PA Breaker to receive $10,000 business micro-grant from Fayette-Washington Keystone Innovation Zone
Joe Podolinski, coordinator for the Fayette/Washington County Keystone Innovation Zone (FWKIZ) announced that PA Breaker of Canonsburg, Washington County, has been awarded a business micro-grant. PA Breaker developed a 145k V class breaker that is one-of-a-kind and involves green technologies. The business micro grant will help the company with the costs associated with product design and prototype development, testing and patent application.
“With the help of the FWKIZ business micro-grant, we have completed testing on our 145k V class breaker,” Ravi Rahangdale, president of Pennsylvania Breaker, said. “This breaker includes features that we developed that do not appear on the breakers of other manufactures. This puts us in excellent position to attract more sales and expand our workforce.”
PA Breaker also has plans for a 245k V breaker and a 72k V to be tested and developed before the end of the year.
PA Breaker is a subsidiary of Pennsylvania Transformer LLC and has been in business since 2004.
“PA Breaker is proud to be the only American-owned designer and manufacturer of high-voltage circuit breakers. This grant supports our efforts to develop American technology that will create Southwestern Pennsylvania jobs in the ever-critical energy industry,” Dennis Blake, general manager of the company, said.
Podolinski noted that “companies applying for a business micro grant must provide a dollar-for-dollar match.”
The Fayette-Washington Keystone Innovation Zone is a collaborative project with Fay-Penn Economic Development Council and the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. The focus of the FWKIZ is to work with such companies and colleges/universities to promote innovation, technology and entrepreneurial activity in designated zones. For companies to be KIZ qualified, a company must be under 8 years old, operate in a designated zone and in one of the targeted industry sectors.
For more information on the KIZ program, call Podolinksi at 724-437-7913.