SHARON, Pa. – The Shenango LaunchBox, powered by the Greater Sharon Community, started less than a year ago, but it’s already served more than 100 entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners.
“What we try to do is make this a very safe, welcoming place that anybody in the community can feel free to come meet with us,” says Tom Roberts, a social entrepreneur who splits his time between the Shenango LaunchBox offices in Sharon, Pa., and as a self-employed consultant. “I have met with a 16-year-old kid to 60-plus-year-old people that have woken up and said, ‘I have an idea.’”
The LaunchBox, an initiative through Penn State University, started in October 2023, and the response from people seeking assistance has far exceeded what Roberts expected.
Shenango LaunchBox, which is one of 21 LaunchBoxes in the state, works to connect entrepreneurs and those who aspire to start businesses with resources in the community to help them start, strengthen or grow their businesses.
“And my role in LaunchBox is to help de-risk the venture on the front end …” Roberts says. “I try to connect passionate entrepreneurs with as many resources as we can to help them fully vet and position their idea and their business for success.”
There’s a lot of free curricula, networking, grant opportunities and other resources in the region that many people may not know exist, he says.
That includes the Small Business Development Center through Gannon University, as well as resources through the city of Sharon and Penn State.
“A typical pathway might be an entrepreneur comes in and we might refer them to free legal services through what’s called the Entrepreneur Assistance Clinic, which is part of the LaunchBox network up in State College with Penn State law,” Roberts says. “That would help an entrepreneur get their LLC set up, their organizational agreements, maybe sales agreements – some of their foundational legal services – at no cost to them.”
Roberts, who works with local governments and other organizations, also helps connect entrepreneurs to officials in communities where they want to locate their businesses to learn about available spaces. Sometimes, those government agencies and organizations refer businesses to Shenango LaunchBox as well.
Lindy Schliep-Phillips and Amy Javens are two Sharon business owners who say they benefited by connecting with the Shenango LaunchBox.
Schliep-Phillips started a salon in Hermitage in 1999 but sold that business and wanted to open a girls birthday party and events venue in Sharon. She was born and raised in the city and wanted to be part of the vibe that’s happening downtown. She says it’s a collaborative environment.
Her new business, Magical Moments Girls Birthday Parties & Events, 33 Vine Ave., opened last month. Girls age 3 to teenagers can enjoy parties with a red carpet arrival, 360-degree photo booth, personalized tiaras, blacklight dance area and other services for their special days.
But her path started with the Sharon Community Development Corp., looking at available rental space. Then she submitted for a Sharon Revitalization & Investment Grant. That led to a group email May 1 from the Sharon city manager. It was an introduction to the city, the Sharon Community Development Corp. and Shenango LaunchBox, as well as the contacts at those agencies.
Next came a meeting with Roberts and SCDC representatives at Shenango LaunchBox on Anson Way in the HopeCat building.
“I was just overwhelmed with excitement,” she says. “I did not know everything that this program did for people like me.”
She learned about available services, and Roberts sent her a to-do list that included writing a business plan with a revenue expense forecast for her first year. She then met with the Gannon University Small Business Development Center, which provided her with data to refine her target market.
She followed the steps and followed up, demonstrating her progress. She believes working with the LaunchBox was instrumental in her securing the grant.
Javens, a professional endurance and fitness coach, opened CycleLife Studio, a boutique indoor cycling and fitness studio at 21 Chestnut Ave., in 2021. Several months ago, she bought the assets from her investors. She connected with the LaunchBox through the city and downtown developers.
Roberts referred her to the free legal services to navigate the change in her business.
“It was invaluable,” Javens says.
She had worked with the SBDC at Gannon a few years ago and reconnected with those services through the LaunchBox.
Both Javens and Schliep-Phillips also worked with Sharon’s former downtown developer and with Angie Urban, executive director of the Sharon Community Development Corp., and Jeff Feola, director of community and economic development at the corporation, in developing their businesses.
Javens meets with Roberts monthly to touch base and keep moving forward.
“Whenever I have questions and I have to pause or pivot, he’s always a good person to bounce things off of,” she says. “And he’s the person I go to who helps me connect with someone else who can assist me in a certain area.”
Roberts also informs her about grant opportunities that might be helpful in the growth and development of her business.
Both Javens and Schliep-Phillips credit Roberts, the LaunchBox and the people, organizations and resources they connected with through it for where they are in their businesses.
“I’d be someplace else working for someone else,” Schliep-Phillips says,” if she hadn’t learned about the Shenango LaunchBox.
Javens says Roberts helped her break down the things she needed to do for her business into chunks rather than a long list of tasks. That worked for her as it’s similar to how she approached training and events when she was a triathlete.
“They were like my home base,” she says of the organization. “That’s a good description of LaunchBox – as a home base for a small business. And you build trust with them, and they build trust with you. So when I show accountability of getting things done, I’m building trust with them. They’re building trust with me. And then it’s sort of just like a journey you go through.”
Pictured at top: Tom Roberts, project coordinator at Shenango LaunchBox, connects entrepreneurs and those who aspire to start businesses with resources in the community to help them start or strengthen and grow their businesses.