Technology Connectors 2.0 Launch December 24, 2009
Posted by Brian in Uncategorized.add a comment
Submitted by Justin Ennis, Programs Manager, Arts & Business Council of Greater Philadelphia
Join the Arts & Business Council on Tuesday, January 12, 5-7pm at the Center for Emerging Visual Artists for the unveiling of Technology Connectors 2.0! Hear about how you can team-up with your tech colleagues to create innovative solutions for our region’s arts organizations, all while enjoying drinks and hors d’oeuvres in a contemporary art gallery setting.
The Arts & Business Council is thrilled to feature Harold Hambrose, CEO, Electronic Ink, who will discuss his new book, Wrench in the System: What’s sabotaging your business software and how you can release the power to innovate. All attendees will receive a copy of Harold’s book, compliments of Electronic Ink.
All newcomers are welcome to participate and exchange ideas with the Council’s committed corps of Technology Connector volunteers. Let’s make 2010 the year of the Technology Connector!
What: Technology Connectors 2.0 Launch
Where: The Center for Emerging Visual Artists (www.cfeva.org)
1521 Locust Street, Lower Level, Philadelphia, PA 19102
When: Tues., January 12, 5-7pm
RSVP to Justin Ennis, Programs Manager, by Friday, January 8, 2010
2010 is the Year That Counts December 23, 2009
Posted by Brian in Uncategorized.add a comment
Submitted by:
Rob Wonderling, President & CEO, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
As an Honorary Chair of the 2010 Philly Counts census campaign, I’d like to share this information with you and your organization.
Let me tell you why 2010 is the year that counts.
As you may know, the national census happens every 10 years and will take place next year. I encourage all Philadelphians – as well as all residents of this 11-county, tri-state region – to participate. Here’s why:
More than 170 federal programs allocating more than $400 billion use Census-based formulas to determine who gets the money. According to a preliminary report, Philadelphia received more than $4 billion in federal funding in FY 2008 based on decennial census data. That’s more than $2,500 per person.
That’s a lot of money. It could have been even more. For the past nine years, Philadelphia’s population has been under-counted. We know this because earlier this month, the U.S. Census Bureau accepted Philadelphia’s first-ever Census challenge and added 93,000 residents to the population estimate, bringing our official estimate to 1,540,351, up from 1,447,395.
What’s in a number?
This means for the first time in 60 years, the official Philadelphia population has gone up, not down. The city population is growing, which is a sign of economic health and a confirmation of the energy we feel throughout the city.
Also, higher population should mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in additional federal funding to Philadelphia going forward for programs that range from affordable housing to neighborhood improvement plans and economic development.
I want to thank the Citi Foundation and the William Penn Foundation for funding Philadelphia’s Census challenge.
And I want to ask you to make sure that in 2010, you count. And get counted.
Business After Hours at Fado December 17, 2009
Posted by megan in Events, Photos.add a comment
Submitted by: Ron Fulton, CLEAR Account Executive
This festive event was a mix of business, good conversations, quality networking and some good brew provided by the Philadelphia Brewing Company. The diversity of the crowd and their respective professions were as delectable as the great finger foods the Fado staff provided with a smile and super service.
For CLEAR, this was my first Chamber event and I was duly impressed with the organization by the GPCC staff, and the overall quality of attendees and leads. We will surely make these events a regular occurrence on our calendars, and as CLEAR continues to grow its base of 4G Wireless Broadband customers throughout the Philly area, I am sure we will one day be a guest speaker and certainly a sponsor. Keep up the great job!
Visit the Chamber’s Flickr page to see more photos from the event.
See info about our next Business Before Hours event, on February 3.
Emergency Toy Rush in Greater Philadelphia December 16, 2009
Posted by Brian in Business Savvy, Member Submitted.add a comment
Submitted by:
Brian P. Tierney
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Santa needs your immediate help.
Each year, Toys for Tots, run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, helps underprivileged children in our community experience the joy of Christmas. More than a new toy, Toys for Tots delivers with it a powerful message of hope: Someone cares.
