Center City : Innovation + Job News

The Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) program at Drexel’s Academy of Natural Sciences has been going strong for 32 years, and now a special grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Museums Connect program is allowing a team of 15 Philly public high school girls to collaborate with 15 girls from Mongolia on a globe-spanning project.

For the last several months, the teens have been using online courses, Facebook and Skype to study climate change and its cultural impact. Then last week, four girls from the Mongolian side of the project, administered through the National Museum of Mongolia’s ROOTS program, had a whirlwind visit to Philadelphia. This July, five public high school girls from Philadelphia will reciprocate with their own two-week trip to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.

The climate change focus of the youth program is three-pronged, explains WINS manager Betsy Payne: "One is water, one is food, one is the cultural repercussions."

Currently, there are 60 girls in the WINS program citywide, but the Museums Connect dollars (administered by the American Alliance of Museums) allowed for just fifteen Mongolian girls and fifteen Philly girls. WINS sophomores and juniors were invited to apply for the program, and were selected based on a range of criteria.

"Even though it’s a one-year program, we’re hoping it has repercussions where they might be able to do more in the near future," says Payne of the age group she decided to target and applicants' dedication to the program’s offerings. The Academy was also "looking for the girls who hadn’t had other opportunities of major travel." 

The lucky travelers are George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science sophomore Faatimat Sylla; junior Geré Johnson from the Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School of Philadelphia; Harleen Gonzalez, a sophomore at Central High School; Academy at Palumbo sophomore Linda Gutierrez, and Philadelphia High School for Girls junior Ti’anna Cooper.

The project’s capstone, for both teams of girls, will be a final display based on what they’ve learned in their year of cross-continental collaboration. The form it will take will be up to the students, as long as it deals with climate change and cultural exchange: a short play, a museum activity, a presentation of specimens or something else the young women devise.  

The Mongolian students' U.S. trip was packed with classroom visits and science as well as some historic sight-seeing in Old City, cheesesteaks on South Street, a Lancaster farm visit, a tour of Washington, D.C. that included the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and even some good old-fashioned retail therapy at the King of Prussia Mall.

By early fall, the two intercontinental teams will develop lessons and presentations about climate change that will be incorporated into the public programming at the Academy of Natural Sciences and the National Museum of Mongolia.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Betsy Payne, The Academy of Natural Sciences
 

According to Todd Hestand, manager of incubator programs at University of the Arts’ Corzo Center for the Creative Economy, there’s no excuse for creative professionals in Philly not turning their ideas into businesses.

"This is one of those great lies," he explains. "Artists love to say that there’s no resources out there for them, there’s no funding, and that’s all just a big excuse…there are tons of resources out there for artists. You just have to go out and look."

One of those resources is the Corzo Center (which receives funding from PECO, Wells Fargo and the Knight Foundation). It offers a four-pronged program for different levels of engagement, including free lectures and workshops, Corzo’s Open Office Hours program, two-week business Boot Camps, and a Creative Incubator Grant.

The Center defines artists as broadly as possible -- everything from musicians and performers to fine artists, craftspeople and industrial designers. And they can help any artist who wants to start a business, either for- or non-profit, from supporting themselves with their own practice to developing an app.

Hestand, a serial entrepreneur with a long resume as an executive management consultant who is also an artist and musician, first came across Corzo Director Neil Kleinman about five years ago when he joined Philly Startup Leaders.

"He said he was running this thing called the Corzo Center," recalls Hestand. "I said, 'Who’s on your team?' He said, 'Well, just me.' I said, 'Well, not anymore.' That was about it."

Hestand is also the administrative coordinator for the Open Office Hours program, providing unlimited, free, confidential entrepreneurship counseling sessions to the public. This rapidly growing four-year-old initiative offers access to about 25 experts at three different partner locations: UArts, the Curtis Institute and NextFab.

