Innovative Manufacturers’ Center: Helping manufacturers find resources to innovate, grow and prosper

Lycoming County | I-80 Frontier of the PA Wilds

Headquartered along the I-80 Frontier of the Pennsylvania Wilds in Williamsport, PA, the Innovative Manufacturers’ Center (IMC) helps Central Pennsylvania manufacturers tap into regional, state, and national resources in order to help them innovate, grow and prosper.

Founded in 1988, IMC is a private-public partnership dedicated to driving economic success and profitable growth for the 12 counties they serve, which include three in the Pennsylvania Wilds region — Centre, Clinton, and Lycoming. Through IMC events and resources, the IMC offers objective, expert advice and actionable solutions to small- and medium-sized manufacturers.

IMC also manages the Williamsport/Lycoming Keystone Innovation Zone (WLKIZ). The WLKIZ is the entrepreneurial support arm of IMC, working with entrepreneurs and start-up businesses in Lycoming County interested in developing new products or technologies, inventions, or innovative ideas.

For more than 30 years, IMC has helped over 600 Pennsylvania companies become more innovative, productive, and profitable. IMC is supported through the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Industrial Resource Center program. Central Pennsylvania manufacturers are invited to contact the IMC to learn more about their high-quality services offered at an affordable cost.

Learn more about Innovative Manufacturers’ Center or leave a review/recommendation on their Wilds Cooperative of PA profile!

TIMELY TIP!

Lauri Moon, Training and Outreach Manager at the IMC, is currently serving as a PA Wilds Outreach Specialist for businesses in Lycoming County. If you are an artist or entrepreneur in Lycoming County that is interested in learning more about joining the Wilds Cooperative of PA to leverage the power of the PA Wilds brand, contact Lauri at sc***@***********er.org.

This support was made possible financial support from the Williamsport Lycoming Community Fund at the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania.

RECENT 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.