Region's Business August 8

ATTENTION STARTUPS: WHY ARE YOU IN SUCH A HURRY?

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REGION’S BUSINESS

PHILADELPHIA EDITION

A JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND POLITICS

CULTIVATING WORKERS What’s being done to train the region’s workforce to take on their leaders’ biggest concerns?

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8 AUGUST 2013

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CONTENTS

Sowing The Seeds 18 For Strong Workers

22 26 27

Q&A: Brian Lipstein, President, Founder of Henry A. Davidsen Ridge Avenue Development Still Needs Work Historic Gem In Graduate Hospital

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PSU Research Could Lead To Cheap Energy

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Liquor Stores Seeing Soaring Revenues

Independence Media Corp.

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YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

14

City Uses Salesforce For Upgrades

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Attention Startups: Why The Big Rush?

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PHLCVB Reflects After Winning 17th Pinnacle Excellence Award

PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER James D. McDonald MANAGING EDITOR Terrence J. Casey ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rich Coleman CONTRIBUTORS Brandon Baker, Eric Boehm, Christine Fisher, Charlie Gerow, Tim Holwick, Don Lee, Juliana Reyes, Sandy Smith, Matt Stringer PROOFREADER Denise Gerstenfield ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Larry Smallacombe DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Deirdre Affel

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Region’s Business is published weekly on Thursdays and online at www.regionsbusiness.com.

The published makes no representations or warranties regarding the advertising appearing in its pages or its websites.

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REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

DEALBOOK

MANUFACTURING

Comcast Reports Second Quarter Revenue Increases

P&G Occupy New Center In Shippensburg Liberty Property Trust is constructing a $92.7 million, 1.7-million-square foot distribution facility off Interstate 81 in Shippensburg, Pa., for Proctor & Gamble Co., the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

Liberty started construction on the project, which sits on 183 acres, during the second quarter and it is expected to be completed by July 2014.

The facility is expected to eventually have 900 to 1,000 employees working there.

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development offered Proctor & Gamble $2 million in grants and $959,000 in job creation tax credits to support the project.

Comcast Corporation reported increases in revenue, cash flow and in other areas for the second quarter.

Consolidated revenue increased 7 percent; operating cash flow increased 8.4 percent and operating income increased 11.6 percent.

Earnings per share increased 30 percent to $0.65.

Free cash flow increased 25.4 percent to $1.9 billion.

Quarterly dividends and share repurchases totaled $1 billion.

Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation, said, “We are pleased with our results this quarter.

“Cable had outstanding growth, particularly in high-speed Internet, and NBCUniversal had strong

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“Our focus on delivering innovative products and a superior customer experience is driving our success, including stronger video, voice and business services results in cable.

“NBCUniversal has real momentum, with solid growth in revenue and double-digit cash flow growth.

We have a fantastic combination of cable and content businesses with many opportunities ahead.”

For the second quarter of 2013, revenue from the Cable Networks segment increased 7.7 percent to $2.4 billion.

Operating cash flow from Cable Networks increased 7.5 percent to $1.7 billion.

HEALTH CARE

Endo Looking Into Strategic Alternatives In a conference call Tuesday, August 6, Endo Health Solutions, of Malvern, said the company was exploring alternatives for its HealthTronics business and its early-stage drug effort to focus on promising assets.

Endo cut its workforce by 15 percent in June.

FINANCIAL

Exton Bank Approved For SBA Lending First Resource Bank, of Exton, has been approved as a Small Business Administration lender qualified to offer loans under the SBA 7(a) loan program.

This means that small business owners will now have another loan resource designed specifically for unique needs.

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BREIFING EXECUTIVE BOOKSHELF

WHO TO FOLLOW

@PHLCultureWorks

Culture Works Phila The Twitter account for Culture Works, a coworking space customized to the cultural community, but capable of delivering a spark to any area of business RT @PHLCultureWorks: CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia and Elysian Fields Baseball launching Business Plan Boot Camp this fall.

RT @PHLCultureWorks: The ongoing nonprofit vs. for-profit business model debate. Should a Social Enterprise Go for Profits?

Decisive: How To Make Better Choices In Life And Work In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath, based on an exhaustive study of research in decision-making, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract biases and irrationalities that cause us to make the wrong decisions.

Written in an engaging and compulsively readable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.

Evernote Evernote (Free) is just one part of an overall great, access-from-anywhere note-taking system. In addition to using Evernote on your iPhone, you can also create and get to your notes from a variety of mobile devices (including apps for both the iPhone and iPad) and any Web browser on any computer. Sign up for a free Evernote account and all your notes are always together.

Evernote is a popular app, with a streamlined interface that shares similarities across its multiple platforms and gives you different ways to create notes and collections of notes. Your notes can be text, images or Web clippings, but a premium account will let you save various other file types, too.

There’s a lot to like about Evernote, and the fact that it’s free makes it easy to try out.

Doing what counts for your business.

At Susquehanna Bank, we’re doing what counts to offer competitive financial products and services, local decision-making and outstanding customer service to build lasting relationships — with people like you. Susquehanna combines the strengths of a community bank with those of a diverse financial services company. Thanks to our regional structure, we have local leaders with lending authority and teams who are committed to providing personalized service. Plus, we have the resources to provide funding ranging from small business loans to complex financing packages.

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RESTAURANT ROUNDUP

MUST-HAVE APP

Tickets On Sale For Philadelphia Food Evolution On October 4, the James Beard Foundation’s Taste America event is coming to Philadelphia.

The evening includes a walkaround tasting reception featuring small plates from Philadelphia’s rising star chefs and a chance to interact with local artisanal purveyors and farmers.

VIP Dinner tickets include a multi-course meal prepared by Carla Hall (Host of ABC’s The Chew) alongside the protégés of James Beard Award Winners and renowned chefs who raised the culinary bar in Philadelphia.

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REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BRIEFING

HEALTH CARE

CSL Shipping Influenza Vaccines

Penn State Research May Lead To Cheap Energy Tech

CSL Biotherapies, Inc., of King of Prussia, announced Tuesday, August 6, that shipment of its seasonal influenza vaccine for the 2013-2014 season has started.

CSL Biotherapies will ship approximately 11 million doses of the seasonal flu vaccine to the United States for the upcoming season.

Shipment will comprise multi-dose and pre-filled syringe presentations.

Kennett Square Company Approved For NFL Unequal Technologies, of Kennett Square, announced August 6 that the National Football League has approved the use of Unequal thigh protectors.

NFL players will be required to wear thigh and knee pads following a rule change adopted by the NFL.

NSM Grows With New Unit NSM Insurance Group announced the establishment of a specialty Behavioral Health, Social Services Unit due to NSM’s growth over the last five years.

“It made perfect sense that our retail clients benefit from the vast expertise NSM has in this space so we created a team comprised of NSM’s most experienced Behavioral Health and Social Service Insurance Professionals,” Bill McKernan, NSM President said.

The team which is led by Sean F. Conaboy and Caitlin S. Ryan focuses on designing insurance programs to meet the specific needs of client organizations and tailoring service and risk management activities to reflect a Total Cost of Risk approach.

Doug Tieman, President & CEO of Caron Treatment Services, said, “Mr. Conaboy and the NSM team have been instrumental in providing Caron unparalleled Insurance and Risk Management expertise during a decade of remarkable growth and national expansion.”

John Flynn, CEO, YMCA of Philadelphia and Vicinity, offered high praise, “Working with Caitlin is like having an in-house risk management department and she is an extension of our staff. I have already recommended her to my colleagues and would reiterate that to anyone who is looking for an incredible insurance business partner.

NSM has focused on Behavioral Healthcare and Social Service clients since 1990 and special risk management needs of non-profits.

SPORTS

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BY ELISE VIDER A new discovery by Penn State researchers may lead to cheaper clean-energy technologies. The research team, led by Raymond Schaak, a PSU chemistry professor, found that an important chemical reaction that generates hydrogen from water is effectively triggered by a nanoparticle made of nickel and phosphorus.

The finding is important because nickel and phosphorus are cheap and abundant.

Up until now, clean energy applications that require hydrogen – including some fuel cells and solar cells – have relied upon platinum, which as anyone who has ever shopped for an engagement ring can tell you, is costly and rare.

Hydrogen is a great energy carrier, Schaak explains, and to make its production practical, scientists have been hunting for a way to trigger the required chemical

reactions with an inexpensive catalyst.

“It turns out that nanoparticles of nickel phosphide are indeed active for producing hydrogen and are comparable to the best known alternatives to platinum,” he says.

For now, says Schaak, there are no immediate plans to commercialize the research, although the team has filed a patent application. But the research continues: “The goal now is to further improve the performance of these nanoparticles and to understand what makes them function the way they do,” says Schaak. “Our team members believe that our success with nickel phosphide can pave the way toward the discovery of other new catalysts that also are comprised of Earth-abundant materials. Insights from this discovery may lead to even better catalysts in the future.”

This article was originally published on Keystone Edge at KeystoneEdge.com.