All consultants are well-rounded business strategists, but aspiring entrepreneurs can pick from a long list of specialties including accounting, marketing, PR, taxes, finance, web design and development.

While the Corzo Center isn’t the only place in the city offering counsel to aspiring entrepreneurs, "there really isn’t any other organized, growing operational office hours capacity for artists starting businesses in Philly," argues Hestand.

Recently, a new scheduling platform through the Timely app has dramatically increased program participation: The number of appointments has doubled every month since it launched.

Hestand estimates that 100 people used the old platform last year, but that number could easily jump to three or four hundred in 2015.

"All locations are free and open to the public," he urges. "Sign up for a much help as you need."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Todd Hestand, The Corzo Center for the Creative Economy
 

Six Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) students at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) were frustrated by the lack of opportunities for young and emerging artists to exhibit their work. They decided not to wait around for the local scene to give them their chance.

"Though many amazing spaces and programs exist, it remains difficult to exhibit, especially coming right out of graduate school," explains recent MFA grad Tiffany Tate. "We want to be part of the solution," and make a new space where Philly’s emerging artists can "take chances."

Tate and fellow students Morgan Hobbs, Jillian Schley, Rebecca Sedehi, Shane Allen Smith and Zach Zecha have formed AUTOMAT, a gallery collective with a new 750-square-foot home on the second floor of a former sewing factory at 319 N. 11th Street.

Chatting with Flying Kite about the new collective and its space, Tate explains that 319 -- as it’s called by the artists -- is full of galleries, independent artist collectives and studio space.

Tate, a photographer, now works for PAFA; the other AUTOMAT partners will graduate this year.

"We’re always talking about ways to stay connected and stay inspired," she says. "And as emerging artists outside of school looking for show opportunities, we know how difficult it is to find spaces to show when you don’t have gallery representation."

Funding AUTOMAT is a three-pronged process. There are monthly dues from the six collective members, plus over $6,000 from a successful Indiegogo campaign (ending March 4) that will help cover renovation of the space, including new paint, a projector, fixtures to hang the artwork, furniture and marketing dollars. AUTOMAT also secured a grant of about $3,000 from PAFA’s Venture Fund, which helps students take the next step in their careers.

According to Tate, space at 319 was the collective’s first choice. The founders liked how dedicated the building's tenants are to new media and the contemporary arts scene. This is the attitude the AUTOMAT crew needs: Schley makes sculptures out of poured paint. Hobbs, Sedehi and Zecha are painters, and Smith does a bit of everything, from videos and printmaking to sculpture.

They’re still working on prepping the walls and floors, and installing new lighting, but they’re on track for an official opening show on Friday, April 3. The first exhibition will feature work by the founders.
 
"It’s not primarily about showing our own work," Tate says of the collective’s future curatorial goals. "But our first show is like, 'Hi, we’re AUTOMAT. Come meet us!'"
 
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Tiffany Tate, AUTOMAT

A few weeks ago, Philadelphia startup Wash Cycle Laundry (WCL) closed on a major new loan from the Distinguished Social Ventures Foundation (DSVF) which may help the company create hundreds of new jobs and nab new contracts on the way to major expansion.

According to founder and CEO Gabriel Mandujano, the $450,000 loan isn’t just important for what it will help WCL achieve, but also in the new model it will help forge for foundations who want to invest in mission-based businesses.

WCL, now operating in Austin and Washington, D.C., as well as Philly, was founded here in 2010. The company provides laundry and linen rental services for institutions, businesses and residents, with environmentally-friendly high-efficiency machines and powerful bike trailers for hauling. The company also focuses on hiring its employees from vulnerable populations such as formerly incarcerated people and longtime welfare recipients. The company currently employs almost 50 people, with a retention rate topping 80 percent in workers' first six months.

"What [this] capital allows us to do is come to the table as a ready partner," explains Mandujano. When WCL negotiates with potential clients like a hospital system or university, whether or not the company has the capacity to handle the contract in terms of staffing and inventory has always been a big question. "What this investment has allowed us to do is…go out and close more of these institutional contracts."

