Community Innovation Initiative
The Community Innovation Initiative (CII) is a program developed by the Huntingdon County/Juniata College KIZ specifically designed to assist new start up companies in the areas of Life Sciences or Information Technology as well as our existing KIZ companies. Each company may apply for a micro-grant of up to $5,000 that must be matched 1:1. They in turn, must provide written documentation of how the funds have been expended, as per program guidelines. Funds may be used for equipment purchase, market analysis, patent and/or trademark application, professional services for transfer of technology, product prototyping and testing and more.
This program stimulates our community's existing economy by:
- Creating new jobs and retaining existing ones
- Encouraging the creation of new start-up companies
- Demonstrating to the community that Huntingdon is a great place to start and grow a business
- Retaining a talented and innovative workforce
- Increasing the tax base: 11 KIZ companies have already invested $1.15 million in their community