Region's Business 2 May 2013 by Independence Media

RAGS TO RICHES IN RECESSION SENATOR NOT SOLD ON LIQUOR PLAN

INTRODUCING THE 87ERS

REGION’S BUSINESS

PHILADELPHIA EDITION

A JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND POLITICS

TAKING AIM AT REDUCING

CITY CRIME Violent crime is dropping across Philadelphia, but some neighborhoods don’t see a difference

PA UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS AS FEWER LOOK FOR WORK SILVER LINING FOR CORBETT DESPITE POLLS WHAT’S NEXT FOR PROJECT LIBERTY?

2 MAY 2013

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2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

CONTENTS

1519 Walnut Street

How Safe Is Philadelphia?

Roebuck Seeks Compensation For The Wrongfully Convicted

Feeling Safe Is Good For Business

Q+A: Rip Tilden, GPSEG Chairman

25 Downtown Philly Ahead of the Curve REGION’S BUSINESS A JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & POLITICS

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YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

Finding Diversity in Design Work

Diary of a Startup: Startup Life Not Without Chaos

Recession-Proof Rags-to-Riches Business Tips

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x x PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER James D. McDonald EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Karl M. Smith ASSOCIATE EDITOR Terrence Casey CONTRIBUTORS Brandon Baker, Eric Boehm, Melissa Daniels, Timothy Holwick, Erin Rowley PROOFREADER Denise Gerstenfield ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Larry Smallacombe DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Deirdre Affel

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2 MAY 2013

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EDITOR’S DESK

Why Feeling Safe is Good for Business

Karl Smith is the Editorial Director for Region’s Business. You can contact him at ksmith@regionsbusiness.com.

o you feel safe? After all of the statistics and pronouncements, it comes down to that: Do you feel safe? Two recent events have shown that we are by nature a people driven by emotion, even in the face of overwhelming statistical evidence. First, the tragic bombings in Boston. Despite clear evidence this was an isolated incident, the impact continues. The local Penn Relays feature bolstered security and the city’s train stations are enjoying a much stronger police presence since the bombings. Then there was the hacking of the Associated Press Twitter account. The hackers tweeted there had been an explosion at the White House and President Barack Obama was injured. Despite the lack of evidence and without any indication that business in America had changed even a smidge, the stock market went into a total freefall, though thankfully a short one. Still, the point is clear: Perception is more important than reality.

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In Philadelphia, the reality is that crime is dropping, both in sheer number of crimes and in the more statistically resilient measure of crimes per thousand residents. Even better, the murder rate has plummeted. Right now, the city is on pace to have the fewest homicides in at least seven years. Take it a step further and the number of violent crimes are also spiraling downward. Now, no need to be Pollyanna about things. Philadelphia can be a dangerous place. And there are particular spots and neighborhoods where you just don’t want to be. But the facts indicate it’s safer than it’s been in years and getting safer. On a personal level, this is important to all of us, of course. It’s human nature to want to feel safe and secure. Taken to more pragmatic level, this is good for the region. If people feel safe in Philadelphia, they’ll come. And when they come, they’ll bring their wallets. That’s a simple recipe for economic activity. It starts with locals deciding it’s worth it

to come into The City. It spreads to people in the region and beyond who realize that not only is the city a safe place, but there are thousands of attractions that make it a great vacation destination. As the message that Philadelphia is a safe(r) place to visit grows, organizations are more likely to choose it for a business meeting or convention, which brings in huge numbers of tourists. When it comes to emotion, momentum is a powerful tool, as we saw with the Boston bombings and the AP Twitter hacking. The reverse can also be true, but it’s a much tougher task. We’re engineered to be defensive and protective, so the slightest hint that there’s danger will trigger a negative response. With a steady stream of newscasts highlighting bad news, it’s an uphill battle. The facts are there, despite what the fearmongers would have us believe. So maybe the question shouldn’t be, do we feel safe? Instead: How can we convince ourselves to feel safe?

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

ENERGY

Brokers Chosen for PGW Sale Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Philadelphia Gas Works CEO Craig White announced that J.P. Morgan Securities and Loop Capital Markets will serve as the city’s sales brokers for the potential sale of the Philadelphia Gas Works. The firms will manage the sale process toward a potential sale on a contingency fee basis, meaning they will be paid only if the sale of PGW is completed and approved by City Council and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. HEALTH CARE

St. Mary To Open Rehab Hospital in Bucks County St. Mary Medical Center will open an acute rehabilitation hospital in Bucks County, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. The 50-bed, $20.5 million center will be the result of a collaboration with Centerre Healthcare Corp. of Nashville, Tenn., according to the report. The two groups will share the cost of construction. EDUCATION

Hite Recommends Against New Charters Philadelphia School District Superintendent William Hite said he will not recommend any expansions of charter school next year, TheNotebook.org reported. “Given our dire financial prospects, we must ask for shared sacrifices from our partners,” said Superintendent Hite in a statement. “It would be irresponsible for the District to endorse charter expansion while asking our principals to do the impossible with school budgets.”

WEEKLY BRIEFING

Top Pennsylvania Senator Not Sold On Privatization of Liquor Stores BY MELISSA DANIELS HARRISBURG — Whether in a fastfood drive-through or with lawmakers in Harrisburg, people want to talk about liquor, said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson. “I took my son to the drive-through at McDonald’s last week to get a large French fry. The gal that handed me my bag out the window said, ‘Do you think the state stores are going to be privatized?’” Sen. Scarnati said during a speech at the Pennsylvania Press Club on Monday. The crowd laughed. But Sen. Scarnati got serious when he talked about the attention privatization is getting in Harrisburg. “Everybody wants to talk about liquor and that’s fine, we can talk about liquor,” he said. “But my point is, let’s not forget we have a budget.” Attention has turned toward the state Senate since the House passed House Bill 790, which would effectively close all state-owned wine and liquor stores and create a new private licensing system. There’s little to no support for the bill as written in the Senate, according to Sen. Scarnati. But that doesn’t mean lawmakers aren’t still furiously crafting and re-drafting proposals to get some type of liquor bill passed and sent to Gov. Tom Corbett. Tuesday, senators addressed the issue during a public hearing headed by the Senate Law and Justice Committee. Sen. Scarnati said while access to liquor is important to his constituents, what’s more important is a plan that works. “The last thing I want to be part of is creating another system that doesn’t work,” he said. “Let’s get it right.” The state must constitutionally pass a budget by June 30, but Gov. Corbett has outlined three major proposals for passage along the same timeline — privatization, pension reform and transportation funding. Sen. Scarnati said it’s time for lawmakers to start talking about the budget in concert with these policy changes. So far, caucus leaders and the administra-

YOU CANNOT GO IN AND SHUT THE LCB OFF LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH AND IT’S NOT GOING TO COST THE STATE BUDGET SOMETHING THIS YEAR OR THE FOLLOWING YEAR. WE HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THAT.’ — SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE JOE SCARNATI

tion haven’t had any substantive meetings, he said. On top of that, the state is facing revenue shortfalls, he said. “You cannot go in and shut the LCB off like a light switch and it’s not going to cost the state budget something this year or the following year,” Sen. Scarnati said. “We have to account for that.” But if privatization in some form is to happen, Sen. Scarnati said, the Senate aims to find a balance between the “ideology” of getting the state out of the liquor business without compromising existing private-sector businesses. “It’s not just about grocery stores, it’s about beer distributors, too and we have to understand that,” Sen. Scarnati said. Sen. Scarnati has a long history in the restaurant business, and he said it’s not fair to penalize liquor license holders who’ve played by the rules by suddenly expanding their local competition. He also received $6,500 in campaign contributions from the Pennsylvania Beer Alliance in the 2012 election cycle, the most of any state lawmaker that year. A compromise could wind up keeping state stores open. Sen. Scarnati is a cosponsor of a proposal from Sen. John McIlhinney, R-Bucks, that would allow beer distributors to sell wine and spirits. Such a bill would expand retail outlets without selling off the state system altogether or shutting down the finan-

cially lucrative wholesale end of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. Sen. McIlhinney, chairman of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, held a hearing on liquor privatization Tuesday. Republicans hold a one-seat majority in the Senate, meaning 26 of their 27 members must favor a proposal for passage. As Sen. Scarnati put it, there’s no room for “slippage.” But Senate Democrats prefer a plan to modernize the state stores that expands hours and pricing models to make the LCB as much as $100 million more in revenue a year. Caucus members are concerned privatization would increase alcohol consumption to Pennsylvania’s detriment. Modernization wouldn’t go as far, they say. Senate Minority Appropriations Chairman Vince Hughes, D-Philadelphia, said the last thing a distressed community — one with high unemployment, drugs or already-high alcohol consumption — needs is more places to buy booze. “There’s a difference between the number of hours a wine and spirits shops are open versus the number of outlets and retail outlets in a community,” Sen. Hughes said.

