PIDC invests flexible, affordable capital in growing local businesses because they create jobs, build wealth for entrepreneurs, and stabilize neighborhoods. We recognize that local small businesses are the backbone of Philadelphia’s economy and that many of them were most affected by the pandemic. Through a variety of funding resources, educational programs, and one-on-one technical support, PIDC fills critical gaps for business owners who lack access to traditional capital.
$10M
Business Lending
1,917K
Workshop Attendees
$32.7M
Covid-19 Relief Grants & Loans
PIDC Business Lending
Throughout the year, PIDC invested more than $10M of capital in small and mid-sized businesses in every corner of Philadelphia.
Torrado Construction
We supported the growth of companies such as Torrado Construction, a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and commercial construction firm, through PIDC’s Rebuild Contract Line of Credit, which provides support to small-, minority-, women-, and disabled-owned businesses in need of a line of credit to fund Rebuild contract-related receivables. Torrado Construction used funds to bridge a contract with The City of Philadelphia for the Frank Galvin Memorial Playground in Port Richmond and bridge a contract for the Heitzman Rec Center in Harrowgate.
Riverwards Produce Market
Riverwards Produce Market, a neighborhood produce market, leased and renovated a 3,000 square foot historic warehouse in Old City with the help of a PIDC Working Capital and Equipment Loan–a loan for small and midsize businesses and nonprofits that need affordable term financing to support operating cash flow, inventory, or leasehold improvements. The newly opened second location in Old City provides the same locally-sourced foods and goods that are currently available in the Riverwards Produce’s market in Fishtown. It will be Old City’s first full-scale food market in over 30 years. This new model, which is double the size of the Fishtown space, allows the community to have greater access to fresh grocery items without leaving the neighborhood.
Franny Lou’s Porch
Franny Lou’s Porch, a Black-owned and women-owned Kensington-based café that invites community activism and cultural awareness, purchased a building using PIDC’s Commercial Mortgage Loan a financing solution for small businesses and nonprofits seeking to purchase new or existing locations. Given the option to purchase, Franny Lou’s was able to gain ownership, build wealth, and ensure permanence in the neighborhood. Franny Lou’s Porch serves as a catalyst for the Black community, as well as other marginalized peoples, and it continues to be a space where people can connect, rest, and mobilize.
The Sheward Partnership
The Sheward Partnership, an award-winning architecture, planning, urban design, and sustainability consulting firm located in Center City, renovated a 10,000 SF historic building in Center City Philadelphia with the PIDC Capital Project Loan. This financing product offers an affordable solution for businesses or nonprofit organizations undertaking capital projects, such as building acquisition, renovation, leasehold improvements, or equipment installation and need additional subordinate financing to fill a financing gap and complete the project. The new space will double The Sheward Partnership’s current space within the same building, which will accommodate an increase of 12 positions bringing its total staffing to 35 people. As a service-oriented firm, The Sheward Partnership provides design solutions attuned to the specific needs of clients and their projects.
COVID-19 Relief Funding
New resources have been necessary to address the severe economic impacts of the pandemic. PIDC created new financial relief products, leveraged technology to deliver business support services to more businesses than we ever had before, and forged new partnerships while strengthening existing ones.
We were incredibly proud to launch many innovative programs to support entrepreneurs and small business owners across Philadelphia and the many people who rely on these employers for their livelihood during this unprecedented crisis. Here are a few new initiatives we temporarily put in place to support the growth and resilience of businesses during this critical time.
Philadelphia COVID-19 Restaurant and Gym Relief Program
In January 2021, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce partnered with PIDC to administer the Philadelphia COVID-19 Restaurant and Gym Relief Program (RGRP). The program was designed to provide financial relief to small businesses located in Philadelphia that have been among the most adversely affected by the pandemic-related restrictions enacted in November 2020. Eligible businesses were restaurants with indoor dining, gyms, and businesses whose primary activity is indoor exercise. Grant awards were up to $15,000 per business. The businesses that received awards stretch across 59 zip codes throughout Philadelphia, with 81 percent located in neighborhoods outside of Center City, from Wayne Junction to Point Breeze. According to self-reported demographic information, over 50 percent of awards went to minority business owners, while one-third went to woman-owned businesses. The average grant size was $13,200 per business. A total of $12.1M was awarded to 913 small businesses in Philadelphia. See the RGRP Impact Report.
Some of the companies that received this pandemic relief funding are CEG Performing Arts Academy, a Hispanic- and woman-owned youth development program providing performing arts education; Little Istanbul Restaurant, an Asian-owned restaurant serving Turkish food; and Wissahickon Dance Academy, a woman-owned dance school.
CEG Performing Arts Academy
Little Istanbul Restaurant
Wissahickon Dance Academy
COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program
The Pennsylvania COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP) is the $145M Statewide fund created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to alleviate revenue losses and pay eligible operating expenses for certain businesses in the hospitality industry severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Philadelphia County received approximately $17M in funding to provide grants to eligible businesses through this program. Grants were available in the range from $5,000—$50,000. PIDC administered this program for businesses located in Philadelphia in partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Commerce. PIDC also partnered with other community partners to deliver this program. More than $17.4M was awarded to 977 hospitality businesses in Philadelphia.
Lily of the Valley Cupcakery and Café, a Black-owned and woman-owned bakery and cafe in Germantown; LUHV Food LLC, a woman- and Hispanic-owned vegan foods manufacturing company; and Strother Enterprises, Inc., Black- and veteran-owned cross-industry food service provider, received funds for pandemic relief.
