Take a look inside the new Digital Foundry at New Kensington

The Pittsburgh area has a chance to become a national leader in advanced manufacturing.

The Digital Foundry at New Kensington opened for a media preview this week to display the new 15,044-square-foot innovation and manufacturing lab space. The center is a collaboration between Penn State University New Kensington and the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland as well as other partners across local government, philanthropy and the corporate world.

The Richard King Mellon Foundation has invested almost $10 million for the project and New Kensington community since 2018, according to a press release on the opening. Penn State also provided $1 million in a matching gift, with the goal of creating an endowment for continued support of the Digital Foundry. The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development also provided nearly $200,000 for the project.

The hope is that the center will infuse new energy and opportunity into a community that is the birthplace of commercial aluminum manufacturing. Since the downturn of that industry and so many other traditional manufacturing hubs in the United States, the number of local jobs has dropped significantly. Those behind the Digital Foundry plan to bring many jobs back by creating new chances to build skills and knowledge in manufacturing needs related to the tech industry.

“Since the opening of our Invent Penn State innovation hub, The Corner, in 2017, conversations then began for what would become the Digital Foundry at New Kensington, along with our collaborative model for future-readiness that we call Nextovation,” said Kevin Snider, chancellor of Penn State New Kensington, in a statement. “Sustained, economic revitalization had to be built upon preparing all stakeholders in the region for the digital age, and our project went from creating jobs by seeding entrepreneurs, to building infrastructure, awareness and training to take the region from Rust Belt to Digital Belt.”

The invite-only preview took place at the center yesterday, with an open house for the public to follow on Friday, June 24. Take a look at the photo gallery below for a glimpse at the freshly built facility.

Local community members and organizations have long anticipated the opening of the Digital Foundry. Even before its launch, it’s received a number of grants and formal recognitions for its economic development work. Last year, it was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the federal Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities and is one member of the Southwestern PA New Economy Coalition, a group of local stakeholders that wrote a proposal for the $1 billion Build Back Better Challenge from the US Economic Development Administration. The Digital Foundry was also named as one of eight smart manufacturing innovation centers in the country by the US Department of Energy in partnership with CESMII — The Smart Manufacturing Institute.

Once the Digital Foundry is fully open to the public, it will invite regional manufacturers, K-12 schools, entrepreneurs, college students, college faculty, workers or any other community members interested in using the center’s resources to further their manufacturing careers. The new space offers advanced computer lab and software training classrooms, a maker space for product innovation, a factory simulator model, demonstration spaces for new technology, and workforce development training opportunities.

“What a big day for the region,” said Jim Smith, president and CEO of the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland. “This project and the work in the city of New Kensington truly showcases collaboration, but also exciting potential. We can’t wait to continue to see how the Digital Foundry will impact current and future workforce, industry and education for Westmoreland County and beyond.”

Sophie Burkholder is a 2021-2022 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.