How the Philly area got here<\/p>\n
Project leaders say the problem stems from years of underinvestment in economic development and poor coordination among employers, educational institutions and local governments. They say the disconnect has left job seekers unable to fill open positions while employers struggle to find qualified candidates, despite the region\u2019s well-educated workforce.\n<\/p>\n
Those kinds of challenges are what the GPGP is expected to take on, Greenwood said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe regions growing faster than us are better organized,\u201d she told an audience during the launch announcement at Villanova University. \u201cThey are more focused. They are more invested. They made a decision to act together and they built the tools to do it. So that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens likened it to geese when they fly in formation with those in front providing draft for those behind them.\n <\/p>\n
The partnership \u201casks all of us to move together, forward together, aligned as a region, not as individual entities. At Wawa, we call it flying in V formation,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes us stronger. And actually when geese fly in V formation, they fly further and more efficiently.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
From potential to prosperity<\/p>\n
The launch of the new initiative coincided with the release of a detailed strategy report, \u201cFrom Potential to Prosperity,\u201d which outlines how leaders plan to translate the region\u2019s strong assets into sustained economic gains.\n<\/p>\n
The strategy focuses on three \u201copportunity industries,\u201d including biomedical engineering and production, enterprise digital solutions and precision manufacturing in industrial technologies, chosen for their ability to generate jobs accessible to non-college-educated workers while strengthening the region\u2019s position in national and global markets.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowth alone isn\u2019t enough,\u201d said Philadelphia Works CEO Patrick Clancy. \u201cBut when we pair growth with investments connecting people to opportunity, our region can finally realize its potential.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Donna Frisby-Greenwood, senior vice president at The Pew Charitable Trusts, added that the partnership\u2019s work would help local families \u201cflourish,\u201d especially if done alongside support like housing, childcare and access to public benefits and other efforts to improve other systems.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cJoining forces to accelerate growth is critical to making progress on economic advancement,\u201d she said at the launch. \u201cWhen we are working together to do all of these things, our region can realize its potential to create a thriving economy that benefits everyone.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The report\u2019s comprehensive list of goals includes:\n<\/p>\n
Building regional growth capacity
\nFocus on opportunity industries
\nConnect talent to opportunity<\/p>\n
The strategy also involves better coordination across Philadelphia and its suburban counties,\u00a0 Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery, an area that encompasses 4.2 million residents and a $355 million economy.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe partnership will enhance our work in each individual county by providing the regional coordination and shared structure that will be a force multiplier for maximum impact,\u201d Montgomery County Commerce Director Stephen Forster, who was involved in the strategy report\u2019s development, said at the launch. \u201cI\u2019ve seen new levels of engagement and collaboration across our economic and workforce development colleagues.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Disclosure: Pew Center for Arts & Heritage is among WHYY\u2019s financial supporters. WHYY News produces independent, fact-based news content for audiences in Greater Philadelphia, Delaware and South Jersey.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How the Philly area got here Project leaders say the problem stems from years of underinvestment in economic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,62235,101],"class_list":["post-625292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-chamber-of-commerce","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}