News

VizVibe business grew with the help of CAN BE Innovation Center, graduates from the incubator

VizVibe, an award-winning digital content creation company specializing in augmented reality (AR), recently graduated from the CAN BE Innovation Center after being in the space for roughly one year. They are now located on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre.

The CAN BE Innovation Center, located in West Hazleton’s Valmont Industrial Park, focuses on promoting entrepreneurship and technological growth for small and growing businesses in the local community. This initially impressed VizVibe's co-founder and CEO, Kevin Jones, and what prompted them to move into CAN BE in June 2021.

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Ranek Technologies, Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences students win big at tecBRIDGE Business Plan competitions

CAN BE Innovation Center tenant, Ranek Technologies, as well as three Hazleton Area Academy of Sciences (HAAS) students were recently honored during the 20th annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition award ceremony held at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre.

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Food-based entrepreneurs can apply for microgrants for use at the Hazleton Kitchen Incubator

The Hazleton Innovation Collaborative (THInC) announced that it is currently accepting applications for microgrants of up to $2,500 for any new and expanding food-based businesses who operate out of the Hazleton Kitchen Incubator in the Hayden Family Center for the Arts in downtown Hazleton.

The microgrants are being offered through the Truist Foundation, which announced last December that it awarded a $15,000 grant to the Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress, on behalf of the Collaborative, to provide financial support to culinary entrepreneurs participating in the partnership’s Kitchen Incubator Program.

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Hazleton natives using Hazleton Kitchen Incubator to bring their successful Nashville-based pizza business home

When Hazleton native Andrew Baranko and his family wanted to launch a location of their successful deli-style pizza business in their hometown, they found an efficient way to do it using the Hazleton Kitchen Incubator in downtown Hazleton.

Last August, Baranko and his family began making their own version of the cold, square-cut, deli/tavern-style pizza that originated in Hazleton and sold it as Baranko's Pizza at the Hunter's Community Market in Nashville and other pop-up locations in the city. When local family and friends expressed an interest in trying out their pizza, they decided to open a Hazleton location.

Baranko and his team are familiar with kitchen incubators, as they currently use one in Nashville to make their pizza. When they were looking into licensing in Pennsylvania and found out about the Hazleton Kitchen Incubator, they jumped at the opportunity to use it. Baranko worked with CAN DO Director of Economic Development Jocelyn Sterenchock to get settled in the space and found it to be an efficient experience.

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