Pa. Ends $107M IBM Contract

BY JULIANA REYES

Mellon study reported that the system that IBM developed was “unsolvable,” according Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and to Information Week.

The state has spent $153 million on the Industry ended a $107 million contract with IBM to upgrade its unemployment compen- contract, which was started in 2006 under sation system after it ran $60 million over former Gov. Ed Rendell, Information Week budget and 42 months behind, the Philadel- reported.

This article was originally published on phia Daily News reported.

The announcement comes after a Carnegie Technically Philly at Technical.ly/Philly.

“We are very pleased to receive the NFL’s approval for the use of Unequal thigh pads for the upcoming football season,” said Rob Vito, CEO of Unequal Technologies. “At Unequal, we strive to provide athletes — from the pros to kids just starting in Pop Warner — with the best head-to-toe protection available. We’re encouraged by the feedback and adoption we’re seeing among NFL players as they prepare to compete for the first time under the new league rules requiring additional protection.”

Thigh pads developed by Unequal were independently tested by a team of engineers at the University of Virginia’s Center for Applied Biomechanics prior to the NFL’s approval for use. More than one-third of NFL franchises have already placed orders with Unequal to provide thigh protection for the upcoming season.

Since no thigh protection testing standards currently exist for high school or youth football leagues, Unequal is making the same NFL-approved protection available to amateur athletes.

To learn more, visit unequal. com.

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8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

WEEKLY BRIEFING

POLITICS

Judges Behaving Badly With Ethics

During Privatization Debate, Liquor Stores Experience Record High Revenues

BY MELISSA DANIELS A former Pa. judge is suspended from the bench for life following a series of ethical indiscretions, at the direction of the state’s Court of Judicial Discipline.

An order came down on Monday saying former Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Thomas Nocella “is removed from office and shall be ineligible to hold judicial office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the future.”

The sentence is the end result of charges brought last year by the Judicial Conduct Board, who claimed he violated judicial conduct rules outlined in the Pennsylvania Constitution. The board said Nocella concealed information during Philadelphia Bar Association evaluation processes about his involvement in civil cases and other conduct issues while he was a candidate.

Prior to his 2011 election as a judge, Nocella was an attorney for a political action committee called the Appreciation Fund. According to court documents, the group that failed to file its financial disclosure forms and pay associated fines to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics. The board then found Nocella in contempt, which he did not reveal to the bar association when he was running for his Court of Common Pleas judgeship.

Nocella also failed to reveal a $16,000 fine he paid to the Board of Ethics, two IRS liens against him, creditor judgments totaling more than $1 million and a personal bankruptcy filing.

In late June, the Court of Judicial Discipline ruled Nocella did violate Pennsylvania’s judicial conduct laws, and initially suspended him. In their opinion, judges on the court criticized Nocella for not acting to the public’s standards for being a judge.

“We find that Respondent’s conduct was so extreme that it brings the judicial office itself into disrepute, and also that the reasonable expectations of the public as to the behavior of judicial officers do not include the conduct of this Respondent described above,” reads the opinion.

This article was originally published on PA Independent at PAIndependent. com.

BY MELISSA DANIELS HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett and a swath of Republican lawmakers may still try to shutter Pennsylvania’s state-owned liquor stores, but the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board reports its retail operation is doing better than ever.

The 80-year old PLCB reported a net income of $128.4 million for the 2012-2013 fiscal year, according to figures released Monday.

That’s a record high, and $24.9 million, or 24 percent more, than the system earned the previous year. The increase was due in part to a 6 percent increase in wine sales, and a 3.7 percent increase in spirit sales.

Overall, PLCB stores earned nearly $2.2 billion in revenue in 2012-13.Most of that, about $1.2 billion, went towards purchasing wine and spirits to keep stores stocked.

A 15-year high of $512 million went back to the state’s General Fund in one way or another, including $311 million from the liquor tax and $121 million in state sales tax.

PLCB also made a $80 million transfer to the General Fund. Each year, PLCB and the Office of the Budget negotiate that number, according to PLCB spokeswoman Stacy Kriedeman. In the past, it’s been as high as $150 million, but the transfer has lowered to $80 million the last two fiscal years.

PLCB transfers are also made to the Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.

Though keeping the state in the liquor business means such transfers will continue, some accuse the PLCB of cloaking its numbers and not telling the full story behind its finances.

Following PLCB’s release of its numbers, the proprivatization, free-market think tank Commonwealth

Foundation issued a press release calling these figures the “same stunt the PLCB pulled last year,” by failing to mention negative net assets. At the end of the 2011-12 fiscal year, the foundation pointed out, PLCB had $9.8 million in negative net assets. And they pointed out tax revenue would go to the general fund regardless of who owned the stores.

“The PLCB wants you to believe that without them ‘record revenue’ dries up,” the release continued. “But in 2011-2012, more than 80 percent of the PLCB’s $500 million in ‘profits’ was generated from taxes. Privatelyowned liquor stores would produce the same revenue or more, as private companies pay additional taxes and licensing fees.”

Supporters of the state store system, like those Democrat lawmakers who took a unified stand against privatization proposals earlier this year, were quick to jump on the news.

House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny, said state-owned liquor stores are a “resounding success story” for Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Allegheny, one of the more vocal opponents of privatization in the higher chamber, is the prime sponsor for Senate Bill 800 to “modernize” the state store system. That would involve changing PLCB’s rules for pricing, hiring and contract procurement, aimed at helping the agency earn more money each year.

To Ferlo, the agency’s returns are reason enough to avoid privatization.

“The liquor privatization issue is far from settled in Harrisburg,” Ferlo said in a statement following PLCB’s announcement. “I hope that my fellow lawmakers will see today’s news from the LCB, recognize its success, and do whatever necessary to safeguard this vital public asset.”

This article was originally published on PA Independent at PAIndependent.com.

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8 AUGUST 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Tax Code Needs Overhaul In Fairness

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.

Can there be any disagreement that the Internal Revenue Code is an impossibly complicated and unduly burdensome mess?

The IRS’ own Taxpayer Advocate Service says, “The most serious problem facing taxpayers— and the IRS—is the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code.” That’s quite an admission and an understatement considering the Internal Revenue Code and regulations are nearly 10 million words. By comparison, the Holy Bible is only about 750,000. The IRS has more than eight billion pages of forms.

Directions for the preparation of a simple 1040 alone are more than 160 pages.

That complexity increases like the national debt. In the past decade more than 5,000 changes have been made to the Code. That’s better than one a day. What business or individual can possibly be expected to keep up with or understand all that?

Small wonder that Americans spent more than six billion hours preparing their taxes last year. That’s an astounding loss of human capital and work hours. The cost of those hours alone is more than 15 percent of the aggregate annual receipts of the IRS. Add to that the $400 billion spent on compliance and the total cost of simply living by the rules and properly filing your taxes amounts to nearly one third of all the revenue the system takes in.

That’s nuts.

But there may be a consensus building that will actually do something about this mess.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus and Republican Congressman David Camp, the two top tax writers in Washington, have embarked on a bi-partisan tour to promote reform of the tax system.

Two former Pennsylvania Governors, Republican Tom Ridge and Democrat Ed Rendell, recently penned a joint op-ed applauding the Baucus-Camp effort and making the case that ridding the Internal Code of the labyrinth of loopholes and deductions would “boost the economy and help control our unsustainable national debt.” Tax loopholes, they said “distort the economy by inhibiting investment and causing individuals and businesses to make decisions based on minimizing , rather than maximizing economic growth.”

Late last year President Obama said “...the statutory rate will soon be the highest among advanced countries.’ “...the relatively narrow tax base and a high statutory rate means that the U.S. tax system is unacceptable and inefficient.” Wow! Poll after poll shows a dismal rate of trust in the tax system. The overwhelming majority of Americans think it is unfair. The fact is that nearly half the population pays no federal income taxes. The rest pay according to a hodgepodge of rules and regulations that result in neighbors with similar incomes paying vastly different amounts. Fairness is an essential element of a system that relies on voluntary compliance.

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The tax code has been used as a tool to redistribute wealth (there are better ways to help the less fortunate) and regulate behavior (both through “sin taxes” and credits for doing things viewed as noble such as buying energy efficient appliances). But the majority of loopholes exist for one main reason: to protect against the high marginal rates of taxation.

Behind every one of those loopholes is an army of lobbyists and high-priced accountants.

Because the higher the tax rate the more valuable any individual deduction or loophole becomes it’s a viscious and unproductive cycle.

A simple and fair system is possible. It’s been a quarter of a century since Congress last made major reforms to the tax system. By simplifying the Code and cutting rates they helped unleash unparalleled economic growth.

A flat tax or some form of consumption tax are still the best solutions. Russia, the birthplace of communism, now has a flat tax of 13% that generates more revenue than when they had confiscatory tax rates of higher than 50%. That ought to get considerable discussion in the Baucus-Camp meetings. But by at least beginning to strip out some of the growth inhibiting features (and not allowing the tax code to be used as a punitive tool) we can make great strides.