This year, in light of the tougher times that we all now share, there has never been a greater need for donated toys to make every child’s holiday a happy one. The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve needs to collect 40,000 toys by Monday, Dec 21 in order to meet the demand.
Through donations exceeding $100,000 in value, the local ownership of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com have stepped up to help save the season. We urge you know to step up with us.
Toys for Tots needs you to take action now. Please, donate a new, unwrapped toy any time between now and Monday, December 21 at 5 pm in the lobby of The Inquirer Building, Broad and Callowhill Streets in Center City, Philadelphia or The Inquirer Printing Plant, 800 River Road, West Conshohocken. For more donation locations go to www.toysfortotsphila.org and click “Donate Toys” to find a location near you.
Every boy and girl, from toddler to teen, should have something waiting under the tree when they wake up on Christmas morning. As a community, we can make a tremendous difference this holiday season.
Please donate a toy today.
Thank you,
Brian P. Tierney
Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Non-profits, Fundraising, and 2010: What Lies Ahead? December 10, 2009
Posted by Brian in Business Resources, Business Savvy, Events, Member Submitted.add a comment
Submitted by Robert Evans, founder and managing director of The EHL Consulting Group
What a pleasure to talk directly with representatives of more than 75 Philadelphia-area non-profits at Nonprofit Trends & Issues: Coming out of the Recession under the banner of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. I was able to be a bit provocative about perspectives on succeeding as the economy improves! And along the way, several dozen for-profit organizations sent men and women who shared a common agenda: either to learn about being better donors or to market to the non-profits that also belong to the Chamber.
I do hope that some of what I projected was thought-provoking and challenging. Certainly the words from the three other participants were insightful and professionally driven.
My presentation focused on the good news (and some bad news) about fundraising in the recovering economy. A recently-released “white paper” from the Giving Institute and Giving USA served as the basis of my presentation; the document is available on-line here and I urge Chamber members to read about how the other downturns in the economy have impacted charitable giving previously and what predictions they have for the future. Based on history, we can expect about three to four years before giving returns to previous high levels set in 2007, but we may be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
The questions and comments I received and the thoughts that the three distinguished panelists suggested would lead us to treasure networking; we can certainly share each other’s stories and experiences and learn from one another. And perhaps that’s the value of attending various seminars and workshops, be them at the Chamber of Commerce or in other settings.
But the one lesson we should all understand is the value of coming together to strengthen our city and region. The non-profit sector is such an important and dominating aspect of the economy here, but all-too-often we tend to forget the value of gaining total perspective on important issues. With fundraising so critical today and non-profits seemingly requiring so much creative and positive support, meetings that the Chamber convenes can only help all of us to better serve the millions of people in Greater Philadelphia who are looking for better educational resources, more comprehensive health and medical options, creative arts and cultural opportunities, and social and human services that touch and protect people. Successful fundraising in Philadelphia is critical, especially right now, and the resources do in fact exist to make sure that needs are met and services flourish.
I strongly believe that 2010 will be a far better year for all of us if we come together as a strong and committed community!
Online Membership Directory adds enhanced marketing benefits December 10, 2009
Posted by Brian in Business Resources, Networking.add a comment
The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce continues to seek ways to offer enhanced, innovative services for our members. That’s why we are proud to announce additions to our online membership directory, the go-to-online resource for regional business professionals.
Visit the online directory here.
Members can now take advantage of new marketing benefits that will help prospective customers find you from our online membership directory.
New features include the ability to update your company’s online description with searchable key words and the option to add links to your company’s social media’s sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter. In addition, the online membership directory now displays more information about your company, such as employee size, annual revenue and county location.
The Chamber has also added targeted benefits to the membership directory reserved only for members. When members are logged-in to our website, they can now perform advanced searches to find members. In addition, members can view the name and title of the primary contact at fellow member companies.
