Philly Power Moves: Economic mobility champion Nikki Pumphrey joins the Chamber of Commerce

Last month saw plenty of activity in Philadelphia’s tech and business community. The Chamber of Commerce and Center City District both hired new, highly respected vice presidents, and a local biotech firm scored a pharma-experienced CEO.

Read on for all the details, plus announcements from The Enterprise Center, Wistar Institute, Greenphire, Boomi and Drexel.

Economic mobility champion joins Chamber of Commerce

Longtime economic inclusion advocate and workforce development professional Nikki Pumphrey is the new VP of talent and workforce at the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia.

Prior to joining the Chamber, Pumphrey was a senior managing director at Per Scholas, leading the national org’s Philadelphia strategy. During her time at the tech workforce development nonprofit, Pumphrey recounted on LinkedIn, she helped 250 alumni secure jobs, launched a national alumni advisory board and raised $1.5 million in local investments.

She had experience obtaining local funding: As deputy director of The Welcoming Center, an org focused on creating economic opportunities for immigrants, Pumphrey raised $250,000 in partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce.

“We are thrilled to have Nikki on the team and for her to bring her deep experience and expertise to help advance the Chamber’s talent and workforce strategies,” the Chamber posted.

CCD has a new stats wrangler-slash-biz cheerleader

The Center City District (CCD), now run by recently promoted CEO Prema Katari Gupta, has a new VP for economic development: Clint Randall.

Randall came over to Philly’s central business improvement district from real estate services company JLL, where he was the director of research, focusing on office and life sciences industries. Prior to that, Randall was an urban planning consultant for infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.

At the CCD, he’ll lead the team responsible for research and reports, business attraction and retention strategies and internal analytics.

“I look forward to harnessing CCD’s in-house research and analysis to bring stakeholders together to implement new ideas in real time that can increase the vitality, safety, and vibrancy of Center City,” Randall said. “CCD’s leadership in transforming downtown is something I’ve observed and experienced firsthand since childhood, so getting to be a part of this team is very meaningful.”

UCity biotech company nabs experienced CEO

FORE Biotherapeutics, a University City-based company specializing in genomic cancer therapies, hired William R. Hinshaw as CEO and director of the board.

Hinshaw has over 30 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He was most recently president and CEO of Boston-area biopharma company Axcella, which shuttered last year. He previously spent 14 years in leadership at Novartis, the pharmaceutical company known for Kymriah, the first FDA approved CAR T-cell therapy.

“I am privileged and excited to lead Fore and work alongside the talented and committed team and build upon what has been accomplished to date,” Hinshaw said. “Fore is poised to develop targeted treatments that can have a transformational impact on the lives of patients suffering from cancer.”

More Power Moves:

• West Philly-based economic development organization The Enterprise Center hired Jeffery Dunn as SVP of its Newark, NJ, Business Opportunity Center, and Elizabeth Munoz-Ortiz as assistant director of the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Agency Business Center.
• Software-as-a-service company Boomi is opening its new headquarters in Conshohocken. The company was previously based in Chesterbrook, PA.
• Clinical trial payment platform Greenphire announced Dan Shannon as its new chief experience officer.
• Biomedical research center The Wistar Institute announced Irene Bertolini Ph.D. as the new Caspar Wistar fellow in the immunology, microenvironment and metastasis program, and welcomed a new board trustee: Max Berger, president of real estate investment firm MBA Equities.
• Drexel University professors Michel Barsoum and Yury Gogotsi won the Agilent Solutions Innovation Research Award for their work developing nanomaterials for battery/electrochemical energy storage.