The IRS has a budget of more than $11 billion and nearly 125,000 employees. By creating a simple and fair tax code we could save some money there, too.

8 AUGUST 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

11

Overtaxed, Under-Performing Philadelphia

John J. Dougherty is the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 98.

Email him at dougherty98@ gmail.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.

What happened to the Michael Nutter who crusaded for reform on City Council?

Instead of a “new day and new way,” Philadelphia is stuck in neutral, with less transparency and little improvement from the status quo. Taxes increased for five of the last six years, if you factor in “temporary” sales and property taxes that are now permanent.

Worse, Philadelphians are paying more for government, but receiving fewer services than we did under Mayor John Street. Our infrastructure is falling apart, and our city struggles to attract and retain jobs.

Philadelphia needs forward-thinking, growth-oriented leadership to position our city for a stronger future. Detroit’s recent bankruptcy shows what happens when a city stops growing and continues to hemorrhage its tax base with no significant investment or leadership.

If Philadelphia continues to grow and diversify its economy, it will not face Detroit’s fate. However, if we are going to encourage economic development and expand the tax base, we need leadership committed to doing

things differently.

Labor and pension costs are often blamed for Philadelphia’s financial challenges, but these obligations were fairly negotiated, are manageable and must be honored. Instead of responsibly managing these costs, however, Mayor Nutter wastes millions on six-figure salaries for deputies. He balances the budget on the backs of the rank and file who have worked without a contract for five years.

Our city cannot tax its way to prosperity, nor can it default on its obligations. Raising taxes or slashing services every year will only drive more taxpayers out of the city. Instead, we need to overhaul our tax structure to make Philadelphia a more attractive place to do business.

Philadelphia’s population is growing again.

Though the city has made progress in reducing its wage tax, we continue to have a vicious business tax structure that scares away jobs while generating a relatively small amount of revenue.

Our city struggles with retaining jobs and attracting large employers. There is no

demand for new office construction, rents are the same as in the 1980s, and more residents are commuting to jobs in the suburbs. If we want to attract more jobs, our leaders need to focus less on minuscule reductions in the wage tax, and more on eliminating our city’s unfair tax on business profits — the dreaded net income tax.

Like Detroit, Philadelphia is one of the few cities that taxes business profits, and we do so at a very high rate of 6.45 percent. Firms can enjoy the benefits of the Philadelphia region without being located in Center City.

This growth-killing tax ensures that few businesses would headquarter or grow within the city limits.

Philadelphia cannot afford to keep this tax, nor can it prosper if taxes continue to drive away employers. We need to eliminate the net income tax if we ever hope to reverse the flow of commuters and jobs from the city to the suburbs.

Now is the time for the business and labor communities to join together and demand the phaseout of this tax.

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8 AUGUST 2013

POLITICAL COMMENTARY

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Metcalfe-Corbett Spat Gives Peek At Legislative Difficulty

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 — The Republican infighting that came to a head during June’s budget process may very well spill over into the fall legislative session.

That’s not good news for anyone who is hoping to see lawmakers and Gov. Tom Corbett work out their differences and come together to pass a transportation funding bill, a liquor privatization bill or a pension overhaul bill.

Just take a look at the letter penned by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Rep. Metcalfe, one of the most outspoken and influential members of the House GOP’s conservative wing, calls out Gov. Corbett and his fellow lawmakers over the on-time-budgetthat-really-wasn’t.

But then he went a step further, challenging Gov. Corbett’s plan to uncap the state’s gasoline taxes in order to fund transportation infrastructure projects.

“I disagree with Corbett’s gas-tax proposal, which could increase pump prices by 28 cents per gallon. His proposal would also funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into mass transit, not roads and bridges,” Rep. Metcalfe

wrote.

This is new territory for Gov. Corbett.

By now he is used to liberals and moderates attacking him for the “no-tax pledge” that has become a central aspect of his three years in office.

Now, he is facing heat from his own right flank over the tax increase proposal at the center of the transportation funding plan.

“This is a classic example of these divisions within the Republican party that, as much as anything else, is going to allow the Democrats to become the functional majority in the state,” said Terry Madonna, a pollster and professor of political science at Franklin and Marshall College.

Corbett’s office did not return calls for comment about Metcalfe’s letter.

Democratic operatives were gleefully passing around Metcalfe’s letter on Monday morning emails, but the spat between Corbett and the anti-tax wing of the House GOP makes it harder for the General Assembly to pass a transportation funding plan, something almost all Democrats in Harrisburg say is necessary.

In June, the state House was ready to pass

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a transportation plan despite opposition from Metcalfe and about 30 other conservative Republicans.

But Democrats withdrew their votes because the package did not spend enough money in the right places (mass transit), leaving the transportation bill well short of the necessary 102 votes.

If transportation funding is going to pass in the fall, House leaders will have to thread that same needle. And fractures in the majority will give Democrats more influence in the process, but only if they are willing to play ball this time.

This column was originally published on PA Independent at PAIndependent.com.

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

13

Fitly Eats Smart By Shopping For Meals, Not The Ingredients Business: Fitly Founders: Alexander Ortiz and Heidi Chapnick Contact: Anthony@fitly.org

BY BRANDON BAKER Lounging about on the sofa of his brother and sister-in-law’s North Jersey living room one Friday night, Alexander Ortiz couldn’t help but notice a trend that had developed in their usual family-movie-night routine.

Put simply, his brother and sister-in-law were noticeably overweight, and their children — just the opposite in size — were constantly running to the kitchen to grab Oreos and waffles.

“My nephew would ask for snacks throughout the movie, and whatever they asked for, they got it,” Mr. Ortiz said. “And they’re not overweight at all — they’re slim, actually — and so, what concerned me, is if this childhood obesity epidemic is real, [and these kids are still thin], then this has got to be Fitly CEO, Alexander Ortiz, presented a demonstration of Fitly at the recent DreamIt Demo a bigger problem than we think Days on Wednesday, July 24.

SUBMITTED — kids have a fast metabolism, so The Philadelphia-based startup, [being slim] doesn’t at home?’ And the mean that they’re resounding answer which recently launched a pilot healthy.” was, ‘Because my program with Penn Medicine, Mr. Ortiz quickly mom or dad shops boasts five employees and a slew realized that, more this way,’” Mr. of interns — all who work on both designing the perfect nutritionthan anything, kids’ Ortiz said. diets are motivated “And that was based “game” for kids, and proby the grocery choicthe ‘aha!’ moment viding orderable meal plans that for us: Kids are are based on USDA- and Harvardes of their parents not d i c t a t i n g approved guidelines.

— particularly those what’s going on.”

“The way we’re currently shoplike his brother and Since t h a t ping is innately conditioned to sister-in-law. head-scratching Tapping into his make it easy for producers, and moment on his not consumers,” Mr. Ortiz said. curiosity, he tested 10 brother’s couch 5- to 12-year-old kids “What we’re trying to do is revotwo years ago, lutionize how people think of their with a one-day-long Fitly CEO Alexander Ortiz (right) he and his co- grocery shopping. We’re trying to “contest” that incen- stocks up for first delivery at tivized healthy eating Fresh Grocer. FACEBOOK.COM founder, COO help them shop by the meal, not Heidi Chapnick, the ingredients.” with points and prizes.

Fitly hopes to raise $1 million “The compelling thing was, at have molded their curiosity into a the end of the day we said, ‘We business — Fitly — and soon after in seed funding by the end of the spent all day eating the right joined the portfolio of Dreamit year. way. Why can’t you kids do this Ventures.

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

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2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

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City Chooses Salesforce For NonEmergency Upgrades

DIARY OF A STARTUP

TECH

From First Day To First Year, LifeVest Stays Committed To Goals

Mobile app raises $5.3M led

by Safeguard Scientifics Clutch, an Ambler-based mobile shopping app from Portico Systems cofounder Ned Moore, closed a $5.3 million Series B round led

by Safeguard Scientifics, according to a release.

Previous investor Benjamin Franklin Technology Partners also participated in the round. The funding will be used to develop Clutch’s B2B product, which will allow retailers to create their own shopping apps on Clutch’s platform.

Stuart Alter, director of Engagement Management for the city, presents at Open Access Philly.

TECHNICALLY PHLLY

BY JULIANA REYES The City of Philadelphia has chosen Salesforce.com to upgrade its non-emergency call system known as 311, said Stuart Alter, director of engagement management for the city’s Office of Innovation and Technology (OIT). The project is part of the city’s $120 million initiative to upgrade its technology infrastructure.

Launched in 2008, the city’s 311 system was not built to handle the volume of data that it handles now, Mr. Alter said at the Open Access Philly meeting at Drexel University’s ExCITe Center, Friday, August 2, adding that it also wasn’t built with archiving in mind.

The city chose publicly-traded San Francisco giant Salesforce.com to overhaul the system in part because of its capabilities as a platform, said Alter, who is overseeing the project. Salesforce.com has its own app store, he noted. That way, the city’s investment can go further than just merely paying for a new system. It’ll be able to take advantage of other apps that work on the Salesforce platform.

