Penn State-Competition In Happy Valley

And while Pierick tries to subsidize one type of work with another by using loss leaders, like any other business, he knows he has a slim margin to work with.

"We pay for our building and our utilities, which isn't always the case with in-plants," he says. "We pay Penn State wages and benefits, so we have a better class of employees, but that also means we don't have the lowest costs in the marketplace. We pay a franchise tax [to Penn State's administration] of three cents on every dollar to cover the cost of campus police services, human resources, etc. Because of these circumstances and the need to recover every dollar that we spend, we're very cautious about the products and services that we provide."