The Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute host three events tomorrow at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel and the Danielle and Co. as part of an effort to highlight the importance of entrepreneurship to a productive local economy.

Beginning at 11 a.m., NPTI and eBiz will be collaborating on a kickoff event for IT Kickstart, a reimbursement grant program that encourages and assists companies across Pennsylvania in the implementation of IT (information technology) projects.  IT Kickstart provides services to improve website content, increase profitability, and strengthen relationships with customers in a growing and changing technological market.

Immediately afterward (around 5 p.m.), the first meeting of the Entrepreneurial Support Program (ESP) will commence at Danielle and Co. on Adams Avenue.  ESP was created to bring the most successful entrepreneurs in the region together to exchange information and collaborate in a continued effort to foster world-class entrepreneurial activity in Northeastern Pennsylvania.  The meeting will consist of 12 entrepreneurs discussing their paths to success, and a small group of observers interested in learning more about entrepreneurship and broadening their business horizons.

Danielle and Company will also provide the venue for this week’s POWER! Outage, scheduled from 7-9 p.m.

For more information about the Northeastern Pennsylvania Technology Institute and its affiliated programs and organizations, please contact Susan Gryziec at 570-408-9810 or sgryziec@greatvalleyalliance.com.

Thursday, Nov. 20, Scranton-area professionals will gather for a POWER! outage at Danielle & Co., 831 Adams Ave., from 7-9 p.m.

Danielle Fleming, Founder and CEO of Danielle and Co., will be the guest speaker. With live music by Absolute Trust and a  Make-Your-Own Organic Body Wash station and $200 Gift Basket Giveaway. Danielle and Co. will donate 15% of the sales from purchases at the event to the Honeybee Research Fund.

RSVP to tmaxfield@greatvalleyalliance.com.

Beginning tonight and lasting into tomorrow morning, the Lackawanna College Student Union (formerly the Catholic Youth Center), 500 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, will host the first annual Mini-Thon dance-a-thon from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

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The Everhart Museum will host a special event this Saturday, Nov. 8, from 6-8 p.m., with world famous photojournalist Harry Benson visiting our region to open a new exhibit based on his photographs of the Beatles.

The event, called “The Everhart Rocks,” will feature the unveiling of the Everhart’s newly installed Rocks & Minerals Gallery along with the opening of “The Beatles: Photographs by Harry Benson.”

Benson arrived in America with the Beatles in 1964 and followed the Fab Four during their rise to superstardom in the States. He has photographed every U.S. president from Eisenhower to George W. Bush and covered historic events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the aftermath of Katrina in New Orleans. Benson will be signing copies of his books which will be available for purchase that evening.

For photographers and fans of the Beatles, this is an event you can’t miss. Cost is $30 per person and reservations must be prepaid with a credit card or check. You must be 21 or older to attend. Participation is limited to 200 guests. For more information or to make reservations, contact the Everhart Museum at 570-346-7186 or email: general.information@everhart-museum.org

Northeastern Pennsylvania writers and readers might not realize that Keystone College owns its own small publishing company, Nightshade Press. On Thursday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m., Keystone will host a poetry reading by four Nightshade-published poets in Evans Hall at the school’s Hibbard Campus Center.

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The combination of one of the Northeastern Pennsylvania’s best bands and one of Scranton’s best venues for live music adds up to a show you don’t want to miss - the Sw!ms will play an acoustic show at Northern Light Espresso Bar on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m.

Scranton’s renaissance continues with the dedication of the newly restored Schimelfenig Pavilion at Nay Aug Park tomorrow. Mayor Chris Doherty will cut the ribbon and a free barbecue will follow.

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Neighborhood residents are invited to a public input meeting regarding South Scranton revitalization on Wednesday, October 29, from 6-8 p.m. at United Neighborhood Center’s South Side Senior Community Center located at 425 Alder Street, Scranton.

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It’s not an “official” First Friday event, but while you’re taking in the art tonight, stop by the Scranton Cultural Center’s Shopland Hall for “The Speakeasy.”

As a part of Scranton Reads: One City, One Book activities, which this year center around Dashiell Hammett’s “The Maltese Falcon,” Scranton Reads will recreate the Prohibition-era setting of the book with an authentic speakeasy.

Music will be provided by the Bog Swing Band. Tickets are $5. There will be a cash bar so visitors must be 21 years of age or older.

You don’t need us to tell you the new season of “The Office” begins tonight so we bring you a different Scranton-centered event: the upcoming Halloween “PAWrade” in Nay Aug Park.

The 2008 Halloween “PAWrade,” scheduled for Nay Aug on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 12:30-3 p.m., will benefit Canine Partners for Life, a Pennsylvania-based service dog not-for-profit company that trains and places assistance dogs with individuals with mobility impairments to help increase their independence and quality of life.

Bring your pet in his or her Halloween costume. Prizes will be awarded for best costume, owner look-alikes, scariest and cutest costumes.  Registration ($20 donation) is at 12:30 and the Halloween “PAWrade” begins at 1 p.m. For more information or to make a donation, call 570-335-3308.