Once the contracting paperwork is completed, the project will take roughly one year, said Mr. Alter, who manages a team of staffers that act as a liaison between city agencies and OIT. Mr. Alter also spoke about the changes inside City Hall with respect to innovation, like open data and open source platforms.

“When we first started talking about releasing data [two years ago], it was almost like a bad word,” he said. “We’d whisper it.”

But two years later, he said, the mayor signed an Open Data Executive order, pledging to release data sets.

Still, he acknowledged that there’s work to be done. One process that has to be rethought is procurement, he said.

TECHNICALLY PHILLY

From left, Jon Cooper, Mike Logsdon and Brad Patterson, founders of LifeVest Health.

TECHNICALLY PHLLY

In his introductory “Diary” entry, Jon Cooper recalls the moment he knew his stockmarket health company, LifeVest, would become his mission in life. Read more about LifeVest and how it came to be at philadelphia.regionsbusiness.com/innovators.

In his words: There are only a few instances in life when you feel like everything you have worked for was in preparation for a single moment. For Brad, Mike and me, this moment was May 20, 2012 — the day we founded LifeVest Health.

LifeVest is what happens when three people who share a burning desire to change the world decide to build a wildly ambitious company to take on the biggest, ugliest and most intractable problem around — health care.

With that as your goal, where do you start?

With butterflies in my stomach, and that nagging sensation that I was playing hooky from work (despite having resigned several days earlier), I met Brad and Mike at one of the many coffee shops that would serve as our inaugural office.

For us, the first day was about laying a strong cultural foundation on which to build an amazing company.

What ensued was an intense, fun, and rewarding week of drafts, discussions, debates, re-drafts, and ultimately

an eight-page document outlining our vision, mission, core values and guiding principles.

Fourteen months later, as I look back, I am proud that the vision we laid out and the culture we set out to create remain front and center.

For me, it boils down to a few key thoughts: Hold yourself and others to the absolute highest standards, and accept nothing less; think big, really big — life is short, and you only get a few shots at the goal, so make them count; and eliminate fear of daunting challenges.

First, it’s not productive. Second, why be fearful? Just about everything you encounter on a daily basis is a glowing example of people overcoming the odds to accomplish the incredible — for example, consider the device you’re using to read this!

I think this quote nicely sums up the LifeVest view of the world: “The world is moving so fast that the person who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it,” — Elbert Hubbard

Clutch also made two recent acquisitions as part of its B2B strategy: Delaware County-based ProfitPoint, which provides loyalty platforms for retailers, and Sqoot, a New York City-based DreamIt Ventures company that aggregates local deals.

The company acquired ProfitPoint’s 18 employees but will keep its Clifton Heights office open, according to a spokeswoman. Clutch also acquired its more than 3,000 merchant clients, according to the release.

Clutch acquired ProfitPoint for an undisclosed amount.

ProfitPoint had taken at least $1.25 in venture funding from NewSpring Capital in November 2010 and also received a $2.5 million line of credit from Square1 Bank in September 2011.

As for Sqoot, Clutch only acquired its technology, a spokeswoman said. The acquisition took place in May 2013.

TECHNICALLY PHILLY

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15

Attention Startups: Why The Big Rush?

Dan Shipper is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majors in Philosophy. He’s currently working on a startup called Firefly. For more information, visit DanShipper.com This article was originally published at http://beacon. wharton.upenn.edu/.

CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com.

Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

I see a consistent attitude among a lot of young entrepreneurs both technical and non-technical that I think leads to more harm than good: They’re always in a huge rush.

They’re always in a huge rush to get the prototype out, to get it on TechCrunch, to get it to go viral, to raise money, to reach a million users in the first year, to be bought for a billion dollars the year after that, to retire to a beach somewhere before they’re 25.

And they always have a ton of reasons for why they’re in a rush: “It’s a market opportunity that’s huge and I’m the first person to realize it so I need to move as quickly as possible to take advantage of it before competitors swoop in and claim it.”

“If we don’t get it done by the time I graduate then I’ll have to get a job so I only have a limited time to make it work.”

“When I graduate I don’t want to have to move back in with my parents so I either need to raise money for this, or make enough revenue to live on.”

These rationalizations play off of the way an entrepreneur “should” think: Move as quickly as possible at all times, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you’re a real entrepreneur you’re only going to experience success by throwing yourself 100% into your idea from the very beginning even if you have no experience or skills and very little else other than manufactured conviction.

Moving as “quickly” as possible feels good. It feels productive. But ultimately I think being in a rush often slows you down.

A few weeks ago I was talking to someone who wants to work on a startup to teach people how to code.

His thesis was that there aren’t enough coders because the technical education that you get from college is either non-applicable or inaccessible and expensive. He thought it would be good for the economy and a big business opportunity to build a company that could help young people learn programming skills online.

I buy that. Even though plenty of companies already do this, he had a specific international market in mind that he wanted to apply the idea to.

The problem? He’s a non-technical MBA and currently going through the process of finding someone to build the site for him.

It struck me as odd that someone nontechnical would want to build a site to teach people how to program, but not entirely outlandish, so I asked, “If you really want to do this as a non-programmer, doesn’t it give

you the opportunity to teach yourself to code first and then build your startup around the methods that helped you learn to do it?”

“Yes,” he said. “That’s true. And I am teaching myself to code. But we need to get this done as soon as possible so I need to find someone to work on it now because it could take a year or so before I’m good enough to build it myself.”

This is a very standard response, and it may actually be true for this particular guy.

He seemed smart and may end up being successful building this company (I certainly hope so). But what happens to a lot of young entrepreneurs in a rush is that it leads them to ignore doing the one thing that will help them the most: building tangible skills.

They’re so focused on the artificial time constraints they set themselves and so convinced that what they’re currently working on is The Next Big Thing that learning skills like programming or designing or sales seems worthless.

I don’t blame them, either. If I actually only had six months to get The Next Big Thing off the ground I wouldn’t have bothered learning skills either — it would be a waste of time.

But what the people working on these ideas understand intellectually but not emotionally is that in a world of uncertainty, their special beautiful perfect concept that you need to sign three NDAs to see, will almost certainly fail.

By emotional understanding, I mean that they may know intellectually — i.e. from reading, or from hearing stories from other entrepreneurs — that their project has small chances of success. But knowing something intellectually usually has very little bearing on your behavior. When you know something emotionally – like you know that your project is unlikely to succeed because you’ve failed before the ball game becomes different. That kind of knowledge will change your behavior.

But, as a young entrepreneur, when you do truly understand that your project has very little chances of success the only thing that becomes valuable is the personal capital you take from it. The only thing that matters is what you learn.

As a good friend of mine used to say, “It’s not really about this project. It’s not even about the next one. It’s about the one you do in five years. It’s about being able to execute perfectly on that one because you’ve done it and failed so many times before.”

Here’s an interesting — if a bit anecdotal — piece of evidence for the truth of what I’m saying. Let’s take a look at the current Forbes 30 under 30 — the collection of the “brightest

stars” Forbes can find under the age of thirty.

Of the people representing the Tech category — one which is supposedly the domain of young hotshots — what do you think the age distribution is?

Half under 25 and half over 25? Nope.

Sixty percent over 25 and 40 percent under 25? Wrong again.

Of the 30 teams of co-founders on the list, only three, were composed solely of people under the age of 25. That means that 27 of the 30 or 88 percent of teams were run by people in at least their mid-twenties.

More tellingly, 18 of those teams, or well over half, has at least one co-founder who is 28 or 29.

The verdict: It takes a while to do this stuff.

In fact, to build anything valuable will take years. So if you’re young and have no experience, spending six months learning skills like programming and design and sales isn’t a waste of time. It’s an investment.

It’s worth looking deeply into why you’re saying things like: I have to raise money before X date.

I’ll have to stop working on this and get a job because I don’t want to move in with my parents after I graduate.

Sometimes those are real and legitimate concerns.

But for many people those things are just excuses to “rush” around. Do you really have to get a job right away? Or are you just trying to avoid embarrassment at having to move back in with your parents for a little while?

And even if you do have to get a job — most of us do at some point — is that really the end of your entrepreneurial career? It’s not like working nine to five precludes doing a startup.

As Gary Vaynerchuk likes to say: “7 to 2 in the morning is plenty of time to do damage.”

If you have to get a job then try to work for someone you respect who will teach you what you need to know to become a good entrepreneur.

Having to get a job is not an excuse to invent time pressure for yourself to succeed.

Your life does not end when you work nine to five. It just forces you to manage your time better.

If you’re a young entrepreneur working on a startup I’d encourage you to think to yourself: “If I had 10 years to do this what would I be working on right now?”

“If I take away all of the external, invented time pressure what kinds of skills would I need to succeed at this long term?”

And most importantly: “Why am I in such a rush?”

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2013: YEAR OF THE INNOVATOR

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Philadelphia CVB Reflects After 17th Excellence Award

BY BRANDON BAKER For the 17th time in its six-decadeslong history, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau has nabbed the yearly-awarded Pinnacle Excellence in Meeting Planning Award.