The terms of the loan are unique, and give WCL a powerful incentive to expand its socially conscious mission. The current interest rate on the loan is 5 percent, but WCL has five years to reduce that interest rate drastically.

"We’re talking about the net number of jobs that we create," says Mandujano of the loan’s "five-year time clock" from its January 21 closing date. If WCL can create 200 jobs with the help of the new capital, interest on the loan will drop to three percent, and if it can create 500 new jobs within five years, the interest rate will go down to just one percent.

"I’m really excited that this financing aligns our financial interests with our mission interests," he enthuses. "If we’re better at achieving our mission, we’re also financially rewarded for that."

And for both WCL and DSVF, a bigger goal is creating a model that will work for other "purpose-driven businesses" and the foundations who might be interested in similar "impact investing," but do not know how to select the right company, set the right goals, and hammer out the paperwork.

According to Mandujano, "we wanted to create an instrument that that we thought could be copied both by other foundations that want to invest in Wash Cycle, but also just by foundations interested in this type of investing in general."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Gabriel Mandujano, Wash Cycle Laundry
 

With a $100,000 infusion in the form of a special grant from two national foundations, the Philly-based community development financial institution (CDFI) Entrepreneur Works Fund is planning to offer a four-pronged, two-year pilot program to local creative entrepreneurs.
 
"We’re in great company there," says Entrepreneur Works Fund (EWF) Executive Director Leslie Benoliel. "It’s great to be recognized by national funders and also to be among such a small group."

Nationwide, about 40 CDFIs answered a special joint call from the Kresge and Surdna foundations for their Catalyzing Culture and Community through CDFIs initiative. The foundations selected just seven winners. (Three are in Philadelphia; The Reinvestment Fund and the Enterprise Center also received grants.)
 
EWF is a nonprofit, mission-based CDFI working for "disinvested neighborhoods," as Benoliel puts it, helping aspiring entrepreneurs launch or expand a small business by offering loans, workshops and other training. They work primarily with low-income, minority or immigrant clients, Benoliel explains: people who "typically do not have access to the same resources as mainstream or larger businesses," or can’t afford or qualify for more traditional sources of support.
 
The Kresge and Surdna grant goes specifically to EWF’s "Championing Revival, Empowering Artists, Transforming Economies" program (CREATE), and the organization will partner with two others for this pilot program: Chester Arts Alive! and the People’s Emergency Center in West Philadelphia.
 
The money will allow EWF to deepen its services for a small group of chosen creative entrepreneurs. The CREATE program has four elements: small loans for artists or other aspiring businesspeople with a creative bent, grants of up to $1000 that will be disbursed alongside the loans, public workshops, and one-on-one business guidance for participants.
 
Artists have a great ability to activate underutilized spaces or sectors, but because of the often unpredictable nature of their earning power from project to project, they’re not always in a good position to acquire a capital loan.
 
"We don’t want to put them more at risk, but we also want to help them learn how to use and manage capital," says Benoliel of how pairing disbursement of a grant (recipients can opt to put the grant toward repayment of the loan or use it for another purpose) gives the artists more flexibility and leaves them less financially exposed, while still helping them to build a credit history.
 
"CDFIs can play an important role in helping artists, arts and culture organizations, and non-arts organizations create jobs, attract investments, generate tax revenues, and stimulate local economies,” said Surdna Foundation President Phillip Henderson in a statement. He lauds the CREATE program for making communities "healthier, more equitable and sustainable."
 
Benoliel says the dollars will help their clients "participate in the mainstream economy, access more resources, grow, employ people, [and] contribute to the economic base and vitality of our city’s neighborhoods."
 
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Leslie Benoliel, Entrepreneur Works Fund
 

Last week, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful (KPB) released a new RFP for community nonprofits looking to nab seed funds for their anti-litter initiatives.