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BRIEFING

MEDICAID

Report Points To State Savings, Federal Costs From Expansion BY ERIC BOEHM HARRISBURG — Taxpayers will be on the hook for additional costs if Pennsylvania decides to expand Medicaid in accordance with the federal health care law, but the those additional tax dollars will flow from the federal government, not from the state. A new report from Pennsylvania’s Independent Fiscal Office says Pennsylvania would save about $220 million annually over the first eight years of the expansion, which would begin in 2014. Most of those savings would be concentrated in the first three years. However, federal spending on Pennsylvania would increase by about $3.2 billion over the same period. “Most [savings]would be generated by transferring individuals currently served by General Assistance to the federally-funded Medicaid program,” said Matt Knittel, IFO executive director. Under the provisions of the federal health care reform law, Medicaid coverage will be expanded to 133 percent of the federal poverty level from the current ceiling of 100 percent, beginning in 2014. The report projects Medicaid expansion will provide health insurance coverage to 440,000 individuals, with about half of those being previously uninsured and the other half currently insured with private or employer-funded plans. The federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs for those newly eligible for Medicaid during the first three years of the expansion, with declining levels of subsidies in future years. This article was originally published at PAIndependent.com.

PA Sees Unemployment Drop, Fewer People Looking For Work BY ERIC BOEHM HARRISBURG — Beneath an optimistic top line, several bothersome facts lurk inside Pennsylvania’s March jobs report. The unemployment rate in the Keystone State fell to 7.9 percent, from 8.1 percent in February. While that reduction leaves the state three ticks above the federal mark of 7.6 percent last month, the more worrying aspects of the report are the decline in people working and those looking for work. According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people working in Pennsylvania tumbled by about 14,000 in March, following a drop of 6,000 in February. Those reductions in employment were accompanied by a 33,000 reduction in the state’s labor force — the measure of people working or actively seeking work — during March. The decline in the labor force effectively disguised the drop in employment and gave Pennsylvania a twonotch reduction in the unemployment rate. Jake Haulk, a former economist with the Federal Reserve who now serves as president of the Allegheny Institute, a free market think tank in Pittsburgh, said Pennsylvania took its share of a national economic slowdown during the first quarter of the year that caused 500,000 Americans to leave the labor force. “If you look at it right now, there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot of strength in any sector,” Mr. Haulk said. “The negative incentives out there are just overwhelming.” He pointed to the increase in payroll taxes that took effect in January and uncertainty in the business community about higher taxes that may be necessary to pay for the new federal health care law and the nation’s ballooning debt. The weakness in Pennsylvania’s economy is of particular interest since the state seemed to avoid the worst of the recession since it began in 2008. After months of losses, Pennsylvania’s job count bottomed out in February 2010 at 4.8 million. A year later, the state had

gained 110,000 jobs and added another 85,000 jobs by February 2012. The state maintained an unemployment rate better than the national average for that entire period. But the numbers have flat-lined in the 13 months since, with private employment growing by a mere 1,000 jobs, according to the March report. Matt Knittel, director of the Independent Fiscal Office, which plays a number-crunching role similar to the federal Congressional Budget Office, said the slowdown in recovery during February and March follows a pattern that has occurred in each of the past two years. He said it is hard to pin-down a single cause for this year’s problems, though he agreed issues like the payroll tax hike and the sequester were more likely to blame than anything at the state level. He said the federal changes “were like flipping a switch” and were therefore more likely to disrupt a tenuous economic recovery, though job growth should return later in the year. “We’re cautiously optimistic that once the economy absorbs those hits — and the payroll tax cut was not a small matter — we’re expecting it to pick up later this year,” Mr. Knittel said. Though not as bad as this year, the

first quarters of 2011 and 2012 were also slow in the job growth department. Mr. Knittel attributed those issues to a combination of the financial crisis in Europe and uncertainty in Congress over federal issues like the raising of the debt ceiling. In a statement announcing the sobering jobs data for March, Labor and Industry Secretary Julia Hearthway said “Pennsylvania continues to see positive signs for our economy as we cautiously, but steadily, grow out of this recession.” Democrats blasted the Corbett administration while pointing to figures that show Pennsylvania ranked 49th in the nation for job creation during March. Only Wyoming did worse. “The whole focus should be how do we get people back working, how do we improve the state’s economy,” said state Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia. He suggested a temporary suspension of a planned phase-out of one corporate tax as a way to generate more revenue for the state that could be used to invest in job creation programs. Mr. Haulk said Pennsylvania’s policymakers should try to improve the business climate in the state to grow jobs, rather than chasing tax revenue directly. This article was originally published by Pennsylvania Independent at PAIndependent.com.

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BRIEFING

NEIGHBORHOODS

Magazine Taps City’s Hottest Neighborhoods

What’s In The Neighborhood? East Passyunk Avenue & Pennsport WHAT’S IN TOWN?

Le Virtu

BY JEN HELLER MESERVEY The Philadelphia real estate market is finally on the upswing, and many neighborhoods have gone through huge transformations, bringing new housing, restaurants, shops and residents to town. Philadelphia magazine compiled its “Hot List 2013,” a listing of the 15 hottest neighborhoods in and around Philly. Here are just a few of the up-and-coming neighborhoods that made the top 10: No. 1: Graduate Hospital With high walkability and proximity to the city’s attractions, Graduate Hospital has quickly become one of Philly’s hottest neighborhoods. It is home to a high number of artists and has a lower crime rate than the average neighborhood. Property values in Graduate Hospital have increased rapidly over the last year, attracting many investors and first-time homebuyers. No. 4: Fishtown/Kensington Over the last few years, Fishtown has been seeing growth from all different demographics. Residents love that it has a city feel without the high city prices. Property values in Fishtown are rising steadily as it is becoming one of the coolest neighborhoods in Philly. No. 7: Avenue of the Arts Avenue of the Arts has recently seen a surge of high-end apartments, condos, and townhouses. Property values have risen to Main Line levels as it has become the neighborhood of choice for edgy young professionals with cash to burn. The completion of the Kimmel Center in 2001 transformed the Avenue of the Arts into the city’s cultural center. This article was originally published at PhillyLiving.com.

B. KRIST FOR GPTMC

An impressive wine list complements the authentic Abruzzese cuisine prepared in an open kitchen. An intimate dining room and outdoor patio complete the warm and rustic atmosphere, and the seasonal menu melds local produce and meats with artisanal delicacies like honey and sheep’s milk cheeses imported from Italy’s Abruzzi region. 1927 E. Passyunk Avenue, (215) 271-5626, levirtu.com

Will BYOB Passyunk Square hosts the “Singing Fountain” and is surrounded by Italian eateries.

J. FUSCO FOR GPTMC

or years, insiders have flocked borders are subject to debate. An area home to Mummers’ clubhouses to South Philadelphia’s East Passyunk Avenue for its restau- (note: Be there on New Year’s Day) and rants, particularly its red-gravy Italian historically blue-collar families, Pennsport is experiencing the beginnings of its own spots. The neighborhood surrounding the revitalization, thanks to a newly upgraded avenue — a diagonal interruption to park, a farmers’ market and healthy lineup Philadelphia’s grid layout — has enjoyed of new bars, coffee shops and restaurants. With young residents moving in every revitalizations in recent years, creating a sort of renaissance for the thoroughfare day, businesses that have been around for decades are getting well-deserved recogniitself. Visitors who stroll down Passyunk (pro- tion and an expanding clientele. EAST PASSYUNK AVENUE: nounced pashunk by those in the know) Those coming from Center City can find eclectic boutiques, coffee shops, vintage clothing stores, gastropubs, excellent walk (30 minutes from City Hall), take a Mexican and sushi fare, as well as the cab or hop on the subway. For the underamazing Italian eateries that first made ground option, people take the Broad this street famous — not to mention the Street (Orange) Line, which runs north two across-the-street cheesesteak rivals, and south along Broad Street, south to the Pat’s King of Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. Tasker/Morris or Snyder stations, dependGenerally, the area known as East ing on the destination. Bus devotees can Passyunk stretches from Washington take the Route 23 option, which rides Avenue in the north to McKean Street in south on 12th Street and crosses Passyunk the south, plus a few blocks east and west Avenue. of the street. PENNSPORT: Just a few steps east is Pennsport, a People coming from East Passyunk need neighborhood bordered by the Delaware only to hop on the #29 bus, which runs River to the east, 4th Street to the west, east along Morris Street. Of course, visiWashington Avenue to the north and tors can also hop in a cab for a short ride Snyder Avenue to the south, though the or opt to walk to the area.

