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The article below appeared in the Philadelphia Business Journal on November 9, 2017, authored by ULI PHL’s Executive Director, Laura Slutsky along with Josh Sevin, acting Executive Director at the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and Linda Conlin, President of the World Trade Council of Greater Philadelphia.
The bids are in and the six-week sprint that led up to Amazon HQ2 proposals being submitted by communities from across our region has shined a welcome spotlight on Greater Philadelphia as a business location of choice.
The proposals coming out of Greater Philadelphia last month focused on our region’s enviable assets and advantages — a strong, diverse workforce; an easily accessible international airport; an extensive regional transit network; world-class higher education institutions; a central East Coast location; our livability and affordability. It would be hard to deny that our region has all the fundamentals and then some.
Most exciting was how a wide array of local and regional leaders came together and promoted our strengths.
At the same time, we — like all major U.S. metros — face complex challenges. Too many people in Greater Philadelphia face impediments to opportunity. Poverty remains high, neighborhoods are struggling to capitalize on regional growth, and many young people do not have the skills needed to move into family-sustaining careers.
While there is work to do, the good news is that there’s progress. Much ink has been spilled about our region’s recent renaissance — from the increase in our educated millennial population to the game-changing cellular therapy treatments emerging from our region’s medical research institutions to placement on a new “top places for” list seemingly every week.
But the surge of energy, interest, and investment in many of our communities hasn’t happened by accident. It’s driven in no small part by increased collaboration among our regions’ nonprofits, institutions, and business leaders. This represents the other kind of infrastructure beyond transportation networks and utilities that companies like Amazon need in order to thrive — civic infrastructure.
Visible examples of this coming together have come in the form of high-profile events and initiatives requiring collaborative leadership to pull off — whether the Pope’s visit, Democratic National Convention, NFL Draft, the Urban Land Institute’s global conference, or our designation as the first World Heritage City in the nation.
Even greater proof of our strengthening civic infrastructure has been the growing number of sustained collaborations focused on moving the needle on growth and opportunity in Greater Philadelphia over the long run. The Economy League has helped power many of these civic partnership efforts with other high-capacity nonprofits and institutions.