Need small business help in Philly? The city just launched a central hub for that

Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce launched the Philadelphia Business Resource Hub last month, a platform connecting local business owners with growth resources.

The free online Philly Biz Hub brings together information on funding opportunities, business support organizations, training programs and advisory services. It’s designed to help entrepreneurs navigate Philadelphia’s business support ecosystem and find the right resources, whether they’re starting a company or looking to grow an existing one. 

The one-stop shop for business owners aims to address a gap in the city’s business support ecosystem: making it easier for entrepreneurs to find and connect with the resources available to them, Liam Kelly Fleming, senior director of small business assistance programs at the city’s Department of Commerce, told Technical.ly. 

“It won’t ever be able to replace the depth of talking to someone who’s a subject area expert,” Fleming said, “but it can be the place where you find that person.”

The website includes an events calendar, a database of business support orgs and a map to find resources near you. It includes dedicated pages for funding programs, advisory services and business training. 

Philly Biz Hub also features three guides created by the Commerce Department to address the top three questions that it gets asked by entrepreneurs, Fleming said. 

The guides answer each of the questions — How do I start a business, where do I find money and how can I find additional help? — and link out to other resources that can share more in-depth information, Fleming said. 

“The goal is also not to be exhaustive. It’s to be … accurate, instructive, and digestible,” Fleming said. 

The Department of Commerce worked with Baltimore-based startup EcoMap Technologies on the years-long effort to create the standalone site, Fleming said.

Bridging the gap between founders and resources

Philly Biz Hub builds off of a decade of ideas to create one central business resource tool, Fleming said. 

This iteration came out of the Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem System Report, research completed by the Commerce Department, PIDC and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey from 2019 to 2021. 

The study, which interviewed local entrepreneurs and people who work with them, found a need for easier access to capital, access to trusted guidance and an online resource that aggregates all of the resources available to businesses in Philly, Fleming said. 

“It’s a source of information not just from the city. It’s about all the resources that are available,” he said. 

Since launching, niche industry entrepreneur support orgs have been reaching out and asking to be added to the database, he said. Fleming is also already getting suggestions for additional tools and guides to add.

His goal is to continue adding and connecting people to resources in the ecosystem and ultimately meet the recommendations from the study, he said. 

“We know we’re not reaching everybody who needs us,” Fleming said. “This is just one step towards finding out: What is the breadth of need? So we can try to rise to meet it.”