Startups

Economy League hopes World Class Greater Philadelphia initiative is a ‘playbook’ for region’s growth

The goals themselves aren't particularly newsworthy ("Increase the availability of growth capital" and "Market the region's business stories" are two of them), but that might just mean that the World Class effect is already working: these goals have become part of the tech scene's narrative.

After more than 100 years of conducting research on the region’s economy, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia was ready for something more ambitious.

The organization, whose Center City office holds two bookshelves full of its research, now had “an appetite for impact,” said Josh Sevin, deputy director the Economy League. It didn’t just want to be “a distiller of complicated information,” Sevin said.

That’s why it launched its World Class Greater Philadelphia initiative last March, a set of shared goals for helping the region flourish. The idea was to help focus all the region’s various efforts because, as Sevin said, Philadelphia is only going to move forward if everyone’s on the same page.

Economy League director Steven Wray previewed the initiative at last year’s Regional Affinity Incubation Network conference.

The World Class initiative focuses on three areas:

  • Business Growth
  • Education and Talent Development
  • Infrastructure

Learn about the infrastructure arm of the World Class Greater Philadelphia initiative at the Economy League’s event on June 20 featuring former Pa. governor Ed Rendell. Get more details here.

The World Class initiative is the result of more than three years of speaking with regional leaders and identifying priorities, Sevin said.

The goals themselves aren’t particularly newsworthy (“Increase the availability of growth capital” and “Market the region’s business stories” are two of them), but that might just mean that the World Class effect is already working: these goals have become part of the tech scene’s narrative. The Economy League wanted to identify them so the region could rally around them.

Why is the Economy League making the move from straight research to crafting a mission-oriented agenda?

The attitudes around Philadelphia have changed, for one, Sevin said.

“I don’t know if you could have gotten away with doing something called World Class Greater Philadelphia 15 years ago,” he said. “There might have been too much ‘Negadelphia.'”

World Class Greater Philadelphia is also staying true to the Economy League’s research roots, Wray said.

“This is still research-based,” he said. “Research backs up all of this.”

The Economy League now wants to be part of the follow-through of that research, Wray said.

Now that the World Class Greater Philadelphia framework has been defined, the Economy League will work on pushing that agenda by highlighting efforts that align with its priorities (see: its blog posts on StartupPHL and the PHL brand). Wray also stresses that the World Class agenda is not static. It’ll change as the city changes.

The World Class agenda is about “thinking about things we can control in light of those that we can’t,” he said.

Companies: Economy League of Greater Philadelphia

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Are digital navigators the answer to closing Philadelphia’s tech gap?

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

AI is being used in more and more of the hiring process, especially at high-volume companies

Technically Media