Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — A unique art studio, a talent development agency for local artists and an invention that makes snowboarding possible without a hill were highlights at the Allan P. Kirby Center for Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship showcase Thursday.
The showcase, held at the University Center, 169 Main St., allowed attendees to meet entrepreneurs working with the Allan P. Kirby Center and with community partners supporting center activities. Businesses started by Wilkes University graduates, Wilkes staff and local business people were represented as examples of efforts aided by the program’s business incubator.
Mike Grobinski and Dan Lykens of Wilkes-Barre were on hand to display their products developed under the name Kraken Boardsports. The 2015 Wilkes graduates and professional engineers showed a pair of winches designed to make board-sports an anytime occasion.
“You can go wakeboarding without a boat and snowboarding without a hill,” Lykens said.
The winches, Grobinski said, are capable of pulling a boarder through water or over snow without the traditional requirements of horsepower and gravity.
The pair is also working on a handle that allows a user to operate the winches without the assistance of an operator. Grobinski said the business incubator makes the pair more productive and afforded them opportunities.
“We developed our advisory board largely through the connections we made in the business incubator,” Grobinski said.
The business incubator offers a work space but also links startups with mentors from SCORE, an organization of experienced and retired executives.
Johnna Pipech had years of experience in radio and marketing before she decided to pull her knowledge to develop the Snowmoon artist development agency of Hanover Township. When Pipech met guitar teacher Bill Hoffman for lessons, she decided local talent needed representation, and the songwriter and guitarist became her first client.
Although her inspiration began before getting involved with the free enterprise program, Pipech credits the incubator with helping her gain confidence.
“Where they really were very helpful was with motivation,” Pipech said. “I think it was a great support system to say, ‘Yeah, your idea is good.’”
Michele Geiser, of Shavertown, a Wilkes employee in communication studies, loved photographing nature and painting, but she needed a push as well to start her own studio.
With guidance from the business incubator and support from friends who enjoyed her work, she started Bepa Studio to sell her photographs and unique works of art.
“They helped me figure out copyright issues and trademark issues, because it’s intellectual property,” Geiser said.
Geiser was recently accepted to show in a gallery in Greenwich Village, New York City, in May.
Executive Director of the Allan P. Kirby Center Dr. Rodney Ridley said the center has laid a solid foundation in entrepreneurship education, and the next step is to engage in community outreach.
“We’re opening the door to the university so the community can take advantage of it and allowing us to go out to the community and finding the resources we need,” Ridley said. “This is part of our business development strategy, which is our commitment to building what we’re calling an entrepreneurial ecosystem.”