Business EITC Contributions

Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program

Supporting SCFLS's STEAM Initiative could earn tax credits for your business. Your business can help area students develop valuable 21st century skills while taking advantage of great tax benefits.

Pennsylvania's Educational Improvement Tax Credit program (EITC) provides valuable tax credits to eligible businesses who contribute to approved educational improvement programs like the SCFLS STEAM Initiative. Businesses can receive EITC credits of up to 90% of their contribution amount towards their Pennsylvania business taxes.

Does my business qualify?

If you are unsure if your business qualifies for EITC, you can reach out to your accountant or the PA Department of Community and Economic Development.  Businesses authorized to do business in Pennsylvania who are subject to one or more of the following taxes are eligible to apply:

    • Personal Income Tax
    • Capital Stock/Foreign Franchise Tax
    • Corporate Net Income Tax
    • Bank Shares Tax
    • Title Insurance & Trust Company Shares Tax
    • Insurance Premium Tax (excluding unauthorized, domestic/foreign marine)
    • Mutual Thrift Tax
    • Malt Beverage Tax
    • Surplus Lines Tax

To learn more about the application process for receiving EITC and to determine your business's eligibility, go to https://dced.pa.gov/programs/educational-improvement-tax-credit-program-eitc/. Once approved, it’s simple to make your gift to the EITC-approved SCFLS STEAM Initiative Educational Program.

Giving to SCFLS through EITC

The Somerset County Federated Library System, Inc. (SCFLS) is approved as an Educational Improvement Organization (EIO) and is eligible to receive EITC funds. In order to be eligible to contribute to SCFLS through this program, a business must elect on its application that it wishes to contribute to an EIO.

Funds received through the EITC program are used by the SCFLS STEAM Initiative to offer clubs, workshops, summer camps and other activities that encourage area youth to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The STEAM Initiative strives to nurture an early and continuing interest in STEM learning and help youth connect the dots between STEM learning and future careers in local business and industry. Our vision is to grow the STEM-skilled professional workforce required to meet local needs. We invite you to join our efforts to grow our own future STEM professionals.

How do Business EITC Donations Benefit the STEAM Initiative?

Donations received through the EITC program would allow us to continue and expand the SCFLS STEAM Initiative's program offerings. EITC donations supplement grants to help us purchase equipment, curricula and supplies. And, perhaps more importantly, EITC donations supplement personnel budgets in support of expanded programming.  Year-round programming includes weekly STEAM Club programs and monthly littleBits Inventors' Club workshops at Somerset County Library.  We also offer after-school workshops upon request and as funding is available. STEM-themed summer camps have been a regular part of summer programming at the headquarters SCFLS location, Somerset County Library, since the inception of the STEAM Initiative in 2016.  However, personnel budget constraints and the number of trained staff available limit our ability to offer camps at multiple locations simultaneously. EITC donations are helping us overcome those challenges.

Our first EITC donation was received during the 2018-19 program year.  Toward the end of the school year, we added two school teachers to our part-time staff and trained them on all of the curricula and STEM educational toys to which we had access at that time.  We closed out the school year with two weeks of workshops in computer hardware, electronics and coding at the Mary S. Biesecker Library in Somerset Borough.  Over the summer, we offered a three-day Basic Electronics & Robotics Camp at the Meyersdale Public Library and another at Windber Public Library in addition to the usual summer camps at Somerset County Library.  STEAM Initiative summer camps gave kids and teens hands-on experience with things like electronics, robotics, computer hardware, coding, augmented reality apps and 3D print design. Since then, we have had requests for additional summer camps and after-school programs at these and other locations throughout the county.  Your EITC donation would help us fulfill these requests.

You can learn more about the SCFLS STEAM Initiative at http://scfls.org/steam-initiative and by reviewing past brochures and flyers:

Contact Information

Please contact Cheryl Morgan, SCFLS Administrator, at 814-445-2556, ext. 112 or by email at cmorgan@scfls.org with any questions you may have about the SCFLS STEAM Initiative. If you have ideas for infusing the SCFLS STEAM Initiative's programs with real-world examples relevant to local business and industry, please pass those along, too. The earlier and more frequently we can help people connect the dots between STEM learning and real-world applicability to local careers, the more successful we will be in growing our own STEM professionals locally!