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BB&T Donates $50,000 to Jump Start Incubator to Help Entrepreneurs Create Jobs

Reading, PA (06/14/2017) — BB&T has donated $50,000 to the Jump Start Incubator at Berks County Community Foundation to support the program that helps launch new small businesses.

The donation was a Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credit. The tax credit program provides businesses and individuals that have a state tax liability with the opportunity to make contributions that support a local economic development initiative such as the incubator.

The incubator is a program run by the Community Foundation with support from the Kutztown University Small Business Development Center (KUSBDC). Members of the incubator are offered affordable office space, professional guidance, and mentoring and networking opportunities.

"Since we started this program in 2012, almost 40 companies have come through the incubator, and most are still operating today," said Kevin K. Murphy, president, Berks County Community Foundation.

About half of those companies have been owned by women or minorities.

"The incubator is an important tool in business development efforts in Berks County," said Ernie Post, director of the KUSBDC.

David Roland, ‎Market President for Berks County/Northern Montgomery County at BB&T, said the bank recognizes the importance of encouraging entrepreneurs.

"Many small businesses need support to be successful, and Jump Start is helping its members thrive," Roland said.

Learn more about the incubator at jumpstartberks.org. To learn more about the tax credit program, contact Franki Aitken, senior vice president for finance and operations at the Community Foundation at frankia@bccf.org or 610.685.2223, or Ernie Post at post@kutztown.edu or 484.646.4003.

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Photo (courtesy of Kutztown University): From left to right, Kevin K. Murphy, president, Berks County Community Foundation; June Clougher, director, Jump Start Incubator; David Roland, ‎market president, Berks County/Northern Montgomery County at BB&T; Ernie Post, director, Kutztown University Small Business Development Center; David K. Grow, vice president and community development specialist at BB&T; and Ken Steward, associate vice president of Academic Financial Management, Kutztown University.

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