Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pa., now enjoying its 35th year, has released the report for its 2018 highlights and overall longtime disposition and successes.

Ben Franklin considers itself a small-business incubator; investing in and cultivating new and imaginative ideas to produce businesses that join and grow within the community, creating partnerships, jobs and innovative uses for technology and industry.

Since 2007 a former Bethlehem Steel Corp. laboratory, now called Ben Franklin TechVentures, has been expanded several times by demand, and now totals 129,000 square feet for incubator programs. In 2018, this included 42 companies employing about 170 people.

Competitively-selected investment clients specifically located in Bethlehem include incubator projects to improve assembly line efficiency, at-home healthcare software enhancements, coaxial cable bandwidth, develop a device to monitor and stimulate real-time bone healing from fractures, and many others.

In the Northeastern Pennsylvania region in 2017, BFTP reported:

• 641 jobs created

• 4,456 existing jobs retained

• 19 new companies started

• 142 new products and processes developed

• Boosted Pa.’s economy by $4.1 billion from 2012-16