®
oundtable:
Goals and opportunities Chester County leaders provide their outlook for 2021, discussing their priorities and goals and where the opportunities lie.
Josh Maxwell Commissioner Chester County
What have been some recent initiatives to boost the Chester County community? We’ve created an ethics policy and a diversity and inclusion board for our County government. We have over 2,000 employees, and we want to make sure we’re providing opportunities across all backgrounds. We’ve also been providing corporate relief grants. We’re up to $15 million in grants to businesses along with $15 million for childcare to ensure parents can get to work despite restricted daycare space. We’ve also been investing in affordable housing, creating six more affordable housing projects throughout the county. This includes $1.2 million for affordable housing in the center of the County. What are your top priorities for the near term? We’re always pushing to become a stronger, more efficient government and searching for ways to reinvent what we do. We’re also looking to further improve our already solid financial situation, specifically our budget process. We want to make sure we’re utilizing taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and effective ways possible. One aspect of this is looking at the space we need for our county government in a transforming work environment. A lot of our buildings were built decades ago and many were designed thinking people would be spending 40 hours a week in the office. With the new work environment as a result of the pandemic, we need to reevaluate our space needs to ensure we’re most efficiently using taxpayer dollars. This is the year we’re going to open up the budget and start looking at every dollar, making sure it’s being invested wisely. 10
| Invest: Philadelphia 2021 | CHESTER COUNTY
Michelle Kichline Commissioner Chester County
What role will inter-institutional and business cooperation play in the post-pandemic landscape? Chester County enjoys a long-standing tradition of collaboration, with a track record of public-private partnerships. We also have a robust nonprofit sector. Moving forward, it will be more important than ever to establish cooperation mechanisms among the different stakeholders that push our economy and community forward. We are looking to partner with small local businesses, whose successes will attract other businesses to set up shop here. Our COVID-19 Business Task Force is called upon to play a major role in that effort. Parallel to our robust financial services and biopharma sectors, Chester County has been a launching pad for several information and technology companies, coupled with intellectual-property firms. In 2018, we officially launched a program called Venture Chesco, in which we partnered with Ben Franklin Technology Partners to fund venture startups and small businesses as long as they locate and grow in Chester County. In turn, this fosters the intellectual capital of young, small businesses, which are critical to us. What are Chester County’s top priorities in 2021? Our top priority, in collaboration with our health department, is to ensure the health and success of our residents. Protection from the virus is certainly critical, but so is the health of our businesses. We’re putting tremendous effort into “Restore Chester County” and our COVID-19 Business Task Force. We will continue to implement the same prudent fiscal management that we always have. We remain optimistic.