"You can have all the ideas in the world but not secure the funds to do it," explains Michelle Feldman, the organization's director. "At Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, we're not the only ones with good ideas."

The new program consists of three microgrants: two of $1,000 and one of $500. A former CDC employee herself, Feldman knows how far even a small amount of money can go for a community group trying to get a new idea off the ground.

Keep Philadelphia Beautiful "believes that communities know their challenges and opportunities best," says the RFP of working through grantees on litter abatement. "We want to provide community-based organizations with the resources to help solve neighborhood beautification concerns, and the space to experiment and test new ideas."

Successful applicants will need to demonstrate measurable, collaborative, sustainable and scalable impact, says Feldman (she expects at least ten to 15 applicants for the inaugural round). The organization will consider brand-new proposals or expansions of existing programs that meet the criteria.

Empirical data proves that tackling litter can have a direct impact on factors like the growth of small businesses, property values, crime, and perception of the neighborhood both inside and outside the community. According to Feldman, a good example of community innovation on the issue is the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation's $1-A-Day program -- participating businesses each contribute $365 a year toward daily litter clean-up.

It turned into "a great way to help fund the daily cleaning and involve the community, and give them ownership over the cleaning effort," she explains.

The hope is that this year’s participants will be help model best practices, inspiring and informing other groups in the future.

Proposals are due on March 1; the winners will be selected by March 15. The project cycle will run through December 15, 2015.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Michelle Feldman, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful

According to a report from the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Philadelphia spends over $6 million per year transporting and dumping our wasted or uneaten food into landfills. Why can't we be more like Austin or New York City, which already have food waste recycling programs? Councilwoman Cindy Bass, of Philadelphia’s 8th District, wants to get the ball rolling.

"It’s probably easier to refer to it as composting. The ‘food waste’ thing hasn’t really caught on," says Elliot Griffin, a spokesperson for the Councilwoman, referring to a recent City Council hearing on the feasibility of a city-wide food waste recycling program.

Participants in the November 12 hearing included representatives from the City’s Committee on Streets and Services and Committee on the Environment, alongside composting experts from groups including the U.S. Composting Council's Institute for Local Self Reliance and RecycleNow Philadelphia.

The administration testified that the estimated cost of launching a city-wide composting program, including street pick-up of compostable materials -- and a composting center to handle a city-sized mound of nature’s recycling -- could cost $37 million.

"We’re not exactly in a position to start that today," explains Griffin, but the point of the hearing, which she says was well-attended especially by supporters from Philly’s Northwest neighborhoods, was to help people realize that such a program could be feasible.

According to Griffin, Councilwoman Bass first got inspired on Philly’s composting potential when she read a spring 2014 article in the New York Times about comparable American cities that have already started these initiatives. At the hearing, the biggest surprise was how many locals, from restaurant owners to ordinary citizens to organizations like Weavers Way Co-Op, are already composting on their own.

“We recognize that we have to start the conversation now,” says Griffin, so the next generation can keep the momentum going and make wide-spread composting a reality, benefiting the environment, saving energy and creating jobs.

The construction of an organic recycling center and the jobs created for those who would manage it is "something that could benefit the whole Delaware Valley," adds Griffin.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Elliot Griffin, office of Councilwoman Cindy Bass
 

While teaching yoga and aerobics at Interim House, a recovery center for women overcoming addiction and other mental health issues -- many of whom had been incarcerated -- Kristin Gavin noticed that her classes weren’t reaching everyone.

"I surveyed them and asked, would you ride a bike?" recalls Gavin. Many of the women, including those who wouldn’t come to yoga or aerobics, said yes.

What was the difference?

"Women said, 'it’s fun,' 'it’s exercise,' and ‘I want to get out of the house,'" she explains.

So Gavin, who came to Philadelphia in 2007 to earn her Masters degree from Temple University in Exercise and Sport Psychology, launched the Center City-based Gearing Up with five bicycles in 2009. In December, the program nabbed a $40,000 grant from the GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards.