Chef/Owner Will Christopher Kearse wows his guests with modern, French-inspired dishes served in a small, beautifully appointed BYOB restaurant. Mr. Kearse’s meticulous and creative plate presentation looks almost too good to eat. Almost. 1911 E. Passyunk Avenue, (215) 271-7683, willbyob.com

Caffe Valentino Smells of authentic Pugliese cuisine waft through this newly expanded BYOB. Even with the addition of a second floor, Caffe Valentino retains a warm, homey atmosphere, complementing comfort dishes such as risotto with sautéed mussels, shrimp and calamari in white wine sauce. Outdoor seating tempts passersby in warmer months, and each Tuesday, guests enjoy a wallet-friendly four-course dinner. Wharton & Moyamensing Streets, (215) 336-3033, caffevalentino.com VISITPHILLY.COM

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BRIEFING EXECUTIVE BOOKSHELF

WHO TO FOLLOW

@DanielleCohn Danielle Cohn, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau vice president of marketing and communications, has the pulse of innovation in Philadelphia. RT @DanielleCohn: Congrats @ GreenLightPHL on first two investments. Exciting news for #PHL! Welcome @ singlestop and @yearup! RT @DanielleCohn: Big turnout at @startupleaders Entrepreneur Expo tonight! So many businesses being born right here in #PHL #PHLmade @PhillyTechWeek

MUST-HAVE APP

New Digital Age

TripWhat

As Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen’s nuanced vision of the near future unfolds, an urban professional takes his driverless car to work, attends meetings via hologram and dispenses housekeeping robots by voice; a Congolese fisherwoman uses her smart phone to monitor market demand and coordinate sales; the potential arises for “virtual statehood” and “Internet asylum” to liberate political dissidents and oppressed minorities, but also for tech-savvy autocracies (and perhaps democracies) to exploit their citizens’ mobile devices for ever more ubiquitous surveillance. Inspiring, provocative and absorbing, The New Digital Age is a brilliant analysis of how our hyperconnected world will soon look, from two of our most prescient and informed public thinkers. Amazon.com

Use TripWhat to explore or plan a trip in your favorite city! TripWhat shows you the best restaurants, attractions and events near you. Whether you’re looking for the best food to eat, or looking for what to do today or this weekend, or even find things to do near you, this app is for you. TripWhat.com GOTTA-HAVE-IT GADGET

Fisheye for iPhone The Magnet Mount Conversion Fisheye Lens from Digital King ($42) is an external lens that attaches to your phone to allow you to capture fisheye images. The magnetic mount system employs a powerful yet iPhone-safe magnet for a secure attachment onto your phone and makes it easy to remove. Google.com

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP

El Vez Hosting Cinco de Mayo Block Party What: Cinco de Mayo Block Party at El Vez When: Noon to 9 p.m., May 5 Where: 121 S. 13th Street Cost: Pay as you go The smells and tastes of Mexico will fill 13th Street as El Vez sets up pop-up food and drink stands along the street. Festive Mexican libations will certainly be flowing. Sip on El Vez’s famously potent Margaritas or enjoy a cold Corona or Modelo Especial. Pair your food and drink with live music. The celebration brings the tunes of Latin America to the forefront with a performance by El Vez, otherwise known as The Mexican Elvis.

When a Hotel isn’t the Answer Furnished park view residences with spacious living rooms, full kitchens and hotel amenities, available by the week or month. Residents enjoy preferred seating at a.kitchen, AKA Rittenhouse Square’s award winning restaurant.

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UWISHUNU.COM

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

DEALBOOK

PHARMACEUTICAL

Auxilium Acquires Actient Holdings Urology Franchise Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, announced it has completed the acquisition of Actient Holdings LLC, a private urology specialty therapeutics company, for $585 million in upfront cash plus certain contingent consideration and warrants to purchase Auxilium common stock. Auxilium expects to receive a tax benefit, with a net present value of approximately $60 million, as a result of the acquisition of Actient. Actient’s urology portfolio includes Testopel, Edex, Striant, and Osbon ErecAid.

76ers Acquire, Rename 87ers

University of Delaware’s Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del.

The Philadelphia 76ers organization has completed the purchase of the operating rights for a NBA Development League team from the Utah Flash, which went on hiatus two seasons ago. The franchise will relocate to Delaware and play in the 2013-14 NBA D-League season, which runs from November through April. The Delaware 87ers will play its games on the campus of the University of Delaware at The Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del. Financial terms were not disclosed.

UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE

REAL ESTATE

1429 Market Street Sold For $5.775M Fifteen floors of the 16-story 1429 Market Street sold at auction for $5.775 million, Philadelphia Magazine reported. The starting bid for the Center City property was $950,000.. Excluded from the sale was the first floor retail condo, which is occupied by Armani Exchange. About 42 percent of the property is leased to regional businesses, “predominately traditional office users in the law, real estate and communications fields,” according to the auction listing. “The building, constructed in 1916, features high ceilings, an attractive lobby and desirable southern and western views,” the listing reads. “Situated in the heart of the Central Business District of Philadelphia, the Property is located amongst the most expensive and soughtafter real estate in the city.”

2 MAY 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Current Course of Democrats Could Cure Corbett Polling Blues Eric Boehm is bureau chief for PA Independent, a project of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity

CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

HARRISBURG — A new poll released Monday was more of the same for Gov. Tom Corbett — bad approval ratings and worsening prospects for his re-election in 2014. The Quinnipiac University poll that surveyed 1,200 registered Pennsylvania voters is unlikely to help Gov. Corbett’s status as one of the most endangered governors in the country heading into next year. The New York Times political guru Nate Silver has named him as the third most vulnerable incumbent in the nation and the Washington Post has put Gov. Corbett in its top five gubernatorial races to watch. By a margin of 50-32, voters polled said that Gov. Corbett did not deserve a second term in office. Though 60 percent of Republicans said Gov. Corbett should get four more years in office, 72 percent of Democrats said “no,” and his numbers with independent voters were deep underwater as well, with 49 percent opposing re-election for Corbett while only 27 percent said he should get a second term. When matched up against the three perceived Democratic frontrunners, Gov. Corbett’s performance was not much better. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2010, beat Gov. Corbett 48-34 percent. U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz did nearly as well, beating Gov. Corbett by a margin of 47-34 percent. And state Treasurer Rob McCord was ahead 44-35 percent. Even though nearly 60 percent of Democratic voters said they don’t have a choice in the primary, Tim Malloy, Quinnipiac’s pollster, said voters across the board were “doing their ABCs — anybody but Corbett.” This new poll is nothing but bad news for Gov. Corbett, but if he wants to look hard enough there is a small silver lining. No, make that two. First, the election isn’t next week. It will be more than 18 months

POLL RESULTS

50%

Polled voters who said Gov. Tom Corbett does not deserve a second term

32%

before Gov. Corbett has to go head-to-head with the eventual Democratic nominee in front of the voters of Pennsylvania. Polls have a tendency to change when given a long enough period of time. Second, Democrats might be handing Gov. Corbett a lucky break — or throwing him a lifeline, depending on how bad of shape you think the governor is in — by lining up for what appears to be a lengthy and bloody primary. There is little doubt that Mr. Sestak and Rep. Schwartz are the front-runners in the primary. It should be noted that Mr. Sestak has yet to officially declare his candidacy, but he did raise more than $460,000 during the first quarter of 2013, so it seems certain he is running for something. Despite their front-runner status, neither Mr. Sestak nor Rep. Schwartz got more than 15 percent of the primary vote among those polled by Quinnipiac. And already, some prominent Democratic king-makers are lining up behind other candidates. U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, a key Philadelphia party leader, is backing state Sen. Michael Stack, D-Philadelphia. And former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty, could win support from her old boss: former Gov. Ed Rendell. “At the end of the day, my guess is

we will coalesce around one or two candidates and go from there,” said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, on Monday. But even if that happens, Gov. Corbett’s silver lining is still there. A Schwartz victory in the primary is the best possible outcome for Gov. Corbett. She is probably the candidate who stands farthest to the left among the crowded field in the primary — certainly she is farther to the left than fellow-frontrunner Mr. Sestak. That may bode well for her in the closed primary process where only Democrats can vote, but it could leave the party with a candidate who struggles to win votes outside the Philadelphia suburbs. Mr. Sestak is a tougher match-up for Gov. Corbett —if he decides to get into the race. Aside from his more moderate views in a politically moderate state, Mr. Sestak enjoys statewide name recognition and has experience running a statewide campaign, two things that Rep. Schwartz lacks. But can he win a closed primary against a well-funded candidate who can outflank him to the left? Time will tell. Either way, Gov. Corbett has a lot of work to do if he wants to win a second term. The Democrats might be trying to throw him a rope, but unless the governor can turn around his fading poll numbers, it won’t be enough.

Polled voters who said Gov. Corbett does deserve a second term

48%

Polled voters who said they would vote for former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak (who has not declared he is running) over Gov. Corbett

47%

Polled voters who said they would vote for U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz over Gov. Corbett

44%

Polled voters who said they would vote for state Treasurer Rob McCord over Gov. Corbett

2 MAY 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Council Passes LGBT Healthcare Incentive Bill

Timothy Holwick is a freelance writer covering Philadelphia government. Find more coverage at citycouncilmatters.com. CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

Philadelphia City Council passed last week a landmark bill which provides tax incentives to businesses that extend healthcare benefits to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual community (“LGBT”). The measure is recognized as the first of its kind, and news of it has spread well beyond the borders of Philadelphia. The bill passed by a vote of 14 to 3, with Council Members David Oh (R), Brian O’Neill (R), and Bill Green (D) voting against the legislation. The bill will need Mayor Michael Nutter’s signature before it becomes law, but the mayor has stated he intends to sign the bill. The bill was introduced by Councilman Jim Kenney and sponsored by him and Councilman Wilson Goode. It offers a tax incentive to businesses who adjust their insurance coverage to include the families of same-sex partners. The new law would offer a similar benefit to employers who offer health benefits to transgender employees.

