Breakfast networking events largely geared toward the hospitality industry aren't usually hotbeds for hard news, particularly when it comes to the future of our fair, most hospitable city.

But Alan Greenberger knows better. The city's deputy mayor of planning and economic development delivered an eye-opening presentation on Tuesday for the Center City Proprietors' State of the City forum, joining usual hospitality proponents like Meryl Levitz of the Greater Philadelphia Marketing and Tourism Corporation and Jack Ferguson of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau in trumpeting the sector's potential for driving job growth and economic prosperity.

In fact, Greenberger says he talks to Ferguson "frequently," and the pair is part of a coalition of about a dozen groups working on developing a Hospitality University, a collaborative effort that would train future hospitality workers.

"These jobs trend toward entry level, are more available to the segment of our population that is desperate for jobs, and we have to make the connections to these jobs stronger," said Greenberger from the floor of one of the many cavernous ballrooms inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

"This job area will grow faster than manufacturing."

The nearly $800 million Convention Center expansion has already secured $2.7 billion in future bookings. Leisure travelers in Philadelphia have tripled in the last 12 years. The most telling figures, however, come from The city's massive planning effort, Philadelphia 2035. The plan's middle-ground population forecast for 2035 allows for an additional 100,000 residents who will need an additional 40,000 jobs. That bad news, as Greenberger mentioned, is there are currently 36 jobs per 100 residents in Philadelphia. San Francisco has about twice that number of jobs.

"If we don't do anything else, we have to expand the number of jobs in the city for those with a lower opportunity base," said Greenberger, who supports a second convention-sized hotel, acknowledging that getting one developed is challenging.

"The hotel business probably has 7,000-8,000 jobs in the city. We have to keep growing that base."

Another panelist on Tuesday, Convention Center Authority President and CEO Ameenah Young, has overseen its expansion in her first couple years on the job, and will be shifting gears from construction manager to hospitality executive. It's not the only shift Young is driving.

"Five years ago, this would have been all white men up here," she said, setting up fervent applause from a crowd of about 200. "Having our staff reflect (our city's) demographics is enormous."

JOE PETRUCCI is managing editor of Flying Kite. Send feedback here.

Photo (courtesy of ARC Properties):
The Franklin Hotel is slated to open in Old City next year.