Yet that’s not to say maintenance of the bureau’s success as a promoter of Philadelphia tourism has been the biggest cakewalk.

Like any other business — private nonprofit or otherwise — the bureau has had its share of foibles along the way to economic recovery. “[The recession] really changed the paradigm of how we conduct business, and how our customers conduct business,” said Jack Ferguson, president and CEO of the bureau.

“What we started to see in a really big way, is where people were still concerned about their meetings for conventions or how they spent money on travel before, they weren’t always looking closely at

their return on investment; in today’s world, that’s what it’s all about.

“How do we cut and still create a great experience for the exhibitor? It’s been more business-driven and results-oriented than ever before.”

The bureau has adapted by not only taking advantage of the more expansive 2011-renovated convention center, but by relaunching its DiscoverPHL website, which now boasts translations in five different languages — not an easy feat, insisted Mr. Ferguson, who noted that translations are “not cheap.”

These simple-but-effective changes have been implemented in hopes that Philadelphia may attract more international travelers after having, more or less, maximized its number of North American visitors.

Presently, most of Philadelphia’s international travelers are, he said, visiting from the U.K., Germany, France and, increasingly, from China and India.

A 2012 Greater Philadelphia Tourism report noted that 613,000 international travelers came to Philadelphia in 2011, compared to 38 million Americans.

“One of the great things about Philadelphia is that we are on the transient side of business. We bring people here from everywhere for all different reasons, and what we want is for them to leave here and say, ‘This is a great city — I want to do business here. Or I want to move my business here, or maybe I want to send my kids to school here,’” Mr. Ferguson said. “And when Center City is busy, the surrounding community does well because it pushes business out to the larger regional community. Everybody does well – the restaurants do well, cab drivers do well, hotels do well; the list goes on and on.”

Jack Ferguson, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, says the relaunch of DiscoverPHL and renovations contributed to its success.

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MARCUM I N N O VATO R of the Year

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November 14, 2013 Is your company a catalyst for change?

Have you pushed the boundaries in your industry?

Is your innovation helping to boost Philadelphia’s growing economy?

Marcum LLP and Region’s Business are in search of Greater Philadelphia’s top innovators, and we want to hear from you.

The Inaugural Marcum Innovator of the Year Awards will honor businesses of all sizes that are pioneering new advancements in the fields of Health/Biotech, Technology, Business Management, and Energy. Three winners will be named in each category, based on company size.

Tell us about your break-through innovation and what makes your company a leader in our region by visiting our website – www.marcumllp.com/innovator. Submissions must be received by September 15, 2013.

Winners will be announced at a Gala Awards Ceremony at the Franklin Institute on November 14, 2013. Don’t miss out on this spectacular opportunity to join our region’s business leaders in recognizing and celebrating the spirit of innovation in and around Philadelphia.

For complete details including nomination criteria, please call Jacki Hallinan at 484.270.2715.

Ben Franklin may have been Philadelphia’s first and most celebrated innovator, but he did not have a corner on the market. Who knows? You could be Philadelphia’s next Innovator of the Year!

For tickets to the event, please call 610-572-7112 ext 102. If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please call Deirdre Affel at 610-572-7136.

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8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

SOWING THE SEEDS OF OUR WORKFORCE A recent study shows that CFOs will have their hands full in the coming years — and the workforce will have to learn to adapt to new challenges. Educational institutions in the region have taken note, and those challenges are being taken head-on.

STORY BY ERIC HERR ILLUSTRATION BY DON LEE

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BY THE NUMBERS

72%

CFOs that expect their role to expand in 2013, according to the 2013 CFO Alliance Sentiment Study

61%

Mid-market CFOs that expect their role to become more strategic with greater involvement in setting corporate direction and strategy and creating long term shareholder value

66%

Expect 2013 revenues to grow Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business has developed a unique relationship with the CFO Alliance to address concerns of the future.

Fifty-eight year old Don Robbins of Willingboro, New Jersey was stunned when he received an overnight express letter in May of 2008 telling him he had been laid off from Delanco, New Jersey based Jevic Transportation, Inc. The freight carrier, founded in the early ’80’s went belly up without warning, leaving Mr. Robbins, who had logged more than a dozen years with the company and countless others with even longer tenure, wondering where to turn and what to do next.

Fortunately, courses Mr. Robbins took at South Jersey based Burlington County College in entertainment technologies helped put him on the fast track for a new, exciting career in video production.

John Caya, a construction management major in his 20’s, expects to graduate from Drexel University next year.

He’s currently interviewing for an internship position with companies in his field hoping that real life “on the job”experience will eventually translate into full time employment.

While Don Robbins and John Caya clearly represent two different scenarios, both share common denominators: the ability to identify economic growth areas and the savvy to recognize and refine specific skill

sets that will match employer needs.

“Without a doubt, identifying, acquiring and keeping top notch employees is one of the critical areas that business leaders need to and do consider when positioning their companies for strategic growth, especially in today’s increasingly competitive marketplace,” observes Nick Araco, Jr., CEO and founder of the CFO Alliance and Director of Growth Strategies for Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP. Mr. Araco bases his assertion in part on responses from a recent Sentiment Study conducted through The CFO Alliance, a global network of more than 4,500 chief financial officers, vice presidents and other top level executives, whose goal is to find solutions to some of today’s most pressing business problems.

The organization, in collaboration with Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, recently developed a comprehensive study that examines some of the biggest issues and opportunities facing CFO’s and what they must do to enhance overall performance and create long-term shareholder value.

“I found myself on the receiving end of unsolicited inquiries from fellow CFO colleagues and friends who were in need of help on any number of issues and chal-

FLICKR.COM/TOMSPIX

lenges they were facing,“ Mr. Araco said.

“More often than not, I would often network them with each other, so it became abundantly clear that open discussions and the exchange of ideas among peers had real value at many levels, hence the beginning of the CFO Alliance in 2008.”

According to the study, CFO’s, especially those within mid-market organizations, either are or will be taking on additional responsibilities in years to come related to administrative, IT and human resource functions, along with operations and strategic planning related duties.

Uncertainty about the soon to be implemented Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and overall consumer confidence, along with increasing national and international competition, plus availability of credit and interest rates were some of many variables cited as drivers that will significantly influence future economic growth.

It was the need to create a complete framework that would both add value to the community and enhance economic productivity, that led Mr. Araco to forge a strategic partnership with Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

“What started as a few speaking engagements with the CFO Alliance and some of our finance faculty, has evolved into regu-

37%

Expect margin improvements

52% 10%

Expect earnings to grow

Expect revenue to decline

13%

Expect margins to decline

15%

Expect earnings to decline

28%

CFOs that anticipate broader organization responsibility

20 lar roundtable discussions in which we have faculty from a variety of disciplines to talk about leadership and other hot topics that affect today’s CFO and their decision making process,” explains LeBow College of Business’ Anna SerefeasKoulas.

Business services, healthcare, communications, construction, consulting, energy, finance, technology, transportation and data analysis were identified as just a few of many so-called “hotspots” of future growth in the collaborative study and therefore provide common ground on which educators and business leaders can meet.

“In order for our students to be successful in today’s workplace, it’s important that we have an ongoing dialogue with the business community at large so that we can offer courses that are not only relevant, but that directly address and are aligned with specific employer needs,” notes Drexel’s Mark Eyerly.

To that end and starting this fall, Drexel will be offering an undergraduate co-major in business analytics, to compliment an existing MS in Business Analytic’s.

“Regardless of the business discipline, future technology will revolve around understanding the collection, analysis and synthesis of data, because with increasing competition, it becomes imperative that any message and/or information reaches the right people at precisely the right time in order to maximize effectiveness, Mr. Eyerly said.

Granted, being able to crunch numbers and analyze results is the basis on which many corporate budgetary decisions are made, but there is also a softer side to the success equation.

8 AUGUST 2013

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Project Information Literacy, a national study about early adults and their information seeking behaviors in the digital age, found that those who are most successful in today’s workplace are the ones who strike a balance between computing skills and people to people or “social” skills.

In fact, founder and director of the non profit Project Information Literacy, Alison J. Head, PhD, discovered that engaging others in face to face interaction to find information is a competency that employers say they need most in the 21st century.

That up close and personal, or “softer” approach in the workplace is being addressed by an increasing number of area four year educational institutions.

The C-Suite Co-op program at Drexel, for example, matches qualified MBA students with top level executives from companies like Apple, Cisco, eBay, Morning Star Co., NBC, SAP, Urban Outfitters, ARAMARK, ESPN, Mars Drinks and Staples.

The goal is for students to experience leadership, team building and strategic thinking concepts, first hand.

Keeping in step with employer needs and the notion of workforce preparedness is equally important to two year educational institutions like Burlington County College, with campuses in Pemberton and Mount Laurel, New Jersey, as well.