Part of what spurred Gavin to create a community cycling program for formerly incarcerated women was realizing what a challenge even a relatively short jail term could be for a woman’s health. Many of her students talked about the problem of weight gain. One said she had gained 80 pounds while incarcerated for six months.

In 2011, Gearing Up's program expanded to serve not just women outside the walls, but those still residing in Philadelphia County's Riverside Correctional Facility, offering three indoor spin classes per week for inmates. Those who complete 18 sessions in eight weeks are invited to join the outside Gearing Up program upon their release.

By tracking the health of Riverside participants, Gavin learned that women who had an 80 percent class attendance rate maintained their weight throughout their incarceration.

But cycling isn’t just about the number on the scale. Since founding Gearing Up, Gavin has been surprised by all the ways this activity has helped women re-integrate into physically and socially healthy lives.

For women emerging from correctional facilities, Gearing Up has four partner programs in Philly: Interim House, CHANCES, University City's Kirkbride Center and Gaudenzia Washington House. The organization leads two to three group bike rides per week for their clients, who track their miles until they reach 100. At that point, members graduate from the program, receiving a refurbished bike of their own (along with a lock, flat-changing kit, helmet and other gear).

"It has this whole other social component to it that wasn’t as palpable with an aerobics class or a yoga class," insists Gavin. And especially for the many women coming from repressive or abusive environments, the exercise was a great mood elevator and change of scenery.

"Women say, 'The fresh air feels so good in my face,'" she explains. They enjoy getting out in the community, seeing new places and "developing relationships with people in a very different way, a very kinesthetic way, and those are very normalizing experiences."

"Our focus has been going deeper," Gavin says of how the GSK dollars will help Gearing Up (a first-time applicant for the grant). That means extending services to the 40 women the program serves at any given time. The money will help provide increased support through volunteers and staff, even after participants’ graduation from the program, ensuring riders can make their skills on the road a permanent part of an independent life.

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Kristin Gavin, Gearing Up

A version of this story originally appeared in our sister publication Keystone Edge.

Philadelphia is the latest outpost for Chicago’s The Bunker, the country’s first incubator for veteran-owned businesses in the tech sector. Mike Maher, a 2005 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and co-founder of Benjamin’s Desk, a co-working community, is executive director of The Bunker’s new Philly affiliate. 

"We have a special obligation to provide opportunities for our veterans to achieve success once they return home," explains Maher. "With this program, we are making it a priority to promote and recruit veterans to be leaders in our startup and business communities. Veterans make exceptional entrepreneurs and our region is poised to benefit from their leadership."

The Bunker -- which is temporarily located at Benjamin’s Desk in Center City while Maher looks for permanent space -- will initially assist five startups beginning early next year. Technology startups are the focus, but any veteran-led and operated business is eligible. 

Source: Mike Maher, Benjamin’s Desk
Writer: Elise Vider
 

Part of a healthy society includes the arts, and part of an individual life well-lived includes the arts, says Drexel University Department of Creative Arts Therapy chair Dr. Sherry Goodill. So why shouldn't the modern healthcare system include them as well?

That’s part of the goal of Drexel’s new Parkway Health and Wellness Clinic, a 23,000 square-foot facility that opened in November on the second floor of the Three Parkway Building at 1601 Cherry Street. It’s a new center for patient care and research through the university’s College of Nursing and Health Professions.

"We had a vision to develop a clinical practice integrated with the research that we do here," explains Dr. Sue Smith, chair of Drexel’s Department of Health Systems & Sciences Research.

The Clinic, a teaching as well as a treatment and research facility, is open to a wide range of patients with physical and behavioral health issues. They offer primary care services (focusing on women's health and occupational therapy), physical therapy for athletes and those with medical conditions, and more. 

