Ben Franklin News
BFTP_NEPA Appoints Nicholas Yarnall and Promotes JoeAnn Comunale
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BFTP_NEPA) distinguishes itself with its enterprise-wide support of early-stage technology firms and established manufacturers. Described as BFTP_NEPA’s “secret sauce,” The Ben Franklin Solutions Network leverages BFTP_NEPA’s financial investments by surrounding clients with advice, support, and networks, which greatly improves their probabilities of success.
To enhance and expand the Solutions Network’s support to clients, BFTP_NEPA has appointed Nicholas D. Yarnall as Associate Manager for Client Development. Yarnall will continue to develop the external expertise of consultants and reviewers in the Solutions Network, and grow Ben Franklin’s network of corporate partners. He will also support Ben Franklin clients with independent market and industry research to improve the Ben Franklin staff’s and clients’ abilities to anticipate and address trends.
Yarnall started and developed seven business ideas, concepts, and ventures over the last five years. He is the founder and CEO of Potestiam, Inc., Doylestown, a B2B crowd management company. The firm, which employs four, utilizes existing commercial closed-circuit television cameras to track and advise clients on crowd flow in real time. He is also the owner and creative product specialist of a freelance 3D printing service, which custom models and manufactures prototypes for hobbyists, startups, and small businesses. He is a technical business consultant with the Small Business Development Center at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Previously, he was the assistant director of the 1810 Accelerator Startup Studio at Temple. Before that, he was a business development strategy analyst at E.3D, LLC, Holland, at which he led disaster and humanitarian relief initiatives and developed emergency 3D printing for disaster relief. He was also a financial representative at Western & Southern Life in Bala Cynwyd.
A Certified Social Entrepreneur, Yarnall earned a Masters of Engineering in Technical Entrepreneurship from Lehigh University and a BA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management from Temple University.
JoeAnn T. Comunale has been promoted to BFTP_NEPA’s Portfolio Group Coordinator. She has served for three years as an administrative assistant at Ben Franklin, and, in this new role, will provide support to the portfolio and operations groups. She will be responsible to schedule, attend, and record portfolio, company, and regional meetings, and will work with the team to gather and track information on prospective and current client companies. She will also support the implementation of BFTP_NEPA’s new customer resource management system.
Each company in the Ben Franklin portfolio benefits from the collective experience of seasoned professionals who focus on turning high-potential ideas into high-growth businesses. In-house expertise is complemented by the Ben Franklin Solutions Network of external advisors, professional service providers, investors, and college and university experts. Members of the Solutions Network number more than 700, many of whom are called upon multiple times a year, creating a proven, powerful, and comprehensive support program for Ben Franklin Technology Partners clients.
