From Roots to Reach

Philadelphia
a city of neighborhoods

As cities grow and evolve, the dynamic of their entrepreneurial ecosystems becomes increasingly vital to their economic landscape. One such city, Philadelphia, has been on a journey to enhance its ecosystem and empower small businesses across its diverse neighborhoods. Liam Kelly Fleming, Senior Director of Small Business Resources at the City of Philadelphia, offers insight into the strategies and approaches that have been pivotal in fostering growth and connectivity within the city.

Philadelphia’s unique structure as both a city and a county presents challenges and opportunities of its own. Liam notes, “Philadelphia is a city of neighborhoods, and a lot of those neighborhoods are really distinct, not only in identities, but in their actual needs.” 

Tailoring support strategies to cater to these varied needs has been crucial in the City’s approach to supporting entrepreneurs. As you’ll learn from this conversation, Philadelphia’s ecosystem offers unique programmatic approaches while trying to tie these diverse elements together.

From neighborhood economist to ecosystem builder

Liam has been with the Office of Neighborhood Economic Development since 2018. “ When I started as a business outreach manager, I was assigned to three different neighborhoods that had some targeted business support programs and grants. I spent the first year in my role just walking around these three neighborhoods: One was a small part of West Philadelphia, one a small part of North Philadelphia, and then a part of Kensington. While they are adjacent, they are very different neighborhoods.

I spent a lot of time getting to know community groups as well as the business owners there. At that time, we were very “pen and paper”, as in: I was literally filling out applications for grants in businesses with a pen and paper, hoping I could use the copy machine at the CDC down the street to give the business a copy of the application we’d just completed.” 

In 2019 Liam transitioned into a more programmatic role to re-envision a business technical assistance program to support entrepreneurship support organizations citywide. But COVID had other plans for Liam’s department and Philadalphia’s ecosystem.

Never waste a good crisis

“I remember distinctly,” Liam shares, “how a colleague and I were in the office uploading our files into the cloud because nothing was accessible remotely at the time. We had a handful of laptops for the entire department. When the pandemic hit and shut down all in-person work, we were not set up to work remotely. So we had to pivot quickly.” 

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the team to rethink its approach to supporting Philadelphia entrepreneurs in a time of need. They turned to technological integration and collaboration as key components of a thriving ecosystem.

Relationships are key

While many processes shifted online during and after COVID, Liam emphasizes the importance of maintaining and continuously investing in relationships, the backbone of the ecosystem.

“ I might have a Zoom call with an entrepreneur who’s literally cutting hair and they’re talking to me about the workshop they’re doing the next weekend. This type of interaction allows them to do that kind of juggle without having to sacrifice one for the other.”

The Department of Commerce has built up a network of grassroots organizations and other partners to serve small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods. Such collaboration feeds into a culture of cooperation, where ecosystem partners share resources and expertise. Liam points out how “a lot of relationships were strengthened over the pandemic,” leading to an environment where organizations can form coalitions and leverage shared knowledge for improved outcomes.

The Mayor’s Business Action Team, for example, is a unit within Commerce that Liam describes as an invaluable asset to the ecosystem “In February 2025,  a plane crashed into a commercial corridor in Northeast Philadelphia, a tragedy that left the community devastated.”, he recalls. “ The Mayor’s Business Action Team was walking through the neighborhood talking to business owners to educate them about the resources the city had for them in an emergency like this. That’s not something you ever consider doing when you sign up to do entrepreneurship support.”

Other partners that help the Philadelphia ecosystem thrive are

• Small Business Corridor managers and other community organizations(“ Those folks are our boots on the ground!”)
• Business improvement districts 
• Chambers of commerce

A digital transformation takes hold

Liam explains, as a program and policy person, I always ask myself how I can do a better job of matching these doers with the resources we have for them. At the same time, we have a good number of entrepreneurial support organizations offering technical assistance for entrepreneurs at all stages.  So all the pieces are there.

But we’ve always had this challenge where we don’t have all the resources in one place. You simply can’t store all the events, information and opportunities all in one human brain. We realized that we needed some sort of technological solution to at least kind of compile all these organizations and offers in one place. We had an early version of a map,  there were attempts and fits and starts and prototypes, but nothing ever really took hold.”

It wasn’t until 2019 that the Commerce Department, Philadelphia’s quasi-public economic development corporation, PIDC, and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia fundraised to enable a study of the ecosystem,  the Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Report. Over the course of two years, the researchers talked to local entrepreneurs and uncovered valuable insights into what gaps and barriers entrepreneurs were facing when trying to start, manage and grow a business in Philadelphia:

1. Access to Capital, especially capital  that’s actually accessible to lower income, hard to loan to historically disadvantaged entrepreneurs.
2. Expert guidance: Entrepreneurs needed more professional services and entrepreneur support organizations that were  trusted and representative of the entrepreneurs they were serving
3.  A single online resource to map all of the available resources, events and opportunities

Longitudinal data from hundreds of interviews with entrepreneurs and the political goodwill following the disastrous effects of the COVID pandemic on small businesses ushered in the next wave of ecosystem development for Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Business Resource Hub (“Philly Biz Hub”) is a dynamic online resource connecting Philadelphia’s entrepreneurs and business owners with essential tools to launch, grow, and thrive. It features a searchable resource library, personalized checklists, interactive tools, and resources for businesses of all sizes and industries. Designed with input from local entrepreneurs, the hub simplifies access to vital programs, services, and support from trusted partners across the city. By streamlining information and fostering connections, Philly Biz Hub empowers businesses to navigate challenges, seize opportunities, and contribute to Philadelphia’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

What’s next for Philadelphia

As Philadelphia continues to strengthen its ecosystem, the focus remains on creating a collaborative network that can nurture business growth from inception to maturity. 

“The big vision is that at some point our ecosystem will really have a united, but not one size fits all, approach to serving businesses. The dream for me is that you can start a business in Philadelphia, even when you just have an idea, and follow a pipeline of support to grow as much as you desire or are capable. I’m not saying we can make it easy, because it’s not ever going to be easy, but can we give you the resources to do it if you have the willingness and ability.

I don’t think endless growth is always the goal. But as a homegrown business, you can be a part of your neighborhood. You can support your family and then you can exit and hopefully either transition your business to people you used to employ or to another small business owner, or at the very least get value for it. That way, you have an asset to retire on. That’s what I would love to see.”