4 min read June 2023 — The City of Philadelphia is one of the largest employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania with a workforce of 30,000 people and opportunities in 1,000 different job categories. Invest: spoke with Commerce Director Anne Nadol about the city’s recent highlights, the challenges they face and their strategies, initiatives the city has implemented to provide opportunities for residents and businesses, how the city is strengthening the workforce as well as the five-year outlook for the City of Philadelphia.
Where is the City of Philadelphia currently seeing the most growth?
Philadelphia is filled with world-class growth industries that help our city advance with economic opportunities and career pathways for residents. Philadelphia is fortunate that we’ve always weathered economic hard times because of our diverse industry base. Life Sciences and Biotechnology companies in our city continue to produce innovative research solutions, and advance therapeutic discoveries while expanding skills-based job training opportunities for Philadelphians of all ages. This sets the stage for tremendous growth in jobs and scientific advancement with companies also diversifying their supply chain to meet the life sciences industry demand. The Philadelphia region is recognized worldwide as a leader in cell therapy, gene therapy, and gene editing. Philadelphia possesses the key ingredients companies need to support their long-term growth. We have seen companies with multiple locations either in the region or around the country that are opening their headquarters in Philadelphia. This is a great statement to the value of being in our city. Notably, in December 2022, the City and Pennsylvania Governor’s Office announced plans for Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company to open their new office building in Philadelphia. GLG, the world’s insight network, also recently celebrated the opening of their new, renovated office in the historic Bourse at Independence Mall. Philadelphia is fortunate in many ways by being a city of neighborhoods and residential areas across diverse zip codes. Our downtown has a large residential component that helped us emerge from the pandemic, distinguishing us from downtowns that only have offices. We have also seen improvement in foot traffic downtown as well as the return of tourism and business travel at the airport and in our hotels. Many companies are bringing back their employees in-person at least a few days per week. Residents and commuters are key to supporting local businesses and enhancing the city’s economy.
What strategies has the city implemented to create a favorable business environment?
The Department of Commerce builds alliances and strategic partnerships, including with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and our Diverse Chambers to advance an inclusive growth agenda for the region. We all work together to continuously implement meaningful tax reductions (wage + business taxes). The City is working collaboratively to advocate for state-wide policy recommendations and looks forward to working with Governor Shapiro’s new Office of Transformation and Opportunity to improve the ease of doing business in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. The Department of Commerce focuses on opportunities for businesses, workforce development initiatives and meaningful jobs for years to come. We also invest in over 80 commercial areas that are neighborhood based, pedestrian and transit oriented, and have a high density of commercial spaces (average 100 businesses in a three to four block area) with clean streets and streetscape improvements. Commerce funds local community-based nonprofits that help neighborhood businesses take advantage of programs and resources, such as storefront improvements, acquisition and construction of commercial and mixed-use properties and more. We are constantly looking for opportunities to support businesses and help families make Philadelphia their home.
What initiatives has the city implemented to promote economic opportunities specifically for minority-owned, women-owned and disabled-owned businesses?
The Department of Commerce helps businesses plan, start, grow and thrive in Philadelphia. The Administration is leveraging funds from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to launch a new partnership with the public and private sector aimed at supercharging efforts to grow wealth in Black and brown communities. The City is committed to cultivating diversity, equity and inclusion by promoting Minority, Women and Disabled Business Enterprises (M/W/DSBE) contracting opportunities in City projects. The goal is to continue deepening our commitment to supplier diversity and build the capacity of M/W/DSBE firms in anticipation of these economic opportunities. Every Department of Commerce program is geared towards providing economic opportunities. We recently launched an innovative Incentive Grant for our Philadelphia Business Lending Network to increase access to capital for minority-owned microenterprises. Since launching the grant in October 2022, there has been an 828% increase in business inquiries to the Lending Network. Commerce established the Boost Your Business fund in 2022 to build the capacity of minority-owned businesses. In its first year, we provided $50,000 in forgivable loans to 22 businesses ready to scale by obtaining new contracts, increasing revenue, and creating jobs. Commerce also funds firms as Business Coaches to be matched with individual businesses that have been historically underserved for one-on-one assessments that can help position them for a grant or loan. We are fostering and strengthening relationships with existing businesses while addressing historical inequities for BIPOC entrepreneurs to start and grow in Philadelphia. Commerce’s business services managers work in neighborhoods across the city providing one-on-one assistance, outreach, guidance and education to entrepreneurs.
How has the city strengthened the workforce and created a robust talent pipeline?
The City has been making record investments in organizations creating innovative workforce training programs that connect Philadelphia residents to emerging career pathways within world-class business sectors. For example, in FY23, through our Workforce Solutions Grant Program, Commerce is investing $450,000 in training programs at the Community College of Philadelphia and University City Science Center that will prepare Philadelphians for career pathways in the life sciences industry. It is a great confluence of positive trends for us. The life sciences industry is for everybody, from kids coming straight out of high school to individuals with a PhD. The market and demand are growing as we are training our talent pool for these meaningful opportunities. Developing Philadelphia’s workforce and talent pipelines are crucial to our business growth and retention strategy. In FY23, Commerce is piloting the Quality Jobs Program to incentivize businesses to create new full-time employment opportunities that pay a living wage and provide health insurance. The goal is to help businesses grow in our city while incentivizing employers to hire Philadelphia residents in jobs that pay family-sustaining wages.
What are the key priorities that the city and your department will focus on to sustain growth and prosperity for Philadelphia in the next five years?
Each Administration has its own priorities to support and enhance our city’s economy. We can all agree that the priority for the Department of Commerce and the City is to provide economic opportunities for businesses and residents so that they can continue to invest in themselves and in our city. Commerce envisions a globally competitive economy that benefits all people who live, work and do business in our city. It is about inclusive, equitable and intentional growth in Philadelphia where employers flock, entrepreneurs thrive, and innovation abounds. Philadelphia is a place where businesses, people and families can grow. The region is only going to be as strong as the city and vice versa. We can and will continue to work toward providing meaningful opportunities throughout the city for everyone and every neighborhood to thrive.
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