The bill also extends certain rights to “life partners” in various portions of the Philadelphia City Code. Those topics, to name a few, include: healthcare decision-making, gender neutrality on many city forms, and it requires health insurance offered to Philadelphia City employees to cover transgender individuals, including any sex-change operations. Additionally, the bill provides for equality in access to public accommodations based upon the individual’s gender identity, gender-neutral bathrooms in city-controlled buildings, the right to dress consistently with one’s gender identity, and ensuring the right of transgender individuals to request name and gender changes on pertinent records. Council Members voting against the bill cited health insurance coverage for gender operations as a snag for them in supporting the legislation. Councilman Kenney had stated previously that transgender health coverage was a problem. The goal of his legislation was

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to incentivize private-sector companies to do the right thing and extend this type of coverage to their employees if they do not already do so. Philadelphia already ranked well among groups who look at a city’s municipal laws and their impact on the LGBT community. The Human Rights Campaign gave Philadelphia a perfect score on this issue just last year. This bill will certainly improve that reputation, but it is particularly unique in its involvement of the business community as a mechanism for social change. It is one thing for laws to require accessibility and gender neutrality, but it is certainly another to incentivize businesses to extend everyday benefits to more members of the LGBT community. It is yet to be seen how many businesses will tax advantage of the tax credits, but it stands to reason that some will have to look at it as an opportunity to “do the right thing” as Councilman Kenney says.

2 MAY 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Obamacare Revealed No Be No Promised Panacea

Charlie Gerow is CEO of Quantum Communications, a Harrisburg-based public relations and issue advocacy firm.

CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

Last fall I wrote in this column about the famous Nancy Pelosi comment that passing Obamacare was necessary so we could know what was actually in it. That was in the early days of implementation of this gargantuan health-care-system restructuring. While the administration was already light years behind its own schedule, I detailed some of the implementation nightmares created by cumbersome, costly and, ultimately, unmanageable Obamacare. Mine was just a small voice in a litany of others that were sounding the alarm about the near impossibility of implementing the incredible complexity of this massive government overreach. The cascade of criticism has continued and grown louder. “It’s a train wreck;” “Beyond comprehension;” and, “Let’s just make sure [implementation of Obamacare] isn’t a third-world experience,” were renewed statements of frustration and concern. What makes these particular blasts remarkable is that they do not come from conservative Republicans. They were uttered, respectively, by Democratic Senators Max Baucus and Jay Rockefeller, and Obama’s own czar in charge of putting the health care exchanges in place. The majority of the states, Pennsylvania included, opted not to even set up these socalled “exchanges,” bureaucracies to regulate

the structure and sale of health insurance for the tens of millions who will now receive taxpayer-subsidized coverage. Earlier this week Governor Tom Corbett joined several other governors at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Summit. Their message: Obamacare is destined to fail. Their reasoning is pure logic and simple economics. The principle reason for their prediction is the number of small businesses who are opting out of Obamacare, choosing instead to pay the fines (taxes) levied as penalties. The law requires employers with 50 or more workers to provide health care coverage or pay a penalty of $2,000 for each employee over 30. As with any artificial limit, those seeking to avoid penalization find ways to get up to the line of demarcation without crossing it. Under Obamacare that means bad things for workers. Many will lose their jobs in order for small businesses to get employment under the “magic number.” Obamacare is a job killer. Hourly rate workers will see their hours cut. Obamacare has an additional threshold so that those working less than 30 hours a week aren’t calculated in the tax penalty scheme. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 10 million part-time workers are on the job between 30 and 34

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hours a week. It’s not difficult to see that reducing their workweeks to 29 hours is easy tax-penalty avoidance without any dire consequence to the workplace. The workers who need that income the most are the ones who will suffer. Additionally, some workers will see their pay cut, as some small businesses will be forced to pay additional tax penalties because their policies don’t carry additional benefits mandated by Obamacare. Some claim that Obamacare is a cynically crafted disaster, designed to push employers to opt out, thereby forcing people into insurance exchanges. That would be tantamount to a singlepayer system, something the Democrats have lusted after, but they’ve never been able to muster enough votes in Congress. Whether or not that is true, this much is certain: Obamacare is anything but the panacea its supporters promised and some still maintain. It is an increasingly bureaucratic nightmare, with more negative consequences than positive solutions. Obamacare was the defining aspect of the Republican “sea change” 2010 mid-term elections. With implementation of Obamacare set to really set in at the end of 2013, and as many as 40 million Americans damaged by it, 2014 may be a sequel.

2 MAY 2013

2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Final Class, No Further Funding: What’s Next For Project Liberty? BY CHRISTOPHER WINK

Steadily, but almost quietly, Philadelphia has become a hotspot for entrepreneurs. The combination of great ideas, available capital and a welcoming environment have set the stage to make 2013 a breakout year for innovation and new businesses. To Learn More ... For more information on sponsorship opportunities or to suggest story ideas, call our main office at 610-940-1656. The web: RegionsBusiness.com Facebook: Facebook.com/regionsbusiness Twitter: @RegionsBusiness Sponsored by

ike the broader media industry, there isn’t certainty about the future of Project Liberty, the startup incubator housed by the parent company of Philly.com since its 2011 launch. Its third class of startups — the final as part of an initial $250,000 grant from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation — are in the tail end of their tenure at the new Market East newsroom of Interstate General Media, which also publishes the Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. Project Liberty organizers are awaiting a renewal of the grant and expect to seek new applicants next month, but no final word has landed. As the program has worked thus far, no money or equity exchanged hands between IGM and the startups. Instead, the incubator, one leg of a digital strategy shepherded by former publisher Greg Osberg that also included an abortive tabletsubscription effort, is meant to be a collaborative one: 1) IGM has housed the companies and was charged with giving them access to newspaper staff 2) Ben Franklin Technology Partners/SEP is the nonprofit that actually received and managed the funding and has, in some cases, invested in some of the companies. 3) DreamIt Ventures is said to offer mentorship and strategy. 4) Drexel University has connected the company to co-op technical interns. As its first two-year, three-class cycle closes, Project Liberty, which less than a year ago brought on the earnest Cory Donovan, a former small-town Virginia tech council president, to serve part-time as the program’s first project manager, opened its doors for Philly Tech Week in an event titled “The Transformation of a Digital Incubator.” The event, featuring two panels moderated by Terry Hicks, vice president of the investment group for Ben Franklin, was something of

A View From My Seat is a community-driven photo sharing app that allows users to submit the perspective from specified seats at sports and concerts. AVIEWFROMMYSEAT.COM

a followup to a carefully orchestrated affair in the old Inquirer building during the 2011 Tech Week. Despite the criticisms that followed that first class — some of which have been addressed for subsequent startups — that April 2011 event seemed too staged, suggesting success. At one point in that event, Mr. Hicks, who also moderated then, asked a Knight Foundation representative if he thought the program had received more attention nationally or internationally. If last week’s 2013 version was a bit more grounded, it didn’t fully address what the future looked like for the program, with no committed funding and an always uncertain ownership situation. But it’s clear the effort to put small media startups in the same newsroom as large news organizations that can be valuable first clients is valuable — as seen by the New York Times following the idea — and Project Liberty is a much improved experience from its first go-round. Rumble, a white-label mobile news app service that was part of the second Project Liberty class, got direct access to sales and IT staff during its time there, said CEO Al Azoulay during a conversation last year while still a part of the incu-

bator. (Earlier this year, Rumble received follow-on funding from BFTP, helped no doubt by its stint in the newsroom.) That improvement seemed to be echoed at last week’s event. One of the night’s two panels featured the CEOs of the incubator’s current class — A View From My Seat, a community driven photo sharing app for sports and concert fans, TuvaLabs, which helps students learn math through the news, and tapCLIQ, a user engagement and advertising platform for mobile devices. Missy Lehto of A View From My Seat, Chirantan Bhatt of tapCLIQ and Harshil Parikh of TuvaLabs, all CEO’s of their startups, shared their experiences working with Interstate General Media. “From an employee perspective, we have progressed further. From a customer count prospective, we have progressed further, so for a small company, it seems it’s an all around progress that we’ve been achieving, and that’s been very transformative for us as a business and for me individually to be a part of it,” Mr. Bhatt said. This article was originally published by Technical.ly Philly at TPhilly.com.

2 MAY 2013

CAPITAL SEEKERS

Business: Supportify Founder: Jordan Yaker Contact: jordan.e.yaker@gmail.com

BY BRANDON BAKER When 32-year-old Jordan Yaker moved to Philadelphia in Summer 2011 from Texas, he had come from a less-thanwelcoming environment of tech startups. “In Texas, the environment for startups just isn’t the same. People are a little more protective of their ideas, and they aren’t keen on sharing,” Mr. Yaker said. “Philadelphia is a very, very open community … It’s good to be able to talk to someone about an idea, and they give honest feedback.” Today, he spends three days a week nested in co-working space Indy Hall, where he manages his dynamic mobile support service, Supportify. The February-launched service, which has Mr. Yaker putting together in-app “help” functionality for clients, began as an internal project with consulting firm Inventive Mind. After creating a tech demo, it occurred to him that it was a project worth expanding upon. “Support is something that tends to be a pretty big pain in a lot of applications – everyone wants an easier solution than writing emails all day long to their customers,” Mr. Yaker said. “I’ve built a tool that I would personally use.” Mr. Yaker noted that one of his first clients came from a fellow startup at Indy Hall. Cyclops, a game developer, mentioned in conversation that they’d had problems explaining a game’s features to users. “It got to a point where their lead graphic designer ended up spending most of his days writing emails to customers how features were supposed to work – it was the same thing, over and over again. So I approached them early on and said, ‘Hey, have you guys thought about using this?’” Mr. Yaker said. “Ideally, this isn’t just for customers.” Mr. Yaker has yet to roll out a plan for fundraising, but he continues to seek help developing add-ons for his service. He’s banking on word of mouth and bootstrapping to invigorate the Supportify brand. “One of the things I’ve tried to do is let this take on a life of its own,” he said. “And if people want to use it, they’ll use it.”