LUHV Food
Lily of the Valley Cupcakery & Café
Strother Enterprises
Restart PHL Loan Program
The Restart PHL Loan program is designed to provide flexible low-cost capital to small businesses with less than $5M in revenue as they re-imagine, pivot, and sustain their businesses during the pandemic. This program provides financial support for costs associated with improved business resilience or growth, including working capital, fit-up, inventory, technology, mobilization, staffing, and employee training. The loan program aims to invest in historically disadvantaged communities with a specific focus on minority-, women-, and immigrant-owned businesses, as well as small businesses and nonprofits located on commercial corridors in low-income areas. In 2021, PIDC provided a total of $3.3M in financing for 29 small businesses through the Restart PHL Loan, which ranged from $25,000 to $250,000.
The program provided pandemic relief to Wardlaw Fence, a Black-owned residential general contracting company based in Germantown; Laurentius Salon, an LGBTQ+-owned salon in Queen Village, and Reading Terminal Market, one of America’s largest and oldest public markets that is located in Center City.
Wardlaw Fence
Laurentius Salon
Reading Terminal Market
Business Support Services
In 2021, we further expanded our business support services—educational workshops, one-on-one counseling, and networking events—designed to support business growth. In March 2020, all in-person programming transitioned to a virtual environment as we continued to connect Philadelphia’s small business community to trusted knowledge and resources.
PIDC hosted 59 workshops with more than 1,900 attendees. Topics included emergency funding programs from the U.S. Small Business Administration, new PIDC funding programs, business education and mentoring programs. Plus, we participated in Global Entrepreneurship Week with a panel of thought-leaders discussing the topic, “What the Future Holds for Funding Entrepreneurs of Color.” To deliver our 2021 workshops, we partnered with Sage Insights, Square One, Power Up Your Business – Community College of Philadelphia, Comcast RISE, JMAR Insurance & Contract Support Systems, Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (UWGPSNJ), Community First Fund, 1863 Ventures, Lendistry, The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, GG CPA Services, El Centro, City of Philadelphia, SBA Eastern Pennsylvania District Office, Vedere Consulting Group, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Surety Bond Associates, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, Business Resource and Innovation Center of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
We concluded our six month mental health series, “Is It Just Me? Mental Health During the Time of COVID-19 and Civil Unrest,” partnering with Scattergood Foundation and Spectrum Health Services in bringing real solutions to challenging day-to-day circumstances.
In November 2021, PIDC kicked off an eight month series of fully Spanish-language workshops as a part of our strategy to better serve Spanish-speaking entrepreneurs, one of the fastest growing business groups in Philadelphia. PIDC partnered with Balance Consulting Group LLC, a Hispanic woman-owned company, to produce Business Builder Workshops En Español to address a variety of key business topics. All workshops are led by Hispanic and Latino(a) subject matter experts. Topics in the series include building credit, establishing accounting systems, budgeting, City resources, buying and financing commercial real estate, leadership, and more. The series is part of PIDC’s Business Builder Workshops—year-round workshops which provide critical business education to entrepreneurs and organizations from every industry.
We are also grateful for the financial support received from the Comcast RISE program that has allowed us to improve our programming and continue to provide high-quality content.
Additionally, PIDC partnered with the local chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) to sponsor clients into NAWBO’s 12-month Semi-Circle program. The Semi-Circle program is designed to help women entrepreneurs overcome growth challenges, increase their revenues, expand their footprint, and learn new skills.
Philadelphia Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Assessment & Strategy
Read Report
In 2021, PIDC and the City of Philadelphia‘s Department of Commerce supported United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey with the Philadelphia Equitable Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Assessment, a study which found that while Black and Latino(a) Philadelphians account for 44% and 17% of the city’s population, they only own 5% and 4% of all small employer businesses, respectively. Since early 2020, we have collaborated to engage local business owners, community-based organizations, business support organizations, and anchor and philanthropic institutions to assess the evolving state of small business in Philadelphia, identify gaps in funding and business services, and address opportunities to remedy historical inequities for the city’s entrepreneurs of color, magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Combining in-depth data analysis, nearly 200 conversations with local small business owners and stakeholders, and input from a 31-member advisory council, this collaborative has developed a robust list of recommendations. It also positions Philadelphia with the unique opportunity to create an efficient and effective method of delivering products and services to the city’s entrepreneurs, resulting in a more equitable and accessible environment for the city’s entrepreneurs and small business owners of color. The Philadelphia Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Assessment helped United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey in the creation of Built By Philly, an initiative designed to address historical inequities for the city’s Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs. PIDC will continue to work with key partners to provide resources to local businesses that are often overlooked.
StartupPHL Fund
A collaborative effort between the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Commerce and PIDC, StartupPHL aims to support entrepreneurs in the City who bring energy, ideas, and vitality to Philadelphia as well as further enable the existing entrepreneurial talent that resides in the City’s different neighborhoods to flourish. Ben Franklin Technology Partners is the investment fund manager for the StartupPHL Seed Fund. With capital from PIDC and Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the fund made 12 investments for $507K in a diverse range of entrepreneurs by the close of 2021.
We are Philadelphia’s public-private economic development corporation. PIDC spurs investments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia. PIDC is a non-profit founded by the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce in 1958.
VISIT, WRITE OR CALL US
1500 Market Street
Suite 3500 West
Philadelphia, PA 19102
215.496.8020
We are Philadelphia’s public-private economic development corporation. PIDC spurs investments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, and drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia. PIDC is a non-profit founded by the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce in 1958.
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish