Philadelphia is an Entrepreneur’s Haven
We recently found out that Philadelphia was not on the list of cities to be featured in Fast Company Magazine’s Shine section. Immediately all of us at the networking event were shocked and then very interested in learning how we can get involved to get Philly on the list! Thanks to Innovation Philadelphia we were provided with the email address to send our thoughts along. Here is part of what we shared. We hope many of your entrepreneurs out there feel the same way and will share your thoughts.
“I came to Philadelphia 4 years ago when my job as a magazine publisher moved me here. As part of a large west coast media company I did not get very involved in my community and neighborhood within Philadelphia for networking. But, when I left the magazine a year ago and decided to start my own company with a local friend, I was immediately embraced by the community and exposed to the limitless opportunities for networking, support, and social marketing. We couldn’t imaging running our virtual company, Entrepreneur’s Entourage, from anywhere else. We have been able to provide our clients with great services like web design, branding, internet marketing, research, copywriting, and project management by including so many of Philly’s talented entrepreneurs and free-lance consultants on our team of professionals.
There are many more reasons why my partner and I have found great success with our new business as a result of being located in Philadelphia. There is a networking group and business development group for every type of start up. There are great places to work from that are either coworking offices or just meetups or jelly sessions at one of the numerous coffee shops throughout the city with free wifi. There are also new entrepreneurs emerging every week in this area that are looking for assistance in getting their business moving forward!
Our top Universities excel in providing programs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and start up companies alike. The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University both have entrepreneurial clinics and offer many services to our community out of their Small Business Development Center. Another great resource that my partner and I have been invited into is the entrepreneurial clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Legal Clinic. Each year graduating seniors work with companies in the area to help meet their legal needs pro bono. We were able to utilize the clinic to form our partnership agreement as well as help negotiate some business documents.
Many think of Philadelphia as industrial, dated and a little on the maniacal side when it comes to sports fans; but in reality, our city has only been on the up and up with making our neighborhoods green and eco-friendly, providing accessible resources for small businesses to launch, and providing better services for our budding entrepreneurs. Plus, what’s a city with a World Champion sports team without a few die hard fans!”
Help us send a message to set a new precedent to put Philly on the map as one of the leading cities cultivating entrepreneurial activities!
