepreneur resource kits to building space and low-cost financing.

“All they have to do is contact our office and we will either assist them or get them pointed in the right direction,” noted LaFuria.

This supportive nature and excitement about continuing growth isn’t just limited to the MVEDP, though. It’s an attitude that pervades the Moshannon Valley region. As LaFuria said, “One thing about this area? People are really dedicated to their community. They’re loyal. It’s a smaller-town atmosphere where people know one another, their neighbors. For a business owner, they're going to know that MVEDP is going to be there to help them. Anything that they need, we're going to try to help.”

Ben Franklin welcomes Todd Erdley as new central regional director

Ben Franklin Technology Partners has announced it will be welcoming local serial entrepreneur, Todd Erdley, to its State College-based investment team effective March 1, 2023.

As the central regional director, Erdley will be the principal point-of-contact for companies seeking financial investment and business support services from Ben Franklin in the Central Region comprised of Centre, Mifflin and Juniata Counties. He will be actively and visibly encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation in the region by identifying, selecting and mentoring promising startups and small manufacturers that need Ben Franklin investment to further their growth.

"My purpose is to positively impact the community by providing people the opportunity to be the person they dream of being."

Erdley brings extensive startup, business growth and technology expertise to Ben Franklin. As a founder of Videon Central, his vision and strategy has continually positioned the company as a leader in digital video from the first days of optical DVDs to today’s most advanced video streaming technology. Most recently, Erdley’s leadership propelled the company to ground-breaking advances in edge computing that transforms direct-to-consumer streaming of live sports.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Ben Franklin team,” said Erdley. “I’ve been passionate about entrepreneurship throughout my entire career, and I look forward in helping others start and grow their own business, just like I did thanks to the support Ben Franklin Technology Partners provided me 25 years ago.”

“Todd emphasized teamwork, innovation and community-building while growing Videon Central. I believe these skills will be invaluable to our startup companies and the entire central Pennsylvania entrepreneurial scene,” said Stephen Brawley, president and CEO of Ben Franklin. “He will make central Pennsylvania even more vibrant and a welcoming place to grow a business.

“My purpose is to positively impact the community by providing people the opportunity to be the person they dream of being,” Erdley said in a post on LinkedIn after the announcement.

"I look forward in helping others start and grow their own business, just like I did thanks to the support Ben Franklin Technology Partners provided me 25 years ago."

He said that for the past 25 years, Videon has been his platform for this. “My journey with Videon has afforded life learnings that I can now build upon to create an even broader impact on the community,” he said. He emphasized that he will continue to be part of Videon as a founder, board of director member and strategic resource supporting key customers, partners and industry presence.

“As I am passionate about Videon, I will carry that passion forward towards the entrepreneurial companies in central Pennsylvania,” he added. “Together, we will learn from one another and find ways to move forward towards amazing outcomes.”

Erdley is a Happy Valley native and received degrees in electrical engineering from Penn State. He remains an enthusiastic member of the Penn State community, having served on various committees like the College of Engineering’s Industrial Professional Advisory Committee (IPAC) and the Penn State Research Foundation (PSRF). He frequently lectures in engineering classes. He participates in various local entrepreneurial resource groups and founded the Centre Region Entrepreneur Network.

How AIRWALK (and Central PA) missed out on being a $5 billion company

By Jodie Dello Stritto

If you were a 90s kid, you probably know AIRWALK shoes. Staple footwear for skaters, even Tony Hawk was a brand ambassador. But did you know that in its heyday in the 1990s the company’s world headquarters was in the Greenwood Shopping Center on old Route 220 in Altoona? AIRWALK was nestled into a storefront between the Ultimate Bagel and Meadows Ice Cream and a few doors from the “Day Old Bread” store.  In 1997 the company expanded to Boalsburg. 

During the height of its popularity in the mid ’90s, AIRWALK was rated by Teenage Research Unlimited as the 12th coolest brand of all brands and the 3rd coolest footwear brand. Footwear Industries of America named AIRWALK the Marketer of the Year in 1996. MTV was rotating its edgy TV spots, fashion magazines featured full-page ads, and big cities were plastered with ads on plywood at construction sites. Consumers, predominantly teenage boys, loved AIRWALK because they identified with what the brand stood for – irreverence and self-expression. The company’s goal was to build on this loyalty and become a youth lifestyle brand beyond just footwear, but ultimately, it fell short.

Today, AIRWALK is part of the Authentic Brands Group and part of a portfolio that includes Reebok, Nautica, Sports Illustrated, Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, and more. New styles sell through JC Penney in the U.S., and vintage AIRWALK styles are listed on eBay and Poshmark, including this VTG 90s Airwalk Jason Lee Classic Skate Shoes Sneakers 7 Super Rare Iconic, priced at $400.