2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Finding Diversity in Design Work BY BRANDON BAKER

hen it comes to her daily business at Doylestown, Pa.based print and digital design studio MKJ Creative, Jen Whitesell’s worst fear is being pigeonholed. “I think that a lot of times people miss that if you’re in a niche market, they say, ‘Oh, they design for healthcare,’ – I don’t want to be known as the company that only designs for one segment,” Ms. Whitesell said. MKJ creative is entering its second decade of business, having grown from a basement venture in 2003 to a company with a revenue increase of 40 percent for 2012. The studio also boast three all-new employees – two of whom are Tyler School of Art graduates -- who have breathed new life into how the studio does business. “The difference between myself and how other studios do business, perhaps, is I’m bringing MKJ Creative’s Jen Whitesell SUBMITTED designers in to design, and then email campaigns and marriage campaigns [I] train them how to do the business of design. I’m not teaching them how of print and electronic media. “What’s changing for us is how we think to design,” Ms. Whitesell said. “If it ends up being one of those things where I just end about visuals, and how to communicate up teaching them how to design, and teach them. And with mobile, it’s so small that them how to design to the application, then you’re not going to have a site driven by I’d might as well just do it myself … I really a lot of words and technology,” she said. want them to design inside of their own “You’re going to have it be this quick answer – ‘Here’s your phone number; here’s what the interpretations.” Ms. Whitesell said the studio brings in company does.’ So it’s all about rethinking.” Though her current concentration is on about 30 clients per year, one of which is a Fortune 100 company that her team works evolving her studio’s designs and capitalizwith on a daily basis. Since 2009, Ms. Whi- ing on her new employees’ areas of expertise, tesell has put a special emphasis on design- she expressed eventual interest in opening a ing for digital platforms: mobile campaigns, Philadelphia MKJ location.

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MEETUP CALENDAR

PA Entrepreneurs and Funding Network Time: 6 p.m. Date: Monday, May 6 Place: Stratus Roof Top Lounge @ Hotel Monaco, 433 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia PA Tickets: Free with online RSVP or $10 at the door. Join us for an Entrepreneurs & Business Networking Party. Come hang out, network, share ideas, and meet other business professionals and entrepreneurs in the NY area.

May 2013 Philly Tech Meetup Time: 6:30 p.m. Date: Wednesday, May 8 Place: Quorum at the Science Center, 3711 Market Street, Floor 8, Philadelphia, Pa. What do tech startups like CloudMine, ElectNext, SnipSnap, Rumble, and tapCLIQ all have in common? Aside from calling Philly their home, the entrepreneurs behind these companies have all participated in the Project Liberty Digital Incubator (and demoed at Philly Tech Meetup). Join us at PTM as we host another Project Liberty Demo Day! Learn more about the program, and see demos from the latest batch to hatch from the incubator. Presenters: — A View From My Seat (Frank Panko & Missy Wedig) — TuvaLabs (Harshil Parikh) Guest Speaker: — Eddie Amos

MEETUP.COM

2 MAY 2013

2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

In His Own Words: Startup Life Not Without Chaos DIARY OF A STARTUP

Writing from the cabin of Amtrak’s New York train service, AutoAlpha founder David Wynne explains the franticness of startup life. On a dime, he and his business partner dropped their plans to explore a potentially game-changing opportunity. Region’s Business caught up with Mr. Wynne in the middle of his train-hopping hoopla to get an update on AutoAlpha’s progress.

In his words: tartup life isn’t without a few chaotic days, and we’re having our share of those here at AutoAlpha. We’re writing this update from an Amtrak train on the way to New York [on a] Monday morning, speeding along at a good clip despite a delay that nearly cost us a shot at $40,000. At 9 p.m. last night, we received an email that our application to Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in NYC (ERANYC) was reviewed and that they wanted us to pitch in person…tomorrow. Dave and I scrambled to lock in the 11:15 a.m. interview slot and booked a train instead of a bus to make sure we made it there in time. Lesson 1: Be ready to mobilize at a moment’s notice to pitch your business or yourself. We learned 30 minutes before departure that our train was delayed and was going to arrive after our time slot. Our email to ERANYC initially had no response and so

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we got a car and started driving to NYC with big hopes that we would make there in time. Luckily, before we jumped on the highway, we received confirmation for a later slot. Returning the car, we ran back to the train station and boarded, ecstatic to have a table so we can get some work done on the way.

Lesson 2: Prepare for any possible question and to defend all aspects of your business. We’re feeling good about our pitch today and are ready to pitch for the Business Plan Competition finals this Wednesday. In addition to ERANYC we’ve got $150,000 in total prizes at stake, so it’s a big week for AutoAlpha!

2 MAY 2013

2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Recession-Proof Tips from Rags-to-Riches CEO

Daniel Milstein is the author of “17 Cents and a Dream.” Find more informations at danmilstein.com. CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

Millions of Americans are suffering hardship due to the toughest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Unemployment remains critically high, even though companies and the stock market are doing well. But the challenges Americans on Main Street continue to face pale in comparison to those I endured after immigrating to the United States as a teenager from Kiev, Ukraine, during the last days of the USSR’s control of the Eastern Bloc. Everything was different; the food, the clothing and even the new English alphabet I was to learn, which has 26 letters instead of the 33 that I was used to. My family was allowed to leave with only one suitcase and $75 each — plus I had 17 cents for the postage necessary to send a letter to my friend in Ukraine. Impoverished, confused, feeling like an outsider and unable to speak English, I did what I knew best — hard work. I started by studying relentlessly and picking up every shift I could at the local McDonald’s.

I received a bachelor’s degree with cum laude honors in business management and an honorary doctorate degree from Cleary University. I became the founder and CEO of Gold Star Financial, the 42nd largest residential lender in the country. My company and I have continued to thrive throughout the recession, thanks in part to the lessons I learned as an immigrant: Land of opportunity: Despite my disadvantage, I was able to see the positives and the opportunities. Americans have the freedom to pursue a gamut of jobs; accepting those that require little skill may not pay well, but as long as you continue to educate yourself, they can be viewed as a steppingstone. Good, old-fashioned hard work: Like many of America’s previous generations, including those from the Great Depression, nothing was given to me. Even though I’m on top of my company, I still work harder than anyone else. I also make sure I know each of my employees and clients, and that they’re happy.

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Understanding the culture of your environment: Even while in Kiev, my family and I were outsiders because of our Jewish heritage. There, I had to understand the culture and adapt. It can be challenging to recognize when cultural tendencies that you’ve grown up with clash with those in an adopted culture, but I paid attention. When I realized my brusque, Soviet way of doing business was turning off U.S. customers, I worked on being warmer, friendlier, and a better listener. Listen to your elders: My mother taught me to always work five times harder than everyone else because “being Jewish, it will always be an uphill battle.” My grandfather told me to guard my name and reputation — “the only things you have in this world” and that I could become whatever I wanted, provided I was willing to work for it. As an adult, I found a mentor in an older business woman. One of the most valuable lessons she taught me was to “slow down and chew my food” — to take the time to enjoy life.

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2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

HOW SAFE IS PHILADELPHIA? Crime, especially violent crime, is down across the city. But while some gentrified neighborhoods are celebrating safer streets, others are bracing for a continued decline. BY ERIN ROWLEY

ichael Harris grew up in South Philadelphia’s Point Breeze neighborhood. As an adolescent, he started using and selling drugs and got involved with weapons and gang warfare. But after losing friends to violence and drugs, he realized he needed to get off that path. “Having once been part of the problem, I always wanted to become part of the solution and make a difference in the lives of people, so that they don’t have to make some of the same mistakes that I made,” Mr. Harris said. Mr. Harris does just that now, as Director of Field Operations at the Philadelphia Anti-Drug, Anti-Violence Network (PAN), which seeks to reduce the prevalence of violence and drugs in Philadelphia. PAN is one of many groups focused on battling Philadelphia’s crime problem at a neighborhood level.