“We exist to serve the needs of the county, so as we look to the future we need to carefully identify and continue to develop programs that will result in direct career connections,” says BCC President David Hespe, noting that courses in hospitality, sustainable

(green) energy and health care are just a few of many in high demand.

Mr. Hespe shares additional insight into a bigger picture, saying that demographic statistics indicate that the traditional college age student (18 to 20 years old) will likely be declining in years to come.

What this paradigm shift means is that while BCC will continue its academic focus on degree programs, it will simultaneously concentrate more on the adult learner, who either wants to pursue an academic degree, take selected courses to enhance their career, or make a career change.

As part of an effort to develop custom curriculum for business is another part of BCC’s mission to be responsive to the community. Vice President of Institutional Advancement, Rebecca Corbin, worked with Hutchinson Mechanical Services to develop an on site enhanced customer service program for their employees.

She explained that funding through The New Jersey Department of Labor meant that BCC provided the educational services without cost to Hutchinson.

“We needed our people to understand how we as a company could operate more efficiently and smarter with the ultimate goal being more responsive customer service,” said company president, Ed Hutchinson, adding that the collaborative training experience is paying big dividends in terms of increasing their bottom line.

With significant changes in

With significant changes to healthcare on the way, Independence Blue Cross has designated “Ambassadors” to make sure all of the workforce is on the same page.

healthcare on the horizon, companies like Independence Blue Cross are especially attuned to the need for workforce preparedness and more responsive customer service.

“The Affordable Care Act is going to dramatically change the way insurance companies, hospitals and all other healthcare related companies do business, so we’ve been very proactive in training our employees on what this will mean, the impact it will have and what we need to do to help the community embrace this new concept and how to navigate through it,” explains Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Jeanie Heffernan Ms. Heffernan said “Ambassadors” have been designated to take the lead in making sure everyone within the company is on the same page and completely prepared to respond to customer inquiries.

Moreover, Heffernan says the company has created internal training programs through webinars and in classroom learning.

She also says there has been a concerted effort to hire from the banking, retail and broader financial service industries in order to attract people with strong customer orientations, plus business and other communications skills.

“The ultimate goal is to be better able to assist new customers and to be in a position to guide and support and let them know we care,” Ms. Heffernan says.

Like Independence Blue Cross, communications giant, Comcast, was also quick to recognize that a key component to workforce preparedness is flex-

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...THE PHILADELPHIA ADVERTISING INDUSTRY ACCOUNTS FOR NEARLY $9 BILLION IN OVERALL ECONOMIC IMPACT, WHICH IS 2.3 PERCENT OF THE GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT An economic impact study designed by Temple University found that the advertising industry is a thriving sector that supports over 85,0000 jobs.

FLICKR.COM/JBOKANE

ibility and cultivating broader skill sets.

“Our workforce has a great sense of organizational agility. In other words, they are able to adapt, whether that is to working within different teams, on multiple initiatives or in remote locations,” said Michelle LeVasseur, Vice President of Human Resources for Comcast’s Freedom Region.

“That’s one reason we see so much success with hiring veterans. Qualities of leadership, teamwork, integrity and ingenuity are of immense value and are deeply ingrained through military training,” she said.

AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions is a Warren, New Jersey based medical and physician practice billing, coding and data analytics company.

According to President Jay Roberts, Medicare’s need to get expanded information on diagnosis and procedure codes used to treat patients will definitely drive the future demand for medical coders, not to mention additional training and certification.

“In essence, we follow the interaction of patient to provider from the start of service to the payment of the claim,” Mr. Roberts said.

AdvantEdge Sr. Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Jeanne Gilreath, notes that their company has always been proactive with regard to healthcare regulation compliance, but what is changing is how it enforces those regulations.

“The soon to be implemented Affordable Care Act and all the Health Information Exchanges that are going to be set up will require much more detailed patient information and quality measurement factors, so it may require new payment models that our computer systems have never encountered before. That very well could mean new software, possibly hardware, not to mention the additional expenses to accommodate these extensive changes,” said Gilreath.

Gilreath sees actively engaging with educational institutions, having a say in textbook review and medical coding curriculum development, plus providing multifaceted 200 hour internship programs as a way to cultivate quality workers.

Like AdvantEdge, Lehigh Valley based Abec, a high tech equipment design firm that builds systems that allow pharmaceutical companies to produce cell based drugs such as vaccines, antibodies and insulin, is also committed to finding and keeping good employees.

Company CFO Gary Bender says jobs in manufac-

turing, such as those in his and other specialty areas are desperately needed and could be had with just two years of training.

“I think there’s a general lack of awareness of where the opportunities are in manufacturing and there’s often a a misconception about what they are,” Mr. Bender said.

He says manufacturing jobs are no longer warehouse or dirty factory jobs, but rather those that now require programming, computer automation, and robotics skills, a knowledge of hydraulics and a process thinking mentality.

Moreover, he says those who have the right attitude and some degree of technical know how, can come out of school with a two year degree and walk into a $70,ooo per year job with benefits and advancement opportunity.

“If we’re going to attract good people, it’s important that we get them interested early on to create that pipeline of qualified candidates. That’s why we go out to high schools, have internships, training sessions and open houses, so that students can visualize what we’re all about,” Mr. Bender said.

It should be noted that aside from his passion for igniting enthusiasm for his industry in high school juniors and seniors, hiring military veterans has also been one his most rewarding experiences.

Mr. Bender, along with Jack Pfunder of Manufacturers Resource Center and Gina Kormanik of the Lehigh Valley Workforce Investment Board, Inc. are making huge strides in repositioning the manufacturing sector for growth.

Yet another area driving the regions economy is the advertising and communications industry.

According to an an economic impact study designed

by Temple University Professor, of Advertising, Dana Saewitz, President of Harmelin Media, Mary Meder and doctoral student Brenden Mason, the Philadelphia advertising industry accounts for nearly $9 billion in overall economic impact, which is 2.3 percent of the gross regional product.

Moreover, this thriving sector supports over 85,000 jobs and generates nearly $464 million in local, state and federal taxes.

“This study gives us more than enough confidence to continue supporting the types of educational and outreach programs we offer and provides an impetus for

further growth and prosperity for our industry and it’s allied services,” Alan Tempest, President of the Philly Ad Club, said.

In today’s increasingly competitive environment, it’s imperative that companies understand both the in’s and out’s of domestic and international trade, to be adequately positioned for future growth,.

Receptivity to products and services, identifying new markets and facilitating documentation are just a few of many services offered to businesses by the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce and Economic Development.

Interestingly, it’s an area many firms either choose not to explore or ignore altogether, because it’s unfamiliar territory.

“From my perspective, I think there’s a need for a more strategic approach to doing business overseas, especially on the part of small to medium sized businesses. They need to understand how the international markets work, how they’re changing, how their companies can take advantage of those changes and what kind of people they need in the field to be properly represented,” Peter O’Neill, executive director for Trade Development for the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce and Economic Development, said.

Mr. O’Neill notes that China has made quantum leaps in terms of becoming one of the top three global players with whom the United States trades —the other two being Canada and Mexico.

“When people think of workforce preparedness in the international marketplace, they typically think of computer proficiency and research skills first,” Mr. O’Neill said. “But the reality is we need to think more about international business acumen, cultural sensitivity, costs of doing business overseas and how committed and aggressive are we about delving into the international scene.” Learning a foreign language is always a plus, he added.

The fact is, according to a Bloomberg study of the most important languages for international business, Mandarin Chinese ranks first after English.

Clearly, the notion of workforce preparedness will always be a work in progress.

For CFO Alliance founder, Nick Araco, Jr., it’s all about staying focused on alignment, transparency, understanding, and adapting to change.

22

Q&A

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

A HIGHER CLASS

OF FASHION Henry A. Davidsen is the only image consultant shop in Philadelphia — from custom tailoring and bespoke suits to image consulting and full service grooming. We talked with the company’s president and member of AICI board of directors, Brian Lipstein, about what businessmen can expect when they walk into Henry A. Davidsen, and what sets it apart from other tailors in the city.

What is the elevator pitch for Henry A. Davidsen?

Henry A. Davidsen is a business that helps gentlemen in particular who are tired of limited selection of clothing off the rack, tired of clothing that doesn’t fit or spending a lot of time sorting through their particular style, their particular size and then having to get it altered anyway. We help the guys understand what their style is — style being different than fashion, that’s a really important distinction. We help them understand their style, we help them understand where they are in their wardrobe and then help put a plan together moving forward where we can create and customize all of the pieces that are going to best serve their professional needs, and really communicate in an unspoken message

/HenryDavidsen

the same verbal message they’re trying to communicate in their business.

What sets Henry A. Davidsen apart from other tailors or suit shops?

When I started the business seven-and-a-half years ago, I had an experience with a tailor and I said, “I want a suit for interviews.” He couldn’t really guide me as to the best suit. He got me a good suit ... but he didn’t give me the best interview suit.

