BELLEFONTE — Bellefonte’s Spring-Board officially opened the doors at its new location in downtown Bellefonte on Feb. 8.
There were a host of local politicians and dignitaries there, but the keynote speaker was Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis.
A large crowd was on hand for the event, which took place over the course of a few hours at SpringBoard’s new location at 221 W. High St.
While there, attendees were invited to check out the coworking space and small-business innovation center.
But the feature attraction was Davis, who talked about the success of small businesses throughout the commonwealth.
“This is a great example of the good things that can happen when government, the private sector, business and community all come together to improve their community,” Davis said.
Davis also talked about his background and growing up in western Pennsylvania.
“Many communities across this commonwealth are just like McKeesport and just like Bellefonte. Literally, communities that were thriving at one point. But (they) fell on hard times because the steel mill closed or the factory closed. Now, we’re seeing a resurgence,” Davis said.
He said SpringBoard is the perfect example of what happens when a community invests in itself.
“It’s going to take this type of investment to turn around communities like this. And I am so thrilled to see (that) almost 50 businesses have spun out of this incubator. That is wonderful,” Davis said.
He noted that SpringBoard has continued to thrive, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Think about that. That is a huge accomplishment,” Davis said.
Although he has been in office less than a month, he and Gov. Josh Shapiro have already begun to work on getting Pennsylvania’s economy back on track, he said.
“We’re making sure that Pennsylvania is competitive not only within itself, but globally. To make sure (that) we’re growing more businesses here in the commonwealth and we’re attracting more businesses from other states,” Davis said.
In the future, he said, he would like to see Democrats and Republicans work together to help local businesses.
“We understand that time is money and the state can’t stand in the way when we’re trying to grow businesses here in Pennsylvania. We need to be a partner in helping that growth. We’re off to a great start,” Davis said.
Ultimately, Davis said, communities come together because of one thing — people who care.
“Our greatest asset is our people here in Pennsylvania. It’s people in small communities like Bellefonte who are committed to creating a better future for them, their families. We are going to rebuild this commonwealth block by block, community by community,” Davis said.
Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins talked about the success of SpringBoard.
“Centre County Government is proud to be the founding sponsor of the Bellefonte SpringBoard Business Incubator. We are pleased to see all of the new businesses launching in Bellefonte,” Higgins said.
“As SpringBoard continues to grow into ever larger spaces, greater Bellefonte and Centre County benefit from businesses that successfully launch into the community. These small businesses create jobs and help improve the quality of life.”
SpringBoard is celebrating its sixth anniversary in downtown Bellefonte. For more information about SpringBoard, visit bellefontespringboard.com.