According to Dr. Smith, Drexel’s Creative Arts Therapy PhD program is unique in its field. She also asserts that creative arts therapy is "an up and coming area that is not as well developed as some other health divisions."

Dance, music, or the literary and visual arts can have a major positive impact on patients with emotional or behavioral challenges. As with any new health discipline, researchers are working on building the evidence for what those exact mechanisms of change are, explains Dr. Elizabeth Templeton, a clinical assistant professor and coordinator of Creative Arts Therapies' clinical services.

"Arts themselves can be inherently therapeutic and healing," says Dr. Goodill. "What we do in creative arts therapies is harness that…for individual treatment goals."

Dr. Templeton explains how something like dance-based therapy works. A typical early session is similar to a talk therapy model, but builds to something more holistic.

"It’s an awkward transition: communication through words to communicating through movement," she says. But since movement can express things that can’t be expressed in language, "How do we create a relationship through movement?"

Ultimately, integrating elements of movement and dance helps the patient "experience the body in new ways," with new methods of sensation and feeling grounded that "reverberate" through a person’s mind and feelings, to effect change in his or her behavior.

Examples of this include body stances that underscore healthy boundaries and standing up to others, or movement and balance exercises that help the patient revise crippling black-and-white ways of thinking. Exploring these ideas through the body, and not just through conversation, "can be translated to a conceptual, reframing level" that improves the patient’s daily life, says Dr. Templeton.

To learn more about services available at the Parkway Health and Wellness Clinic, call 215-553-7012. 

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Sources: Dr. Sue Smith, Dr. Sharon Goodill, and Dr. Elizabeth Templeton, Drexel University Department of Creative Arts Therapy
 

Locally-focused businesses are a popular narrative nowadays, but the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia are urging a second perspective for anyone concerned about the region's economic future.

It’s not just about local business and it’s not just about politics, says Josh Sevin, managing director for regional engagement at the Economy League. "If you care about school funding, if you care about crumbling bridges, you should care about exports," he insists. "Because it really is a pathway to growth in our region."

In November, to that end, with the help of a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (aiding multiple initiatives), the Economy League announced the launch of a major study of our region’s underutilized export potential.

"Other smart and aggressive metros are understanding what their export growth opportunities are," and organizing their existing resources better, which "really translates into jobs," says Sevin.

With its harbor, air and rail hubs, Philadelphia could be a major U.S. player in the export economy, but it’s currently languishing near the bottom of the domestic top ten.

"In typical Philadelphia style, people don’t realize how much we’re at the big boy table," muses Sevin. "We're not London [or] New York in terms of global business, but we are a serious, serious economy."

And we need to start acting like it.

"There really is surviving advanced manufacturing in our region," he adds, mentioning aircraft equipment, chemicals and plastics, and advanced medical equipment.

In addition, Philadelphia needs to shift its thinking about exports -- it's not just goods; our economy has gotten increasingly service-intensive. Services that the U.S. offers abroad, from medical training to architectural design, and the international students that Philly’s many world-class universities draw, all count as exports.

Maximizing the opportunities to expand the markets for these goods and services overseas could have a huge impact on the local economy. If we were to double our annual export growth rate, the Economy League estimates, it would mean 40,000 new jobs in the region within five years.

The Economy League and Philly’s World Trade Center will partner with several local institutions for a year-long project that will develop and disseminate a customized, data-driven metro export strategy for Greater Philadelphia. Locals can look for an initial market assessment this summer and a full metro export plan at the end of 2015. 

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Josh Sevin, Economy League of Greater Philadelphia
 

On November 12 at Philadelphia's Innovation Lab, PIDC, First Round Capital and the City of Philadelphia announced the launch of the Startup PHL Angel Fund.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger, who spoke at the event, said that many people have asked him whether investments like this are a risk the City should be taking.

"The answer is simple," he said, speaking to a large crowd of local startup leaders, packed with aspiring millennial entrepreneurs. To continue transforming Philadelphia into a notable draw for the country’s best ideas, "we cannot afford to do nothing."