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Since 2009, the Pew Charitable Trust has been evaluating Philadelphia in its “State of the City” report. Its evaluations over the years have been reminiscent of a parent, proud their child is doing better, but still sure they’re not living up to their full potential. In 2009, Pew declared that “crime—petty and major—clearly eats at the psyche and fabric of the city” but that there was “good news on the crime front in Philadelphia.” That good news was that crime was decreasing. Major crime, which includes murder, serious assaults, rape, robbery, burglary and theft, was down 15 percent from the last decade. The homicide rate had been rising mid-decade, but there was a 15 percent drop in murders between 2007 and 2008, from 392 to 333. And homicides and major crime during the 2000s were at their lowest levels since the ‘60s and ’70s, respectively. The excitement continued in the 2010 report, which stated “the incidence of major crimes has dropped to levels long unseen in Philadelphia, 73,581 of them in 2009 compared to 98,015 in 2000.” The report expressed disappointment in subsequent years as the drop in crime stalled. Major crime and homicide went up slightly in 2010. The number of murders rose from 306 in 2010 to 324 in 2011. And the homicide total for 2012 was 331. Pew’s 2013 report notes that “since 2009, Philadelphia’s homicide total has increased three years in a row. Even so, the 2012 number was well below the peak of 503 recorded in 1990 and the more recent high of 406 in 2006.” Of course, the way Philadelphians experience crime depends on where in the city they spend their time. According to Philadelphia Police Department statistics, between 2007 and 2010 there were 1,332 murders in the city. Almost one out of every three murders happened in just three of the city’s police districts — the 12th in Southwest Philadelphia and the 22nd and 25th in North

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Philadelphia Rep. Roebuck Seeking Compensation For Wrongfully Convicted

Pennsylvania House Chamber

BY MELISSA DANIELS HARRISBURG — Law enforcement doesn’t always get it right when it comes to putting the bad guy behind bars, and one Pennsylvania lawmaker is pushing to make it up to wronged individuals. Rep. James Roebuck, D-Philadelphia, circulated a memo to other lawmakers recently seeking support for legislation that would compensate individuals who are exonerated of convicted crimes. The bill would compensate the individual with twice the amount of wages they earned in the year prior to their arrest, or $25,000, whichever is

DAVID FIELDING

greater, per year of wrongful imprisonment. It would also reimburse attorney fees, court costs, surcharges and other penalties incurred as a result of the conviction. Rep. Roebuck cited figures from the Innocent Project which say there have been 256 postconviction DNA exonerations nationwide. Six of those were in Pennsylvania. From the memo: “With technological advances, there is sure to be no shortage of innocent men and women languishing in prison who, if they are able to sustain the arduous process of proving their inno-

cence, must then file costly, hard-to-win lawsuits to rebuild their lives.” Similar legislation has been introduced in the past without passing. The federal government, along with more than two dozen states, already have wrongful conviction statues on the books. On the federal level, compensation can total up to $50,000 per year of wrongful imprisonment, and $100,000 per year on death row. This article was originally published on Pennsylvania Independent at PAIndependent.com

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

HOMICIDE IS SUCH A BAROMETER OF HOW PEOPLE MEASURE SAFETY IN CITIES. SOME OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, THEY JUST CAN’T GO ANY HIGHER.’ —TEMPLE PROFESSOR CATERINA GOUVIS ROMAN

Philadelphia. In contrast, the 6th police district, located in and bordering Center City, had just one murder in that time frame. Between 2011 and 2012 the number of homicides fell in eight police districts but rose in 12 of them, including the 22nd, with one district posting the same numbers both years. “Homicide is such a barometer of how people measure safety in cities,” Temple Professor Caterina Gouvis Roman said. “Some of these neighborhoods, they just can’t go any higher.”

***

PAN tries to counteract neighborhood crime in a number of ways. The organization hires people who come from some of the most problematic neighborhoods, and sends them in to establish relationships with young people as well as families and other residents in order to reduce problems. Mr. Harris also manages the Youth Violence Reduction Partnership (YVRP), which includes nonprofits, the district attorney’s office, the mayor’s office and the police department. The group works with youth offenders who are considered the most likely to kill or be killed, “the ones that nobody else really wants to really work with,” Mr. Harris said. “But we work with them to try to be a combination of a mentor, a combination of a big brother big sister, a combination of a counselor, a combination of a lot of things to try to help kids from going back and

forth, in and out of the system, because we want to reduce the rate of recidivism,” he said. “We’re trying to get them back into the mainstream of society by promoting positive alternatives for them.”

***

Farrah Samuels Alexander has always been passionate about helping young people. As someone whose parents both passed away before she turned 3, she can relate better than most to youthful struggles. She’s also had family members who have been killed or otherwise personally affected by violence. She hates what she calls the self-fulfilling prophecy of good kids making one mistake, being labeled as bad, and then becoming that thing they’ve been labeled. “I’ve worked with a lot of youth who were already in the juvenile justice system who I saw just made one bad decision and if they’d had a good mentor or a person who could have steered them away from that, then they’d be on a totally different life trajectory,” Ms. Alexander said. “And that’s the part that really gets me.” Ms. Alexander is the Youth Division Director at the Urban Affairs Coalition, an organization that is made up of about 65 program partners, including PAN. The Urban Affairs Coalition seeks to improve quality of life by building wealth in urban communities and solving emerging issues. Much of its work involves reducing neighborhood violence.

She’s also seen personally how a youth record can follow someone around. Her husband has been trying to get his juvenile record expunged, but that process is arduous, and when he tries to get a job, his juvenile record pops up. “One mistake at 15 should not label you and determine the outcome for your entire life,” she said. A lot of targeted efforts are happening in the city, especially around the 24th and 25th police districts in North Philadelphia right now, said Ms. Alexander, who lives in Point Breeze, but has made a point of living in different areas throughout the city in the past. Those efforts include placing coordinating umbrella agencies, or CUAs, in troubled neighborhoods. The CUAs provide truancy prevention, family case management and support for youth who already have experience being on the wrong end of the judicial system. The CUAs then work with the police to make sure they have up-to-date information about where and when the most crime is occurring. Another promising change, she said, is a push by nonprofits and governmental agencies to define areas of the city by police districts, rather than neighborhood names, as they have done in the past. That way, she said, they can more easily tie the resources that are needed to the level of crime that the police districts are seeing.

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Police are using technology and statistics to make

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

the streets of Philadelphia safer. According to former State Representative Bryan Lentz, leader of the Philadelphia Gun Violence Task Force, in 2011 the district attorney, the mayor and the police commissioner all got together put together a group to develop strategies to reduce violent crime. Out of that group came Gun Stat, an area-focused, offender-focused form of hotspot policing. Gun Stat is an enhancement to the police’s crime analysis work. It focuses on identifying violent offenders, gun crimes, arrests and results through the court system, and facilitates better tracking of people on probation or parole. Philadelphia police can use crime-mapping software to produce maps showing where gun crime is concentrated. They can then look into drug sales or gang warfare that might be going on in the same location and share that information with prosecutors. “By focusing on people, places and groups, you’re treating the whole problem,” said Mr. Lentz, who served as a Philadelphia assistant district attorney in the ’90s. He says the geographic, intelligence-driven, information-driven prosecutions are a big change that has happened in recent years. There’s also been a dramatic improvement in communication between the agencies, and through a community effort by probation, police, and prosecutors, they’re anecdotally seeing better outcomes when it comes to tracking violent, repeat offenders and not letting them slip through the cracks. “We’re getting better results in court. We’re getting longer sentences for gun offenses. It’s having an impact,” Mr. Lentz said. Professor Roman raved about Gun Stat and its effectiveness at getting strong sentence for many gun offenders, especially members of gangs. Gang violence is a topic that she has researched extensively. As in many urban areas, she said, Philadelphia has a big issue with these street groups. “These kids that hang out together, have some identity and some affinity to the street culture; they’re carrying guns. It’s just easier to turn around and pull out the gun than solve the dispute in a non-violent way,” she said. But according to Ms. Alexander, it’s more an issue of mentality than of gun availability. “If you change the mindset of young people who don’t want to commit any crimes at the beginning, then the availability argument goes away regardless,” she said. But that mindset is difficult to change, especially at a time when funding isn’t abundant. “If we had all the money in the world I do believe we could definitely turn things around,” Ms. Alexander said. “But the big issue is just funding for prevention programs in order to be able to solve the issue overall.”

***

Professor Roman cites poverty as a key culprit when it comes to violence — but not just any kind of poverty: concentrated poverty in which neighborhoods of high poverty are surrounded by neighborhoods of high poverty.

JEREMY EVANS THOMAS

Ms. Roman spent 20 years as a researcher in Washington, DC, where there is less concentrated poverty than there is in Philadelphia. There, she said, it’s easier to discuss the effect other features, such as the number of alcohol outlets or the number of parks, have on the crime rate. In the case of Philadelphia, she said, there are blocks in North Philadelphia where 40 percent of the parcels are vacant. “Yes, there probably is in Philadelphia a correlation of vacant parcels and crime, but you can’t separate that from these larger structural issues that are happening in Philadelphia, which is concentrated poverty,” she said. The parcel issue also makes business investment, which could help poverty-stricken neighborhoods, more difficult. “How do you get one business to invest when they’re going to spend five years to rectify who owns the darn parcel? It’s very difficult to attract businesses unless there’s this outpouring of support where the businesses band together. “And some businesses do that. Some people will say ‘I want to give back to the community.’ But to bring that to scale so it matters for a neighborhood is very different.” But she thinks that if a corner can be turned on violent crime, investors will be less skittish. ”I think it’s a slow process. I think right now a lot of people are scared of North Philadelphia and portions of West Philadelphia…I think you need to have a little bit of everything, a confluence of

events happening that will lower crime and then bring investment in the neighborhood.”

***

The small uptake in homicide that’s occurred recently hasn’t gotten Philadelphians too down, though. The 2012 Pew State of the City report said that Philadelphians “expect the city to be better in five years than it is now. The margin was nearly 3-to-1. For people who have lived in the city 10 years or less, it was more than 4-to-1.” “It’s something about Philadelphia,” Ms. Roman said. “I grew up in Delaware County and I lived in Washington for 20 years and I never saw anything like it in Washington like I’ve seen here in Philadelphia. There’s just something that resonates with people in their neighborhoods about Philadelphia. People are so full of love and pride for their city. “I do get the sense honestly that there’s something special about Philadelphia. People are willing to fight for it.” And fight they are, from the nonprofit administrators trying to reach out to would-be offenders to the members of law enforcement trying to keep dangerous people off the streets. Their fight might be paying off. According to police, homicide is currently down about 40 percent from where it was last year at this time. Maybe next year at this time Pew will be writing about how the city is finally fulfilling its potential. Erin Rowley is a freelance writer living in Philadelphia.