That experience kind of jaded me a little bit and I could have gone one of two ways. I could have said, “Well, this tailor’s been tailoring for 50 years, why can’t he tell me what to get? What’s the point of working with a tailor?” But I took it the other way and did some research to improve upon that

experience. I came across the Association of Image Consultants International, an international organization, about 1300 members across the globe, all working toward promoting the ABCs of Image: appearance, behavior and communication. I found this and said, “Well this is what I was looking for in the guidance of my tailor. I love the service the tailor provided: custom-fit, being able to design it, custom fabric... but let’s take it to the next level.

Let’s take it to the psychology behind the clothing and really give the gentleman an experience where he’s looking for that guidance, he’s looking for scientific research behind how to dress for his career, or to dress for social situations.” That’s the approach I was looking for and wasn’t finding... so I went out and researched it and created it.

HenryDavidsen.com

24

FINE ESTATES PREVIEW

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

Historic $1.25M Farmhouse in Blue Bell This four bedroom, three bathroom home, described as a history buff ’s dream, was built in 1698 with an accompanying barn built in 1705.

This farmhouse has been fully renovated and features four fireplaces, original forged iron hardware, Beacon Hill lavendar glass, bull shot glass, a bird’s eye maple staircase and many charming details.

The home includes a mud room, eat-in kitchen, first floor laundry and front room with eating area.

There is a wine cellar in the basemnt, which is naturally temperature controlled.

The wine cellar was once a part of the Underground Railroad, adding to the property’s historic quality.

The master bedroom contains built in cabinetry and a full dressing room.

This unique, tranquil property sits on almost 2.5 acres and has been carefully maintained. Its easy access through a cul de sac makes it ideal for families.

For more information, please contact Brian Vogt of Prudential Fox & Roach at (215) 862-5500

26

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

REAL ESTATE

Ridge Avenue Development Still Needs Work

BY BROOKE HOFFMAN

T

here has been a pretty long wait for the apartments at 1244-54 Ridge Avenue to come into fruition. Since 2008, the West Poplar development has been slowly moving along, but it appears a recent violation may have put the project back on everyone’s radar.

In March 2008, the Zoning Board of Adjustment reviewed the original plans for the property to be renovated with 16 new residential units.

After going back and forth for the entire year, the ZBA dismissed the plans in October. The massive, 4,580.6-squarefoot building continued to fall into disrepair.

Then in January 2010, the ZBA approved a new plan, again for 16 units. Within the year, XAVI Investments LLC of Wynnewood purchased the property for $200,000. The next year, the ZBA also approved the con-

820 Brushtown Rd, Gwynedd Valley, PA

84 Norristown Rd, Blue Bell, PA 19422

$3.65 M (6005156)

$965,000 (5962964)

struction of a new fourth floor, which is fitting since older pictures of the building show the structure was once four floors total.

Throughout 2011, a lot of progress was made on the property.

By May, Licenses and Inspections issued Blue Moon Contracting a permit to demolish non-load bearing walls. Harman Deutsch Architecture received zoning permits for the new fourth floor in June, but construction permits weren’t issued until November of 2012.

So things started to move slowly, but in the meantime the city cited the property two times for property maintenance.

In November 2011, the new owners had to file for a vacant building license and replace or repair a number of windows throughout the property because the building was not up to the city’s standards. The window issue is still open.

There has been some stirring around

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 its’ custom finishes t/o including newly renovated gourmet kitchen.

Transformation of 1244-54 Ridge Avenue into a living, breathing residential building is finally under way after several false starts.

PHILADELPHIA REAL ESTATE BLOG / BROOKE HOFFMAN

the property.

In May, L&I issued permits for the plumbing and a PECO vault. Good news. But in July, the city issued a violation due to the excessive amount of garbage and rubbish around the construction site; this violation is still left open.

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)

While there’s clearly progress on this project, it looks like the 16 units at 1244 Ridge Avenue still have some cleaning up to do.

This article was originally published on the Philadelphia Real Estate blog at Blog.PhiladelphiaRealEstate. com.

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

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

REAL ESTATE

27

A Historic Gem Found In Graduate Hospital

U

nless you’re attuned to the signs — and there are plenty of them, from banners to state historical markers to the First African Baptist Church at the corner of 16th — you may not realize today that Christian Street west of Broad was the heart of Philadelphia’s black middle class community for most of the last century.

Black professionals bought the large, late-19th-century townhouses that lined the street; many of them worked in the medical profession, giving the stretch its nickname of “Doctors’ Row.” Perhaps, then, it’s oddly fitting that people now refer to the neighborhood with the name of a now-defunct medical institution — “Graduate Hospital.”

The church abides, but many of the institutions and businesses these people built have disappeared, leaving only their physical artifacts behind.

One of the largest, the former Southwest-Belmont YWCA on nearby Catharine Street, is currently the focus of a somewhat contentious redevelopment battle between a developer who wants to enlarge it and convert it to residences and at least one nearby neighbor who complains the bigger building will rob his property of sunlight.

A successful community, however, contains institutions large and small.

As you walk down 17th Street past the Edwin M. Stanton School, you will pass one of them, and you may not even realize it as you do: the Casselle funeral home.

This handsome Colonial Revival structure at 913-17 S. 17th Street was built in 1912 by Walter W. H. Casselle to house his funeral business. Mr. Casselle, a native of Washington, moved to Philadelphia with his family at an early age and eventually rose to become the first and the most prominent AfricanAmerican mortician in the city.

In many American cities, undertakers were mainstays of the black professional community, as they were assured of steady patronage in a field where discrimination guaranteed them a market for their services. Casselle’s story, however, illustrates the ways in which the black and white worlds intersect as well.

Very little written history exists about Casselle or his funeral home; in fact, we would not have known about

The Classical Revival structure at 913-17 S. 17th Street housed a historic funeral home.

it had a neighborhood resident filled us in as she noticed the author taking pictures of the building. What we do know comes mainly from the obituary for Casselle that ran in the June 2, 1956, edition of The Afro-American, a leading African-American newspaper published in Baltimore that circulated across the country.

Casselle was born on Aug. 31, 1892, in Washington, D.C., but lived in Philadelphia for most of his life. At age 15, while still enrolled at Central High School, he got a job working for Oliver H. Bair, founder of the city’s most prestigious funeral home. (Its former home on Chestnut Street, built in 1907, the year he found employment there, is now a high-end clothing store).

Casselle set up his own mortuary business after leaving Bair’s employment; the obituary gives this date as 1904, but that date is probably in error if Casselle started work there at age 15. 1912, the year he built his funeral home, is probably closer to the actual date. He was the eighth profes-

sional undertaker in the city and its first African-American one.

His aspirations for the business are reflected in the building’s design, with its air of old-money WASP refinement. They were surpassed when it hosted a notorious funeral: that of one William Drayton, better known as “Alabama Joe” in the community, in 1921.

Drayton had been shot to death by a Philadelphia police officer following an all-night stakeout at Drayton’s home at 17th and Lombard streets triggered by Drayton’s murder of a woman. “Alabama Joe’s” funeral drew 18,000 viewers to the Casselle funeral parlor. Said Casselle afterwards, “The advertising his funeral gave my business was well worth the $300 expense which came out of my pocket.”

Casselle mentored an entire generation of Philadelphia funeral directors, and his business flourished in the 1920s. But the onset of the Great Depression laid him low, and in 1931, he sold the building and moved his operation to a space on Haverford

PHILADELPHIA REAL ESTATE BLOG / SANDY SMITH

Avenue, where he remained through the “lean years” of the 1930s. In 1941, he returned to his old neighborhood with a facility at 1733 Christian Street, where he did business for the rest of his life.

Casselle died on May 17, 1956, and his business died with him. The original funeral home, as far as we can tell, was never again put to its intended use.

A search of public records shows that an E. Lee Richardson bought the property in 1943 and that there is no public record of any sale between that date and 1999, when Lloyd Johnson bought it.

Johnson sold it to a development firm three years later, and it has remained in the hands of investors ever since the development firm lost the property at a sheriff ’s sale in 2006.

The building, like its next-door neighbor, which Casselle also built, now houses apartments.

This article was originally published on the Philadelphia Real Estate blog at Blog.PhiladelphiaRealEstate.com.

28

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

OPINION

Tax Reform Based On Smart Energy Policy Is Key

Dr. Jim Broussard is Chairman of Citizens Against Higher Taxes.

CONTRIBUTE Send comments, letters and essays to feedback@ regionsbusiness.com.

Opinions expressed by guest writers do not necessarily reflect those of Region’s Business.

Government is not the only thing that has grown exponentially in recent years.

Take a look at our tax code — there are few taxpayers, and even fewer businesses, who feel confident enough to go it alone filing a tax return. The politicians have engineered a monster, and it’s time we got it under control.

In a bipartisan tax reform effort, the chairmen of the House and Senate committees responsible for our nation’s financial policy stopped in Philadelphia on a “tax reform tour” last week, Monday, July 29.

They wanted to get outside the Washington beltway, head up I-95 and hear what ideas Pennsylvanians have on a tax-code overhaul bill.