Two years ago, the City of Philadelphia, PIDC and First Round Capital teamed up to launch the Startup PHL Seed Fund, and at this event, leaders announced the Seed Fund’s latest investment: $400,000 for Velano Vascular, a medical device company based in Philadelphia and San Francisco, that has pioneered a way to draw blood without needles.

Startup PHL has many other facets, including its Call For Ideas grant program and Startup PHL Funds, the latter of which has given a combined $1 million in seed or angel investments to six companies over the past year.

Mayor Michael Nutter, First Round Capital founder Josh Kopelman and PIDC president John Grady were all on hand to help announce the latest addition to the Startup PHL initiative: the Startup PHL Angel Fund, which will dole out investments of $25,000 to $100,000 dollars to "very early-stage companies."

The inaugural Angel Fund recipients briefly took the microphone. Jason Rappaport's Squareknot is a new app that applies the principle of Google Maps -- where users can see and compare different travel routes -- to the creation of crowd-sourced step-by-step guides for other tasks.

Locating in Philly was "a very deliberate bet" that it was right atmosphere for his startup, said Rappaport, who also considered Silicon Valley, New York City and Boston.

This year's other Angel Fund recipients are Tesorio, a service that helps companies self-finance their daily operations, and VeryApt, a new app that combines user reviews with "big data analytics" to streamline and personalize the apartment-hunting process.

"If we’re going to ask the private sector to do something, 99 times out of a 100, the public sector’s going to have to jump in too," said Mayor Nutter. "If you're an entrepreneur, Philadelphia is the place for you…and we want you right here."

The evening also included an announcement from the Commerce Department -- the third round of Startup PHL’s Call for Ideas grants is now open; over $200,000 has already been invested in ten different initiatives and organizations.

Greenberger urged attendees to apply with their most robust ideas. The deadline for applications is Friday, January 2, 2015.

 Writer: Alaina Mabaso

Like a little water science with that happy hour beverage? The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is re-launching a "science café" program, previously held at the Cherry Street Tavern, at Old City’s National Mechanics.

The new monthly program is called Tapping Our Watershed. The first presenter (6 p.m. Monday, November 17) is Carol Collier, the Academy's senior advisor for watershed management and policy and director of Drexel's Environmental Studies and Sustainability program. These "happy-hour-style lectures" on the science of local rivers will happen on the third Monday of each month and be similar to the existing Science on Tap events run through the Academy and other local partners on the second Monday of the month.

Collier’s presentation is called "The Future of the Delaware River Basin: Why We Need to Think Holistically." It’ll be a chance to learn about what’s stressing our modern waterways, and what we can do to help.

"What I’m hoping for mostly is for people who are experts to talk about these issues in a supportive environment…and for those who are less experienced to realize there is so much work being done," says Meghan O’Donnell, a staff scientist at the Academy who manages the Tapping Our Watershed seminars. "I think that a lot of this goes under the radar for people." 

O’Donnell coordinates field research for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, funded by a $35 million commitment from the William Penn Foundation. It’s a "really expansive" project, she explains, monitoring the waters and ecosystems flowing from the headwaters of the Delaware River, up in the Poconos, all the way to Philadelphia. Partnerships with about 40 other organizations help to monitor 35 different sites four times a year.

"We’re pretty much on the go all the time," she adds. "We just finished our algae and fish surveys, and now we’re moving on to fall chemistry."

O’Donnell appreciated the original Cherry Street venue but is looking forward to the facilities at National Mechanics, with its larger space and A.V. accoutrements. She hopes the expert commentary in the informal setting will help "people to feel relaxed and grab a beer after work, and still keep themselves informed on what’s going on in the watershed."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Meghan O’Donnell, The Academy of Natural Sciences
 

Just after the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance released its 2014 Portfolio report, an in-depth study of the attendance, programming, administration and finances of 473 regional organizations, it announced the appointment of a new president.