2 MAY 2013

FINE ESTATES PREVIEW

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Automated Estate Complete With Tennis Court Enjoy spectacular views from this expansive, 10-acre estate (4 beds/5.2 baths) built in 2002 with indoor tennis/basketball court on a manicured plateau with pool overlooking the prestigious ACE golf course. This home is automated to control lights, HVAC, alarm, etc., and the first floor includes a magnificent cathedral ceiling, two fireplaces, a gourmet kitchen, and a library/home office. Upstairs there are four large bedrooms, each with a full bathroom, and the oversized master suite has a lounge, marble bathroom, steam shower and access to a covered balcony. The lower level features a custom-built home theater, screened porch with enclosed hot tub, gym, play area and a extra room with kitchen and bath with steam shower. Accessed by a private road, the stone-lined driveway and four-car garage add to the grandeur of this unique property. Located between Center City and Plymouth Meeting, this is the ideal home for those with an active lifestyle who want the benefits of a rural setting and the convenience of a suburban locale.

2044 Harts Lane Whitemarsh, Pa. $2.95 million

For more information, call Compass North Realty at (215) 641-9999

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PHILADELPHIA/SOCIETY Â HILL Â TOWERS Â Breathtaking Â views Â of Â the Â Delaware Â River Â from Â this Â 2/3 Â BR, Â 4.5 Â bath Â condo. Â Full Â front Â & Â 1/2 Â each Â side Â of Â South Â tower. Â Great Â open Â floor Â plan. Â Siematic Â Kitchen Â w/granite Â counter-Â tops Â & Â island. Â Marble Â flooring Â & Â baths, Â custom Â built-Âins Â and Â walls Â of Â windows Â t/o Â this Â almost Â 3,000 Â sqft Â space. Â Large Â family Â room, Â office Â and Â laundry Â room Â with Â plenty Â of Â room Â for Â storage. Â Secu-Â rity Â building Â with Â a Â beautiful Â lobby Â & Â parking. Â Great Â location, Â close Â to Â eve-Â rything. Â â&#x20AC;Ś.. Â

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820 Brushtown Rd, Gwynedd Valley, PA

84 Norristown Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422

$3.65 M (6005156)

$965,000 (5962964)

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5 beds | 6 full, 3 partial baths Timeless & Elegant describe this true estate in prestigious Gwynedd Valley. Built by the builder, for the builder, the residence is sited on over 1.5 acres and offers over 11,000 sf of living space. This home was designed for those with the most discriminating taste and an appreciation for fine living.

5 beds | 5 full, 1 partial baths Meticulously maintained, solid built, Philomeno & Salamone estate home offers nearly 6,000 sq.ft. of living space on 3/4 acres w/3 bay garage. Conveniently located on a private cul de sac in desirable Blue Bell,this home was designed to entertain with itsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; custom finishes t/o including newly renovated gourmet kitchen.

1204 Hunt Seat Dr, Lower Gwynedd, PA

936 N Penn Oak Rd, Lower Gwynedd, PA

Nicole Miller-Desantis

(215) 641-2727 (office) (267) 419-1454 (direct)

(215) 850-1305 (cell) (215) 999-5817 (fax)

$1.125 M (6196317)

$948,500 (6196308)

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5 beds | 3 full, 1 partial baths Tastefully decorated colonial in desirable Polo Club Estates in the heart of Gwynedd Valley. Sited on over an acre, this well positioned, brightly lit home has improvements throughout. Hardwood flooring, custom paint, newly renovated powder & mud rooms along with numerous other finishes that highlight this beautifully maintained home. 4 beds | 3 full, 2 partial baths Sited on a nearly 1 acre wooded lot in popular Penn Oak, this pretty stone colonial boasts nearly 7,000 sq. ft. of living space w/ its full, finished, walk-out basement. This home offers a bright, open floor plan with access to the outdoors from nearly every room. Kitchen w/ Breakfast Room is welcoming and provides access to large, rear deck for easy entertaining.

Blue Bell Office 686 Dekalb Pike Blue Bell, PA 19422

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

REAL ESTATE

Downtown Philly Ahead Of The Curve

he young and the restless” are making downtown living the hottest ticket in cities across the country, it appears. According to data cited in a Forbes feature, the downtown areas of major U.S. cities posted growth rates double that of their cities as a whole in the decade from 2000 to 2010, and the drivers of that growth have largely been college-educated adults from 25 to 34 years of age. This cohort, now currently making over Fishtown, is drawn to the amenity-rich, walkable environments downtowns offer — and cities across the country are now falling over themselves to reel them into their cores. Forbes identified 15 “emerging U.S. downtowns” in its feature. Among them: New York — where the office canyons of Lower Manhattan are acquiring residents for the first time in many decades — and Los Angeles, which appears serious about giving its 50 suburbs a central city to complement them. We are pleased to note that Philadelphia is not on this list, although its employment density is cited in the item on Birmingham, Ala., which apparently has a comparable concentration of jobs in its center relative to city size. We believe that’s because for once, this city is not behind the curve but ahead of it. Thanks to the efforts of public officials and private investors that began in earnest way back in the 1960s, Philadelphia has consistently invested in its urban core in ways that have by and large (though not always) reinforced its appeal as a place to live, if not necessarily to work. As a result, the city center’s population began to shoot upward as early as the 1980s, while the city as a whole continued to hemorrhage residents, and the urban revival has since spread to a number of neighborhoods adjacent to the core. We at Noah Ostroff & Associates have been fans of city living since the start, so we’re naturally thrilled to see that a new generation of Americans has discovered its virtues. As for those 15 other cities: Welcome to the neighborhood. This article was originally published at PhillyLiving.com.

FORBES LIST

Emerging US Downtowns Forbes recently released a list of the top U.S. cities whose downtowns are experiencing rapid growth, especially among collegeeducated adults between the ages of 25 and 34. 1) Denver, Colorado 2) El Paso, Texas 3) Des Moines, Iowa 4) Detroit, Michigan 5) Louisville, Kentucky 6) Milwaukee, Wisconsin 7) Cincinnati, Ohio 8) Birmingham, Alabama 9) Grand Rapids, Michigan 10) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 11) Memphis, Tennessee 12) Atlanta, Georgia 13) Cleveland, Ohio 14) Los Angeles, California 15) New York, New York FORBES

Q&A

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

What is the elevator pitch for the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group? The Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group is a networking and professional development group for executives of companies in the Philadelphia region. That includes the area surrounding Philadelphia, Philadelphia itself, New Jersey and Northern Delaware. We’re an organization of about 1,500 members. It was originally founded around 10 years go by a terrific guy who’s unfortunately no longer alive. Just a super guy. Chris Pavlides was in transition himself, and he wanted an organization that would be a really well sourced networking organization for people in transition between jobs. But also we’ve extended beyond that to be really useful for people who are employed. Our members are about 50/50, people in transition and people who are currently in various companies: many entrepreneurs, some mid-level companies and then large companies. We have about 280 events across the year for executives to pick and choose from.

RIP TILDEN’S

EXECUTIVE

The Chairman and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group helps connect business leaders in transition connect across the tri-state area.

EVENTS

How did you become involved? I joined the organization in 2005 when I left the job I was in — I was COO of a wireless company based out in King of Prussia — and I had been there 10 years, left the company and learned about Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group through friends. So I thought it would be helpful to me professionally. I moved on from the wireless company to this wellness business, where I was a senior executive for three years. Four years ago I decided to found my own consulting practice with a very good friend who was my business partner. I was honored when I was elected to the board a year ago, and it’s a privilege to serve in this spot. Describe some of the networking events. The meetings are listed at GPSEG.org. What we have is, every month, a series of meetings of people with common professional interests. We call them subgroups. So you have meetings every month for people who like life sciences. You have people who are entrepreneurs who are starting up companies. People who are chief financial officers. Human resource executives. So you have meetings that are organized to be functional for your skills and area of industry. Every one of those programs has a speaker, some type of professional development activity, every month.