AIRWALK’s journey has been profiled and debated in many articles and in New York Times best-seller The Tipping Point. State College business owner Greg Woodman began working with the brand as a marketing consultant in 1993, then joined the company as VP of marketing in 1994 until the brand was sold in 1999. He helped to drive the company’s rapid growth from $16 million to over $200 million in less than 5 years. He shares his insights on AIRWALK’s local beginnings, its lightning-speed growth, the sale to a private equity firm in 1999, and where the brand is today.

HappyValley Industry: Can you describe what drove AIRWALK’S major growth from ’93 to ’96? 

GW: The short answer is that AIRWALK knew its audience—teenage boys—and focused exclusively on connecting with them. The brand nailed the skate culture at the time and even became part of shaping it. Customers were more than kids who bought shoes, they were part of a community that identified with specific beliefs and values that AIRWALK represented.

HappyValley Industry: What was the competitive landscape like at the time?

In 1996, the year AIRWALK reached $200 million, Vans was at $120 million and Skechers just $80 million. These 3 companies, along with Doc Martens, were competing head-to-head to lead the “Lifestyle category” that was emerging. AIRWALK owner George Yohn saw this movement toward Lifestyle shoes early on. Both Vans and Skechers were markedly smaller than AIRWALK. Vans had positioned itself exclusively as a Southern California sport-lifestyle brand, specifically tied to action sports and music. While Vans sold technical skate shoes, the majority of their sales volume was active casual fashion shoes. Little known side note, when Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out in 1982, Vans took off big-time, and in 1984, the company declared bankruptcy. Growth is tricky! Skechers went public in 1999 and, as we all know, doubled-down on their play for the lifestyle category.

HappyValley Industry: What happened after AIRWALK grew so fast?

GW: Growth, especially fast growth, eats up capital. The company was financed by the owner, George Yohn. At 73, he was tired of financing every problem and was in poor health. He decided to sell. George died one year after the sale from a heart attack.

Unfortunately, management became divided on the brand strategy; leadership was not equipped to handle how quickly AIRWALK became a global brand. At that stage, it’s essential to know with 100% clarity who you are. Despite George’s position on creating a Lifestyle brand and the company’s success, a civil war over the company’s direction led to dissension and diluted the vision and the lack of a clear, singular focus diffused the impact of the marketing budget. AIRWALK lost sight of its North Star.

Potential buyers also had strong opinions on the direction the company and brand should take: Lifestyle vs. Technical Skate/action sports. The management team, already divided on this issue, began plotting their exit strategies based on prospective buyers. When it became apparent that Sunrise Capital, the eventual buyer, wanted the brand to focus on the Technical Skate market, team members who were advocating for a Lifestyle strategy moved on. Personally, I was in the Lifestyle camp 100%, along with George Yohn. I felt we could continue to build on the action sports heritage as part of the brand. If you were close to the consumer, it was clear that the ship—the market—had sailed decidedly toward Lifestyle.

The new private equity owners took all their market insights from those who favored a Technical Skate strategy and drove the brand into bankruptcy within three years. They moved the brand to Colorado and brought on a team with expertise in performance athletics.

If you look at how Skechers and Vans advanced, they read the market and embraced Lifestyle brand positioning. Vans 2022 revenue is $3.47 billion and Skechers is around $7.4 billion. George was right! AIRWALK, on the other hand, stumbled and bounced around, ending up down-market at Payless stores until it was sold to Authentic Brands in 2014.

Greg Woodman, former VP of marketing at AIRWALK and current State College business owner of Affinity Connection. Photo: Provided.

HappyValley Industry: What are the biggest lessons businesses can take from AIRWALK’s story?

Most importantly, follow your North Star. A company’s vision and core beliefs have to drive its strategy. And that vision and those beliefs must be based on consumer insights. Staying close to the customer is essential.

Also, when you’re ready to grow or the market needs you to grow, cash is key. Get a pre-mortem financial plan in place to help you weather the storm and avoid ‘growing broke.’ Because when you desperately need investment, it can be tempting to accept help from places that don’t offer the best stewardship for your brand.

Finally, the right people are crucial, especially in leadership roles, but it’s about more than just experience, knowledge, or skills. An effective management team must be committed to aligning around a shared vision. It’s the only way to keep the company moving in a single direction and to ensure that the brand stays true to its values.

It is nice to see AIRWALK still alive and part of a portfolio with some high-quality brands. Authentic Brands is set to go public in a year or two. If you purchase their stock, it will be bet on “brand value.” What is the value of a product in the heart and mind of the consumer? It’s an emotion that does not appear on a balance sheet. Despite being dragged through the mud for 22 years, it is amazing that the brand equity of AIRWALK is still alive. How cool it would be if AIRWALK had done some things differently and a $5 billion dollar brand was here in Happy Valley! I’m still cheering it on from afar.

Greg left AIRWALK after its sale and purchased Stewart Howe Alumni Service, which he renamed Affinity Connection. Based in Downtown State College, the company provides marketing and publishing services with a specialty in storytelling for clients ranging from non-profits to small businesses. Affinity Connection also publishes HappyValley Industry and provides services to Startup Alleghenies to publish its weekly eletter on small and emerging businesses, The Alleghenies.