Maud Lyon is coming to Philly from Detroit -- she's been executive director of CultureSource (an organization modeled on the Cultural Alliance) since 2008.

The Ithaca, N.Y. native is enjoying getting to know Philadelphia.

"Already in my brief time coming back and forth, I’ve been to four [arts and culture] festivals of some kind," says Lyon. "These really add to the vibrancy of the community. I think the Philadelphia arts and culture scene is one of the most amazing collections of arts and culture opportunities…in the country -- it goes far beyond the visual and performing arts to encompass history, tourism, art education, science, community development and more."

The Cultural Alliance’s 2014 Portfolio found that local nonprofits are "slowly recovering from the Great Recession," with overall attendance at cultural organizations between 2009 and 2012 up 3 percent and overall revenue also up by 3 percent. The region saw 17 million visits to cultural institutions last year, with cultural nonprofits spending over $1.1 billion annually. That includes 24,000 jobs, from full-timers to independent contractors.

Challenges remain, like dips in local individual and corporate giving (art philanthropy across the country at large has increased by more than 20 percent). But a 17 percent increase in Philly-area school kids’ visits to cultural institutions is a hopeful sign for the future.

Reports like the Portfolio are a big part of why Lyon is excited to helm the Cultural Alliance, an organization she calls a "national leader" in the field because of the "quality and consistency of their research," which is used as a real agent of change in local communities.

"Both Philly and Detroit are hotbeds of innovation," insists Lyon. They’re both "urban centers going through big transitions," with similar problems in public education.

"I understand and have a passion for what it takes for these organizations to cooperate and do well,” she adds. Her biggest goal is to help member organizations “thrive and be sustainable community assets” through effective fundraising, outreach and collaboration.

Her experience in Detroit as it emerges from bankruptcy will be valuable in Philadelphia. She sees arts and culture -- with their important role in a city’s image -- as vital to Detroit’s recovery, and, according to the Cultural Alliance, she played a key role in protecting the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts from city creditors.

The experience taught Lyon a lot about how local conversations on arts and culture can spark nationwide discussion on social and economic issues vital to any city’s future.

"The power of art is not always directly economic," she says. "It’s about unifying people around a common cause."

Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Maud Lyon, The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance

 

All it took was a single taste of Trickling Springs Creamery's premium ice cream to convince Dan Crump he had to leave his job at FedEx and follow his passion of supporting local farms and healthy organic eating.

Shortly thereafter, he purchased the Lancaster County-based organic dairy delivery service known as Mr. Milkman.

At the time, Mr. Milkman had a limited delivery area and only a few customers -- it was really more of a hobby than a business for its previous owner.

"I knew it would mean a pay cut," recalls Crump. "But I also knew I could use my FedEx [logistics] knowledge to make [the business] work."

Almost immediately after purchasing Mr. Milkman, Crump began to wonder whether or not he should expand services to Philadelphia. Without an advertising budget or established customer base, he figured the costs would be prohibitive. Fortunately, a fruitful visit to Reading Terminal Market convinced Crump to add Philadelphia-area delivery services a few months back.

Now, thanks to the airing of a spotlight piece on Lancaster County’s WGAL last week, Mr. Milkman’s business in Philadelphia has taken off.

Due to the spike in orders, the company has added new Philly-area routes. It delivers each Saturday, and is poised to continue its growth with a hiring push. Crump is also working with a gluten-free bakery and will be offering fruit and veggie boxes this spring.

In addition to Trickling Springs Creamery dairy products, Danda Farms organic meats, artisan cheeses, raw honey and a number of other organic goodies, Mr. Milkman also delivers raw milk from Swiss Villa.

"We’re dedicated to supporting our local organic farmers and their workers," says Crump, "while ensuring that busy moms, families, and other [Philadelphia] residents have access to healthy food."

Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Dan Crump, Mr. Milkman