I’m sure Democrat Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Republican Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan heard familiar ideas such as simplifying the code and lowering corporate taxes, which are among the very highest in the world.

What I hope we didn’t hear were attempts to target specific industries with punitive tax rates, based on the phony idea that successful industries can pay more, and that the heavier burden will not affect others or our economy as a whole.

We have already seen this administration try to target the oil and gas industry by denying it some of the same standard deductions and credits that all other businesses get. It is standard practice to deduct the costs of doing business before assessing taxes. These are not subsidies for businesses, but merely an accounting of what money the business actually makes.

Here’s an example of a poor concept of tax reform for Sen. Baucus and Rep. Camp: The administration has called for denying oil and gas companies the deductions that other manufacturers and producers get for creating new jobs.

BY THE NUMBERS

41%

Average tax rate for oil and gas companies

26%

Average tax rate for the rest of the Standard & Poor companies Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) visited Philadelphia, Monday, July 29, as part the “Tax Reform Tour.”

FLICKR.COM/AMERICANPROGRESSACTION

These “Section 199” deductions, as they are known in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, encourage companies to create family-sustaining jobs here at home.

With unemployment still dangerously high, we need these jobs even more in 2013 than we did in 2004. Why deny these job credits to an entire industry that is perhaps in the best position of any to create new jobs? That would be fiscal stupidity.

Smart energy policy should be the foundation of any tax reform legislation. Tax reform that supports domestic energy development is good for our economy, job creation, consumers and will help America become more energy independent.

Imagine what the last five years would have been like if we hadn’t had the benefit of our oil and gas industry.

In 2011, when unemployment remained over nine percent, this industry created 148,000 new jobs, nine percent of the total new jobs in the country.

In that same year, oil and gas companies invested more than $36 billion in our economy, according to the Progressive Policy Institute, which labeled the industry among its “Investment Heroes.”

Now just think what more this industry might have done had it not already been carrying one of the highest tax burdens in the economy.

Oil and gas companies pay an average tax rate of 41 percent, while the rest of the Standard & Poor companies pay an average of 26 percent. In fact, for every dollar of profit, energy companies paid $3 in taxes.

Also keep in mind America’s oil companies are competing against foreign oil companies, many of which are subsidized or even owned by countries such as China, Venezuela, Brazil and Russia. And while we may look at our American companies as giants, their size pales in comparison to their international competition.

I’m a staunch proponent of meaningful tax reform. But let’s make sure that in reforming taxes, we don’t extinguish the bright spots in our economy by targeting any one, single industry as the administration wants to do.

If we are smart about tax reform and base it on smart energy policies, we can encourage this industry to contribute even more to our economy by creating new jobs — i.e. growing the tax base — and paving the way to American energy independence in an increasingly competitive world.

42%

Respondents from domestic companies that ranked the U.S. corporate tax rate as the top business tax concern in 2012, according to KPMG’s Tax Reform Survey Report

56%

Respondents that said lowering the corporate rate is more important than reforming the taxation of non-U.S. source income

95%

Respondents that view the corporate tax system as flawed and in need of reform

29

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

OPINION COMMENTARY FROM ACROSS THE WEB

Debt Ceiling Must Be Raised If the national debt ceiling — currently just under $16.7 trillion — actually functioned to control deficit spending, holding the line would make a lot of sense.

But as a 2011 Government Accountability Office study concluded: “The debt limit does not control or limit the ability of the federal government to run deficits or incur obligations. Rather, it is a limit on the ability to pay obligations already incurred.”

Early this year, a group of well-respected economists agreed that since Congress already approves spending, “a separate debt ceiling that has to be increased periodically creates unneeded uncertainty and can potentially lead to worse fiscal outcomes.”

It seems to us that inasmuch as congressional lawmakers are responsible for creating the nation’s enormous financial debt, it is morally indefensible — not to mention stupid — for them to put government operations in jeopardy by failing to honor those obligations.

BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES, 5 AUGUST 2013

Is Tom Corbett Really A Dead Man Walking?

As most political observers are aware, Corbett has been hobbled by bad poll numbers and is now less popular than either Rendell or former Gov. Tom Ridge at similar points in their respective first terms.

An omen auguring in Corbett’s favor is Pennsylvanians’ historical reluctance to switch governors after a single, four-year term.

Granted, there hasn’t been an incumbent in recent memory with such dismal re-elect numbers. And it remains to be seen whether any of the pack of Democratic challengers will be able to build the statewide namerecognition needed to unseat Corbett.

Finally, there’s about a year-and-a-half to go before the 2014 general election. If Corbett scores policy wins between now and then on any of The Big Three issues (liquor privatization, transportation funding and/or pension reform), the picture could change.

But one of those — transportation — would require a tax hike in an election year, which seems unlikely. And it’s hard to see how the political winds could shift on privatization.

Unless, of course, the prospect of a Democratic governor is enough to scare legislative Republicans into finally playing nice with each other.

This much is clear: It’s going to be a rough fall for Corbett and 2014 will be even rougher.

JOHN L. MICEK, THE PATRIOT-NEWS 5 AUGUST 2013

Obama Should Channel Lincoln On Nov. 19, thousands are expected to come to Gettysburg, just as they had 150 years ago on that date, to commemorate the sacred land where so many died so that so many more could be free.

The guest list is expected to be impressive, and it is hoped that it would include President Barack Obama.

Both are transformative figures in American history — Mr. Lincoln for his leadership in preserving the Union and Mr. Obama for being the first African-American president.

Both are gifted and powerful orators.

And if it weren’t for Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Obama might not have ever been elected president.

Mr. Obama seems to realize his debt to Lincoln. When he first took the oath of office in 2001, he placed his hand on Mr. Lincoln’s Bible.

On Nov. 19, 1863, Mr. Lincoln delivered one of most powerful and important speeches in American history, a perfect distillation of this nation’s character addressed in 272 words.

Mr. Obama has a tendency to speak long.

With all of the strife and contention in Washington consuming our politics, wouldn’t it be great if Mr. Obama could deliver a 272word speech as powerful and inspiring as Mr. Lincoln’s, a speech that concisely sums up this nation’s character and sets a course for its future?

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Michael Nutter meets with StartUpPHL interns last week at Bliss restaurant. @PHILADELPHIAGOV

@philly311

Know someone genuinely concerned about the neighborhood & community?

Is it YOU?! Join our Neighborhood Liaison Program 215-683-0868 6 AUGUST 2013

@WhartonEntrep ChargeItSpot mobile app (Doug Baldasare WG’12) is looking for beta testers in Philly-email team@ chargeitspot.com to play. #WE startups 30 JULY 2013

@DVRPC Cheltenham, PA is now one of our Classic Towns! Learn more about this historic community and other Classic Towns here http://www.classictowns.org/ cheltenham 6 AUGUST 2013

@thekidet Just saw our new schedule, I’m sure the rooks will get a kick out of playing the Heat for their first game of their career lol

DELAWARE COUNTY TIMES,

6 AUGUST 2013

@dasjoshua Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

6 AUGUST 2013

@WhartonLP

2014 Lipman Prize Applications are open! Check out the increased $ amount for winning & finalist orgs. http://ow.ly/ n8dMT 6 AUGUST 2013

@Philly_Tech We’re really looking forward to seeing more of you at this months #PhillyTech meetup! http://ow.ly/nEBrS for the lineup and to RSVP 6 AUGUST 2013

@TheOvalPHL #WellnessTuesday programs: @SmithPlayground activities, hoop dancing, @WestonFitness boot camp & @bcgp classes 6 AUGUST 2013

@dhm “This is the Department of Justice, I think, with Ben Franklin at the top!”--tourist pointing to City Hall 1 AUG 2013

06 AUGUST 2013

EDITORIAL BOARD CEO and President James D. McDonald Managing Editor Terrence J. Casey Associate Editor Rich Coleman

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.

30

8 AUGUST 2013

REGIONSBUSINESS.COM

BY THE NUMBERS

22

63%

Majorities out of 39 countries view USA as having the strongest economy, according to a Pew Research Study

Respondents who have a favorable image of America, according to Pew’s global attitudes survey

50%

Ranking for State College, Pa. in the study

44%

Average voted America as being on top

Respondents with favorable image of China.

44%

59%

Americans that believe China is the dominant economic power

Respondents view America as a partner

39%

39%

Americans that believe America is the dominant economic power

38

Ranking for Ambler, Pa., for Luminosity’s recent study of the top 100 smartest cities

14 2 5

Ranking for Princeton, N.J.

Ranking for Cambridge, Mass., where Harvard resides

Respondents view China as a partner

FLICKR.COM/WALLYG

69%

81%

Respondents out of 2012 adults, 18 and older, who’d like to live between 79 and 100, according to Pew Research

90

The median ideal age

Respondents from Pew Research Study that are satisfied with the way things are going in life

63%

Respondents that said medical advances that prolong life are generally good because they allow people to live longer

32%

Respondents that said medical advances that prolong life are generally bad because they interfere with natural cycle of life

56%

Respondents who expect that 10 years from now their lives will be even better or about the same

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