@RipTilden

GPSEG.org

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

OPINION

Attracting Business to Pennsylvania

Rob Wonderling is president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce

CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

In this global economy, companies seek regions with a low tax burden so that they can be competitive in a very cost-driven world. They look for communities that do not unduly burden companies with regulation, unfunded mandates or taxes. Select Greater Philadelphia (Select), the economic development marketing arm of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, conducted a perception study to gauge how well the region does in attracting and retaining businesses. Select asked respondents what the most important factors were in their location decisions. The top factor was a highly skilled workforce. Coming in a close second was tax burden. States today not only compete with their surrounding neighbors, but with countries across the globe. If our Commonwealth is to truly compete, we must have a pro-growth plan that helps attract new companies to locate here and encourages those already here to grow. This month, the Pennsylvania General Assembly is considering Governor Corbett’s proposed business tax reforms included in his FY 2013-2014 budget. Keeping his promise to the citizens of Pennsylvania for a third year, Governor Corbett presented a budget that does not raise taxes and keeps spending in line with available revenue. Despite a structural deficit caused by a still-recovering economy and cost drivers led by the state’s public pension systems, the Governor announced a $28 billion spending plan designed to create jobs and strengthen our economy. To create a more competitive business climate, Governor Corbett’s budget continues the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax (CSFT), resuming the scheduled elimination of this onerous tax on the state’s employers. This phase-out sends the right message to business decision-

makers who are considering an investment in Pennsylvania. Under the current phase-out plan, the CSFT rate fell to 1.89 mills on January 1, 2012 and 0.89 mills on January 1, 2013, with the CSFT reaching zero on January 1, 2014. It is important to note that the original phase-out plan put forward by Governor Tom Ridge would have stopped collecting the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax on January 1, 2009. Efforts to further delay this important initiative will hurt Pennsylvania’s job providers. In addition to the continued phase-out of the CSFT, Governor Corbett proposes to raise the cap on net operating loss carryforwards (NOL), which is important to start-up companies and those in cyclical industries. Pennsylvania is one of only two states in the country that has a cap. Currently, the state allows up to $3 million or 20 percent of taxable income to be offset by historic losses. We believe that Pennsylvania should continue to increase the percentage until it reaches 100 percent of income, just as it

recently phased in the Single Sales Factor (SSF). The Governor’s business tax reform plan also gradually reduces Pennsylvania’s uncompetitive 9.9 percent Corporate Net Income tax, the second highest in the nation. Pennsylvania is one of only two states in America to impose both a business income tax and a business assets tax. According to the CompetePA Coalition, an alliance of businesses and organizations representing more than half the private sector employment in the state, Pennsylvania would have nearly 700,000 more jobs today if the economy had grown at the national average since 1990. Instead, the Commonwealth ranks 43rd in job growth over that span. Employers consistently TRUTHOUT.ORG cite the corporate net income tax as a major contributor to the poor business climate. It also discourages companies that might otherwise consider locating or expanding in the Commonwealth. As a long-time member of the CompetePA Coalition, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, joined other coalition members recently to meet with key legislators to urge support for tax policies to help Pennsylvania’s employers and to promote job growth. In the weeks ahead, as the state budget and tax plan takes shape, the Chamber’s advocacy efforts will include continued education and outreach to promote legislative support for measures which will further improve Pennsylvania’s economy. We applaud the Governor for his fiscal restraint and pro-growth plan. We look forward to ongoing communication with lawmakers and remain hopeful that budget negotiations between the General Assembly and the administration will produce economic policies that prioritize improving Pennsylvania’s business climate to help keep and grow jobs.

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

OPINION

COMMENTARY FROM ACROSS THE WEB

Cities Make Use of Legacy Assets

Confronting Gas Drilling Misconceptions

Unlocking value from legacy assets is an emerging organizing strategy for metros across the country and around the globe. The inventory of physical assets from the accumulation of fixed and durable capital is one source of legacy. But legacy assets also come in the form of workforce demographics, jurisdictional competence, and leadership culture. These assets can harbor hidden value that, once unlocked, can accelerate a metropolitan agenda in unexpected ways.

The most undeniable statistic borne out since 2008 — both in Pennsylvania and the nation — is the staggering amount of energy being produced on American soil. Natural gas from Pennsylvania met just one percent of our nation’s needs in 2007. By the end of 2012, it had increased to nine percent. In the two years between 2010-2012, production levels soared from 1 billion cubic feet/day (BCF/day) to six BCF/day. Nationally, our country’s net imports of oil and natural gas dropped by 41 percent between 2007-2012, thanks to the development of both oil and natural gas from shale.

MARK ALAN HUGHES AND ELISE HARRINGTON ON INQUIRER.COM, 2 MAY, 2013

Enough With Austerity It’s outrageous that Congress and the administration are moving quickly to reduce the inconvenience to travelers by easing cuts in air traffic control while leaving the rest of the sequester in place. What about the harm being done to the economy as a whole? What about the sequester’s injuries to those who face lower unemployment benefits, who need Meals on Wheels, or who attend Head Start programs? Instead, we should be using this period of low interest rates to invest in our infrastructure. This would help relieve unemployment while laying a foundation for long-term growth. But anti-government slogans trump smart-government policies. For reasons rooted in both ideology and the system’s bias against the less privileged, we hear nothing but “deficits, deficits, deficits” and “cuts, cuts, cuts.” E.J. DIONNE ON WASHPOST.COM, 28 APRIL 2013

Greatest Generation’s Spirit May Be Coming Back Many people...were justifiably skeptical when America went after Iraq, which had virtually nothing to do with the [9/11] attacks, instead of Saudi Arabia, where the oil sheiks had close ties to top U.S. officials. Can you imagine The Greatest Generation performing the way it did if its government let the Axis off the hook after Pearl Harbor because of business ties? PAUL CARPENTER ON MCALL.COM, 30 APRIL 2013

LOUIS D. D’AMICO ON PENNLIVE.COM, 30 APRIL, 2013

Mayor @Michael_Nutter discusses #digitalinclusion during #phillytechweek. #technology @LAURENINTHEHALL

Jury Selection Process in Jeopardy The Legislature is attempting to reverse the way jurors are independently selected for jury trials, a system that has been effective for 145 years. The Legislature did this by removing historic language that, in years past, protected elected offices from this type of political aggression in an election year. Instead of actively addressing bulging legislative pensions, embarrassing criminal convictions of fellow legislators, turnpike corruption and other such matters, our elected representatives caved to [lobbying pressure] and passed legislation to allow the elimination of the people’s oversight of the selection process for prospective jurors in their respective counties. LARRY THOMPSON ON DAILYLOCAL.COM, 30 APRIL, 2013

@PhillyPressSec

@BenStango Now a proud new @WHYY member. My requested “Thank You” gift? A beer on @ MaikenScott and @zackseward 30 APRIL 2013

@ChrisLilienthal Sorry to see this, especially knowing how hard so many worked on it — “Sicktime bill declared dead in City Council” 12 APRIL 2013

Bike share vs. $ for DA fighting crime is a false dichotomy. Bike share is capital $ that will leverage even more. DA $ is operating funds. 22 APRIL 2013

It’s National Volunteer week! We’re here to help you. Now what can you help your city with? 25 APRIL 2013

@DanielleCohn

Obama Policy on Syria Is A Failure Obama... throws these thunderbolts of diplomatic cease-and-desist orders with some regularity. He has called the use of chemical weapons by Syria a “red line,” which is diplotalk for “you’d better not.” He said if Damascus did use such weapons, it “would change [his] calculus.” Months later, he calculated that Syria might not know what his calculus was, so he said WMD would be “totally unacceptable” and there would be, under such circumstances, “consequences.”

@Philly311

@JoelMMathis Looking for reasons to be optimistic, but the Philadelphia newspaper circulation numbers are still really awful. 30 APRIL 2013

@ECJacobs Quick stop at @NextFabStudio in #PHL for pitch practices for @SharkTankABC Good luck to all of the entrepreneurs!

@WHYYInsider Free coffee is an excellent way to buy staff loyalty @ whyy. 25 APRIL 2013

30 APRIL 2013

RICHARD COHEN ON WASHPOST.COM, 30 APRIL 2013

EDITORIAL BOARD CEO and President James D. McDonald Editorial Director Karl Smith Associate Editor Terrence Casey

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE To contribute, send comments, letters and essays to feedback@regionsbusiness.com. Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for content, style and length.

2 MAY 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

BY THE NUMBERS

1980

1963

Year the Broad Street Run was founded

Year of the University City Science Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inception

350

Miles in the race

Organizations that have graduated from the Science Center

Miles covered by Broad Street

15,000

40,689

People employed by graduate companies located in Philadelphia

Runners in 2012, making the Broad Street Run the largest 10-mile road race in the United States

40,000

45:14

Regional jobs generated by graduate and resident organizations

Record held by Patrick Cheruiyot (2007)

$9.4B

47:06

Annual regional economic output by graduate and resident organizations

Time of last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner, Henry Kiplagat Rutto

32:05

6,600

Sworn members of the Philadelphia Police Department

800

Civilian personnel in the Philadelphia Police Department

140

Square miles covered by the Philadelphia Police Department

116

13,000

Members of the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, making it the largest private police department in Pennsylvania

Members of the Chicago Police Department

40,000

Members of the Los Angeles Police Department

Members of the New York City Police Department, making it the largest in the United States

9,000

3,000

Members of the Washington, D.C. Police Department

Record for finishing the course in a wheelchair, held by Tony Nogueira (2007)

SATURDAY, MAY 4

AT PARX RACING GATES OPEN AT 10AM 1st post from Churchhill Downs at 10:30am • 1st Parx Racing post at 12:25pm Watch the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” trackside and enjoy food and drink specials, free admission and family fun in the Picnic Grove at Parx Racing!

HAPPY HOUR WITH JOE CONKLIN • SATURDAY, MAY 4 • 5PM Countdown to the Derby with “The Man of a Thousand Voices”! Meet and greet with Joe, win fun prizes, enjoy drink specials & watch all the racing action live at 360!

PARXCASINO.COM •

VISIT PARXCASINO.COM/COMEDYNIGHT FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS. MANAGEMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR CANCEL THIS PROMOTION AT ANY TIME. MUST BE 21. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1.800.GAMBLER