on the ground : Innovation + Job News

If you're a regular subway commuter, you've probably spotted one of the poster-sized Comcast advertisements touting Internet Essentials, the company's heavily discounted broadband Internet service for low-income Philadelphians.
 
From 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 26, as part of Comcast's 13th annual day of employee community service, the multimedia juggernaut will attempt to take its broadband-for-all philosophy one step further by hosting an entirely free computer education event, the Digital Resources Fair, in a temporary pop-up location at 3846 Lancaster Avenue in West Philly's Mantua neighborhood. 
 
According to Bob Smith, Comcast's VP of Community Investment, the company has been hosting digital literacy classes for low-income locals throughout the city for years now. The upcoming Digital Resource Fair is an opportunity for Comcast, along with volunteers from the People's Emergency Center (PEC), which is co-hosting the event, to bundle together a series of basic computer and Internet education workshops with one-on-one assistance from specially-trained volunteers.  
 
"The backbone of the day," explains Smith, will involve a number of "short, very easy to succeed at workshops" on topics that include search engines and email, and finding and applying for jobs online. Attendees will also learn where low-cost computers are available for purchase, and how to access free and low-cost Internet service throughout the city.  
 
Smith points out that the Digital Resources Fair is a no-strings-attached event. No appointments are required and participants need not be Comcast customers.

"Relevancy has been a big barrier to Internet connections for a lot of low-income families," he says. "What we're trying to do is help people understand that there's something in it for them when they sign up for the Internet."  
 
Writer: Dan Eldridge
Source: Bob Smith, Comcast; Tan Vu, People's Emergency Center

West Philadelphia's Mantua neighborhood -- site of Flying Kite's first On the Ground location -- was recently designated one of five federally-nominated "Promise Zones." The announcement was greeted with some confusion. What exactly does it mean to be a Promise Zone community? Is there money involved? 

According to Farah Jimenez, president and CEO of the Mantua-based People's Emergency Center, a Promise Zone is "at its core, purely a designation." To be more specific, it's something like a federal stamp of prioritization -- a Promise Zone neighborhood gets to "jump the line," so to speak, when it applies for federal funding.

There are other elements to the program: President Obama is encouraging Congress to fund the Zones with a series of tax credits, for instance, that could spur private investment. And, thanks to a reduction in bureaucratic red tape, there's now an incentive for groups like the Pennsylvania Finance Housing Agency and HUD to approve projects in Promise Zone communities. 

"Instead of waiting in line, which is often the tradition around these funding sources, we're more likely to get it fast-tracked," explains Jimenez. "There are more opportunities to get more affordable housing built in our communities." 

So while the Promise Zone designation doesn't come with a proverbial pot of gold, it could provide advantages. The PEC recently filed its third application for low-income housing tax credits with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

"Our hope is that with the Promise Zone designation, this third submission will be a charm," says Jimenez, "and we'll be awarded the allocation funding we're seeking." 

The Center is also looking at a number of possible new initiatives, including a local interpretation of the Harlem Children's Zone, an education nonprofit profiled in the celebrated documentary Waiting for "Superman." 

As far as PEC is concerned, Mantua's run as a Promise Zone region "is not going to be just chasing money," says Jimenez. "It's got to [involve] opportunities that will help us achieve the outcomes that we want for our community."

Source: Farah Jimenez, People's Emergency Center
Writer: Dan Eldridge

Filling out applications -- for a loan, for a job, for a college -- can be tedious and often fruitless work. ApplyRapid is changing that. Their two-way mobile search engine connects recruiters and applicants based on shared data points.
 
A college basketball coach, for example, might be looking for a point guard (with an admissable GPA and SAT score). Meanwhile, a student-athlete and their family might be seeking a certain athletic division, academic program or scholarship. With iMatchAthletes.com, created using the ApplyRapid platform, both parties can leave Google behind and search for their "best fit" by setting criteria in selected fields. The system ranks resulting matches, and aggregates game footage and sports news according to user specifications.
 
"The students are playing, practicing and studying in the dark," says Donta’ Bell, founder and CEO of ApplyRapid. "They have no idea what the coaches are looking for, so how do they prepare?"
 
ApplyRapid -- which is based in the Waterfront Technology Center in Camden -- has also leased their platform to iMatchTalent.com, a human resources site, and iMatchBizOpps.com, a site that connects businesses and vendors. All three sites have been alpha tested and anticipate beta release in the coming months. The company is currently working with the Camden County Department of Economic Development on a local business-to-business purchasing program using iMatchBizOpps.
 
"There are so many silos of information that are all over the place," says Bell. "Right now, everybody has their own database. We universally globalize information collection so that there’s a standard format."
 
Source: Donta’ Bell, Apply Rapid
Writer: Dana Henry

Thanks to the power of Google Analytics and online databases, businesses now have volumes of precious data about their customers. The hard part is figuring out what all those numbers mean. 

Enter RJMetrics, a company that creates custom business intelligence software for large e-commerce sites, translating obtuse numbers into real-time metrics. Now, with the beta launch of their "dashboard," RJMetrics is going a step further, handing the metrics back to the clients so they can use the generated charts and tables to inform timely marketing agendas.
 
Typically, if an e-commerce site wants to know the value of a customer over time or how much revenue their Facebook campaign is generating, the answers require complex calculations.

"The kind of analysis that people want to do or have been doing takes a painstakingly long amount of time," says Matt Monihan, UX designer for RJMetrics. "We take that workflow away -- you have a chart that's constantly updated with new data that you don't have to manage."
  
Founders Bob Moore and Jake Stein developed RJMetrics while working for the VC firm Insight Venture Partners where their jobs included gathering metrics on potential investments. After creating countless Powerpoint decks, they realized their process could be automated and that the findings would be invaluable to businesses.
 
Their signature offering, cohort analysis, identifies consumer behavior among groups. Customers who purchase on a certain date, for example, might have a projected lifetime value. Illustrating and responding to these patterns is increasingly critical as online businesses focus on longterm customer relationships.
 
"People care more about customer lifetime value because that data is now available," says Monihan. "There's been a ton of data for as long as e-commerce companies have existed and it's been dormant. Now people can unlock the data."

The company launched in Camden in 2009, but moved to Center City last year to make room for new growth -- their workforce grew from 15 to 26, and their client base has doubled to 130. They are currently hiring for positions in software engineering, programing, marketing and sales, and product management.
 
Source: Matt Monihan, RJMetrics
Writer: Dana Henry