FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information: Heidi Butler
February 12, 2007 610-861-5453
State Grant Furthers NCC’s Work in Economic Development
The Electrotechnology Applications Center (ETAC) at Northampton Community College has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support its work in helping manufacturers improve productivity, increase energy efficiency, and achieve and maintain environmental compliance by using alternative technologies to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds and other pollutants. During the past eleven years the chemists and engineers at the Center have provided confidential assistance for more than 700 companies. They are credited not only with improving air quality in Pennsylvania, but also with improving the companies’ profitability and preserving and creating manufacturing jobs in the state.
“Energy, environment and productivity are all tied together,” explains the Center’s director, Dr. Michael Vasilik. “When we increase energy efficiency for a company, we find environmental savings. When we find environmental savings, we inevitably find cost savings.” The Center works closely with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the South Bethlehem Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ), and the Manufacturing Resource Center at Lehigh University.
ETAC has won numerous awards including the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. The $200,000 grant was part of a $3.4 million economic development package that Governor Ed Rendell said would help the Commonwealth harness the capabilities of colleges and universities to drive the development of new products and new businesses. “Each day brings new developments in growing fields like advanced materials manufacturing, life sciences and homeland security,” the Governor observed. “It’s crucial that we use our resources….to develop a system that will allow Pennsylvania to capitalize on future developments in these areas.”
The state’s investment also included $1.7 million for The Center for Optical Technologies, a partnership in which Northampton Community College participates. Based at Lehigh University, the Center is involved in the development of optical technologies that have shown promise in the diagnosis of medical conditions, in advanced drug testing, and in homeland security. Other partners are Penn State, Lehigh Carbon Community College, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
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