Ben Franklin Technology Partners Ne Pa
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 232517422
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Bethlehem, PA, USA
- Phone
- 6107585200
- Rating
- 90
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Standard
- Sector
- Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,833,708
- Expenses
- $11,529,435
- Assets
- $71,421,350
- Liabilities
- $7,194,863
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Angelo J Valletta (CEO/President)
Highest reported compensation
- Nathaniel Urban (Board Member): $785,941 total reported compensation
- Angelo J Valletta (CEO/President): $379,655 total reported compensation
- Kathy Ann Minnich (EVP/CAO/CFO/Treasurer/Secy): $256,900 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our mission is to promote, sustain and invest in the transformation of our regional economy through innovation and partnering. We build long-term relationships with our clients by applying expertise, creativity, and focused resources to address business challenges. As the commonwealth's technology leader, we leverage our credibility and distinctiveness to promote high-value business growth and economic development.
What it reported doing in 2024
Technology Infrastructure Activities - Promoting an innovative community-wide infrastructure that fosters a favorable business environment for high-growth companies. Ben Franklin Technology Partners of NEPA inaugurated one of the first business incubators in the nation in 1983 and managed and developed its award-winning incubator to be among the best. In 2007, BFTP/NEP relocated its original incubator across the street on Lehigh University's Mountaintop Campus to Ben Franklin TechVentures, a former Bethlehem Steel laboratory. The National Business Incubation Association named Ben Franklin TechVentures the 2012 National Incubator of the Year, a remarkable repeat of Ben Franklin's 2001 honor. Ben Franklin TechVentures brings together entrepreneurs, Ben Franklin staff, and Lehigh faculty and students to accelerate the growth of the region's technology economy. In 2010, the Partners purchased the Bloomsburg Innovation Center located in Bloomsburg, PA.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 76% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 95
- Transparency & Controls: 85
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $408.53 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 88.2%; rating input score 88; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Pass
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 94.5%; rating input score 95; 24th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.6%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.19; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.3%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 0.3% per year; rating input score 100; 9th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $10M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $786K · 19 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $321K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 38 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 29 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 25 filed related-organization links
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 45/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.