A recent “media tour” to visit three Pennsylvania-based companies reinforced the importance of knowing and working with state-funded agencies whose collective goal is to foster opportunities for businesses to thrive.

One such agency is the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, Harrisburg, PA, which recently delivered eight business-press journalists, including myself, to three medical-device related companies: materials giant Bayer Corp, Pittsburgh; MedRad, Bayer’s Warrendale, PA-based medical-device and diagnostic-imaging company and a division of Bayer; and Philips Respironics, Murrysville, PA, a maker of devices and systems for sleep management, respiratory care, respiratory drug delivery, and noninvasive ventilation.

Tours, presentations and time for Q&A provided our group of journalists with fodder for future articles that will find their way into a variety of magazines and newsletters. We also met with representatives from Pittsburgh-based Catalyst Connection, a nonprofit that helps small and mid-size manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania improve manufacturing performance through its extensive network of advisors, consultants, instructors. The organization is affiliated with the National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The meetings were informative, the time well spent, and I returned knowing medical-device companies everywhere can benefit from connecting with local economic development organizations. 

So, what’s in your backyard?