To fully take advantage of these new marketing benefits, we encourage you to log-in to our members-only section and update your company profile.
Visit the members-only log-in page here.
Discover how successful women reach the top December 7, 2009
Posted by megan in Events.add a comment
Discover how successful women reach the top at our annual Women in the Workforce program.
Now in its fourth year, this is one of the Chamber’s most successful programs. It helps women (at all career levels and in all industries) grow their careers by learning firsthand from prominent female executives who have already achieved success in their fields. There is a Q&A session with panelists about their backgrounds and experiences, and the panelists then rotate among small groups of attendees to lead discussions and provide further insight.
This program is ideal for women just beginning or transitioning their careers because of the opportunities for business networking, professional development, and personal growth.
For the agenda, speaker information and to register, visit the Chamber’s Web site.
YPN volunteers help spread holiday cheer December 7, 2009
Posted by megan in Photos, YPN.add a comment
Submitted by Mai-Linh Hoang, DAL, Inc.
On a snowy Saturday afternoon, YPN volunteers brought some holiday cheer to the Salvation Army’s Eliza Shirley House. Volunteers decorated the foyer, hallways and common areas with christmas trees, lights and stockings.
The Eliza Shirley House provides emergency shelter for primarily homeless single women with children. The House provides not only shelter, but healthy meals and various in-house services, such as spiritual guidance, medical services and various recreational programs.
YPN is proud to continue a tradition of volunteerism, with the recent expansion of volunteer efforts through-out Philadelphia. The program began when YPN adopted McClure Elementary as a project through Greater Philadelphia Cares Day. Since then, YPN added a Career Day and Spring Fling for students with perfect attendance. This year, YPN included Philabundance and the Salvation Army. Please continue to keep up with our volunteer efforts and check ypnphilly.com for more opportunities to volunteer!
Comcast-NBCU deal is a boost for Philadelphia December 3, 2009
Posted by megan in Economy, Rob Wonderling.add a comment
Comcast Corp. announced this morning that it will acquire a controlling interest (51 percent ownership) in cable giant NBC Universal Inc. with General Electric owning the remaining 49 percent. The new joint venture will combine NBCU’s successful cable networks with Comcast’s leading delivery business and will be well positioned to compete in the distribution of multiplatform media that American consumers are now demanding. It will also improve consumer choice and spur the development of new digital products and services.
Rob Wonderling, President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, describes what the acquisition will mean to the city and region:
“There is an immediate jolt to the reputation of the city and region. This raises our visibility nationally and globally as the headquarters of Comcast. It makes Ralph and Brian Roberts’ decision to stay in Philadelphia and build the HQ here even more significant and admirable.
“Brian Roberts will play an even greater role in the delivery of news and entertainment. As video, audio and text all come together on TVs, computers, and smartphones, he will be a major player – if not the major player – in deciding how it all affects consumers.
“This gives Select Greater Philadelphia a big advantage in our economic development marketing efforts. While we have been a Fortune 500 Headquarters – now we are HQ of NBC, a name everyone in the world recognizes. Even before merger takes place, the business would know NBC’s owners are in Philadelphia. Other companies will be more inclined to come here. They may see an opportunity for greater visibility for themselves, a spillover benefit, simply through the interaction that takes place within a metro area.
“The economic impact will come gradually. Because Comcast sees advantages in having its suppliers nearby, companies may move here to set up operations in anticipation of regulatory approval. As this acquisition takes roots, more opportunities will flourish.
Mary Stengel Austen to Receive Paradigm Award December 3, 2009
Posted by megan in Chamber in the News, Congrats, Events.add a comment
Mary Stengel Austen, president and chief executive officer of Tierney Communications, has been selected as the recipient of our 2010 Paradigm Award, the region’s most prestigious award for businesswomen.
The award is presented annually to an influential chief executive of a for-profit enterprise with a strong economic impact on the region. The Paradigm honoree is well respected for her commitment to women and vision for future generations, and her outstanding professional and philanthropic achievements serve as a model for success.
