The Covation Center: Empowering Entrepreneurs in the PA Wilds and Beyond
The Covation Center: Empowering Entrepreneurs in the PA Wilds and Beyond
Lycoming County | Pine Creek Valley + the PA Grand Canyon of the PA Wilds
Dedicated to educating and empowering small business owners across Pennsylvania, The Covation Center is a non-profit organization located in downtown Williamsport, the largest city in the PA Wilds. Situated along the West Branch Susquehanna River, the city is a launching pad for those seeking adventures along the I-80 Frontier or Pine Creek Valley + PA Grand Canyon.
The Covation Center’s model focuses on supporting businesses using a “three C’s” approach that includes coworking, coaching and community.
“Our focus is designed to reach as many people as possible and help them apply the common business principles that they don’t necessarily carry with their expertise, enabling them to have the greatest opportunity for success,” said Dr. Steve Brady, founder and executive director. “Here at The Covation Center in rural Pennsylvania, we are ready to help them take those next steps and help them move forward.”
Coaching, educational workshops and group-based learning opportunities are also offered to entrepreneurs and individuals looking to learn more about business and grow. It is in these collaborative environments and learning cohorts that entrepreneurs are able to build a sense of community with peers.
In early 2020, The Covation Center partnered with PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc. to offer the first-ever PA Wilds PACE Program. The 10-week cohort program was designed to help ten entrepreneurs from the Wilds Cooperative of PA learn concepts to help them Plan, Accelerate, Commit and Expand their businesses alongside the PA Wilds brand and grow their profit margins. The program covered topics ranging from setting prices to human resources and offered insights for entrepreneurs at any stage of their career.
The Covation Center continues to offer a similar 10-week program for entrepreneurs across Pennsylvania called the MasterClass. It combines curriculum-guided instruction and peer-to-peer learning, with coaching in 1-on-1 sessions with experts selected to meet your specific business’s needs.
Learn more about The Covation Center or leave a review/recommendation on the nonprofit’s Wilds Cooperative of PA profile!
RECENT WCO MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS
- Full Circle Bioconversion LLC: Turning food waste into a business
As a child, the Pennsylvania woods were Aubrey Fornwalt’s playground and the stream was her pool. After a life change in 2016 led her back to her childhood home in Lycoming County, Fornwalt took a risk and bought some black soldier flies for a composting business, taking inspiration from the woods and insects she loved as a child. Two years later, it grew into what would become Full Circle Bioconversion, based in the city of Williamsport in the Pine Creek Valley and PA Grand Canyon landscape and I-80 Frontier landscape of the Pennsylvania Wilds region. - Blackbird Distillery: Making shine and making friends
Not too many businesses can say they create their product completely from start to finish, but the folks at Blackbird Distillery can! Located in Brookville along the I-80 Frontier landscape and the Cook Forest and the Ancients landscape within the Pennsylvania Wilds, Blackbird Distillery is a one-of-a-kind place that takes pride in showing visitors the magic of how their product is made. - Judy Schrader: Creating small, but very mighty art
Judy Schrader’s love for art began when she was just a child, and it soon grew into a lifetime of creation. Based in Warren County in the Allegheny National Forest and Surrounds landscape of the Pennsylvania Wilds, her art has ranged from boundless wilderness scenes to miniature details of the wonders of nature.