3 min read October 2023 — PIDC is Philadelphia’s city-wide, public-private economic development corporation. As a nonprofit founded in 1958 as a partnership of the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, PIDC’s mission is to spur investment, support business growth, and foster developments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia. Last year, PIDC closed 175 transactions, investing $695 million across the city. “In addition to real estate development, we provide financing to businesses to help them grow or expand in Philadelphia,” PIDC President Jodie Harris told Invest:.
What have been the highlights and successes for the PIDC over the last 12 months?
One major highlight over the past couple of years has been our relief work in the face of the pandemic. PIDC stepped up big, collaborating with our economic development partners at the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and others to support local businesses. Recently, we closed out what is likely to be the last batch of our COVID small business relief — more than three years after the start of the pandemic.
The Restart PHL Loan was launched during the height of COVID. It was a specialty version of PIDC’s Working Capital and Equipment Loan and provided flexible capital at 0% interest to small businesses with less than $5 million in revenue as they re-imagined or pivoted their business operations during the pandemic. We distributed around $8.5 million to support 77 local businesses through Restart PHL.
All told, since the pandemic started, we distributed over $75 million in COVID-19 relief grants and loans, supporting thousands of small businesses. This was remarkable, and I’m proud of the PIDC staff who spent countless hours making this happen as they worked day and night to help support our local business community. Throughout 2022, PIDC also worked to re-envision our strategic approach in executing our mission to drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia. These discussions led PIDC to develop the Theory of Change, which helps set PIDC’s Strategic Framework. As we developed this, we used three intersecting lenses through which we seek to apply our economic development work: advancing racial equity, understanding the future of work, and building sustainability and resilience.
We’re activating the strategic framework to make sure that we’re prioritizing our efforts appropriately, serving all communities while ensuring that our organizational goals and objectives are met.
One of our major ongoing projects is the redevelopment efforts at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia, a 1200-acre urban development and waterfront business campus that PIDC has managed since 2000 after the Navy base closure. Last June, we unveiled our new 2022 Navy Yard Master Plan, charting the next 20 years of equitable growth at the Navy Yard. This is an exciting next step because it will bring more commercial and residential real estate to the area, adding another 12,000 jobs in addition to the 15,000 that are already there. This next stage of the redevelopment at the Navy Yard, spearheaded by our partners Ensemble / Mosaic, will bring 8.9 million square feet in life science, commercial, industrial, retail and all types of mixed-use development and a $6 billion of new investment. The Navy Yard is a city within a city and we’re excited about the future and what it means for Philadelphia’s growth.
What are the key priorities that you’d like to tackle for the next year?
Going into 2024, as PIDC President, I’m committed to collaborating and working with our economic development partners across the city to create an environment that attracts more businesses and developers to Philadelphia. That includes fostering, expanding and enhancing our partnerships as we work together to build a local and regional economy that is diverse and thriving. Philly is a city of neighborhoods, each with its own community and culture, and that should be represented in our real estate development and our small business opportunities.
PIDC will also focus on identifying where there may be gaps in the market: where are the places that need more investment or support, how can we best ensure our commercial corridors are supported by new businesses. We’ll work to understand what role PIDC, as the city’s economic development arm, can play whether it be through funding or partnering with our strong educational community and research institutions. I want us to think broadly about how to create more economic opportunity across the board.
We also must focus our energy on exploring the critical importance of small businesses in our local economy: they provide jobs, services and good for residents and are so often community anchors. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do to support their growth. No one organization can do this alone, so we’ll partner with the city, the private sector and the philanthropic community to make sure that we reach all corners of the city. At PIDC, I am excited to help move our city forward, and explore how we can partner with the City, and with new leadership to do that. I look forward to seeing how our work translates into benefits for all neighborhoods and all residents.
What is the main role of the PIDC?
PIDC serves the entire economy of Philadelphia — from the smallest to the largest businesses, and everything in between. Clients and partners include Philadelphia businesses, nonprofits, institutions, real estate developers and federal, state, and local government.
PIDC invests flexible, affordable capital in growing local businesses — the backbone of our economy — because they create jobs, build wealth for entrepreneurs, and stabilize neighborhoods. We also support developers in financing community-oriented, mission-driven projects. Through a variety of funding resources, educational programs, and one-on-one technical support, PIDC fills critical gaps for business owners and nonprofit leaders who lack access to traditional capital. In addition, we support developers producing transformative projects that have a positive, lasting impact across the city — providing jobs, services, and amenities.
Over the past 65 years, PIDC has settled 13,000-plus transactions with a diverse range of clients — including more than $19 billion of financing and 3,350 acres of land sales — which have leveraged tens of billions of dollars in total investment and assisted in retaining and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs in Philadelphia.
How are you dealing with current economic conditions?
We are monitoring market trends and listening to our businesses, large and small, as well as our developer community as we get a pulse on the economic forecast in order to get a sense of what they may need in the short and long term. There’s a lot of fluctuation and a lot of uncertainty, nationally and globally. The most important thing that we can do right now is to listen and understand what they’re telling us that they need. We want to use those insights to reposition or evaluate PIDC’s own products and services to best fill those needs. We continually work to figure out where we can help and most strategically deploy our resources. While we’re in a challenging market environment, there are a lot of opportunities to build on partnerships to make the greatest impact.
What makes Philadelphia a good place to do business?
Philadelphia as an urban hub offers plenty of economic development and growth opportunities. In general, particularly when compared to peer Northeast cities, Philadelphia is an affordable place to start or do business or real estate development. We have an incredible collection of educational institutions that provide a talent pipeline for our employers and prepare Philadelphians for work in the economy of the future. For those who aren’t pursuing a formal degree, we have a robust trade union environment, driving employment that can support families as well.
Overall, Philadelphia offers a unique combination of location, affordability, and talent. Philadelphia’s ideal central location on the country’s Northeast Corridor, competitive cost of doing business, and diverse talent pool are all attractive to companies seeking a place where they can grow. Businesses in Philly can reach 60% of the U.S. and Canadian population within a day. Our world class cultural institutions, parks, award-winning restaurants, 100-plus area colleges and universities and diverse housing options help attract talent from around the country and world.
What are your priorities for the near term?
As I settle in as president of PIDC, we’re looking to build on and sustain the positive momentum in the industry. Philadelphia has seen impressive growth over the past three decades, but there is still much more work to do to create opportunity, build wealth and help reduce poverty. I also know we can’t move the needle alone, so I look forward to building upon existing cross-sector partnerships with institutions to achieve some of the city’s priorities and goals.We have a great team that is focused on fulfilling the PIDC mission. My main priority is to make sure that internally PIDC has the resources it needs to continue to support our mission of driving equitable growth to every corner of our great city.
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