November 9, 2025
Philadelphia launched a $5 million grant program to assist companies flourish within the metropolis.
A brand new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts reveals that whereas Black-business possession in Philadelphia has grown within the last-decade the town nonetheless trails its metro space friends.
The Nov. 5 report compares Philadelphia with 12 main U.S. counties. Cities embrace Baltimore; Denver; Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville; New York; New Orleans; and others from 2012-2022.
The research discovered that Philadelphia’s complete enterprise density reached 111 per 1,000 residents in 2022, up from 82 in 2012. Although progress rose through the ten-year span, the town stays under the nationwide common of 129 per 1,000.
Kriston Jae Bethel, lead creator of the report, mentioned, “Bettering enterprise possession . . . is about entry to the networks, capital and alternative that permit corporations to develop and persist.”
For native economic-development professionals, the report indicators that closing the town’s racial and gender gaps in enterprise possession would require extra.
“We’re attempting to construct a sturdy ecosystem, not only a grant right here or a tax break there,” mentioned Sara Williams, govt director of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Pennsylvania
Whereas strides have been made, Philadelphia wants extra scalable methods to compete on the identical footing as peer cities in the case of inclusive entrepreneurship.
With a view to fight the declining small enterprise numbers, Philadelphia has launched the $5 million Philadelphia Small Enterprise Catalyst Fund. Underneath the initiative, corporations producing lower than $2 million in annual income could apply for grants of as much as $50,000. Companies should exhibit progress potential and native financial impression.
In an announcement, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker mentioned the fund is “not nearly grants — it’s about accelerating success” and that entrepreneurs of shade will be capable to construct corporations that generate jobs and wealth throughout generations.
Measuring success isn’t simply about what number of companies launch. It’s about what number of persist. Moreover, the success of the town’s initiative is measured by what number of corporations scale up, boosting native financial impression. Bridging the possession hole would require this layered infrastructure. With the town’s devoted funding and coverage initiatives, Philadelphia could transfer right into a place that can assist in turning numbers into significant change.
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