greater philadelphia business

68
VOLUME 1 / ISSUE 1 / 2016 / $5.00 / WWW.GP-BIZ.COM CURBSIDE How retail is adjusting ORGANIZE Simplifying office clutter SPOTLIGHT Montgomery County Op f Bus

Upload: greater-philadelphia-business

Post on 03-Aug-2016

219 views

Category:

Documents


3 download

DESCRIPTION

Premier Issue 2016

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: Greater Philadelphia Business

VOLUME 1 / ISSUE 1 / 2016 / $5.00 / WWW.GP-BIZ.COM

CURBSIDE How retail is adjusting

ORGANIZESimplifying offi ce clutter

SPOTLIGHT Montgomery County

Op� f� Bus� �

Page 2: Greater Philadelphia Business

TO FIND YOUR NEAREST DONATION CENTER GO TO GOODWILL.ORG

DONATE STUFF.CREATE JOBS.

YOUR CLOTHES THAT ARE TOO SMALL CAN DO

BIG THINGS FOR OTHERS. YOUR DONATIONS TO GOODWILL® HELP FUND JOB PLACEMENT AND TRAINING

FOR PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

Page 3: Greater Philadelphia Business
Page 4: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

contents VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 2016

IN EVERY ISSUE

4 EDITOR’S LETTER

12 AROUND THE REGION/PEOPLE

18 CEO ADVISOR

24 GUEST COLUMN

46 NETWORKING

60 PASSING THROUGH

62 B SCENE

64 AFTER HOURS

30

50

42

SPOTLIGHT

26 MONTGOMERY COUNTY

30 EXECUTIVE Q & A

SMALL BUSINESS

38 MEMBER SPOTLIGHT NAWBO

39 KEYS TO CAREER SUCCESS FOR WOMEN

42 BBQ EMPIRE

With a bit of smoke, a smattering of sauce and a whole lot of soul, Chef Keith Taylor looks to expand his business

44 ASK THE EXCUTIVE COACH

LIFE & STYLE

50 DINING – EL POQUITO ADDS MEXICAN FLAVOR TO CHESTNUT HILL

54 GOLF – THE BEST NEW PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD OF GOLF

58 PIXAR – VISITORS GET AN IM-

MERSIVE EXPERIENCE IN “THE SCIENCE BEHIND PIXAR”

FEATURES

16 NO CURBING CONSUMER’S ENTHUSIAM FOR QUICK PICKUP

More retailers are catering to consumers desire to grab and go. Is it a trend on the express lane to fading or has it just started its journey?

20 ORGANIZATION AT WORK. THE NOT-SO-IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

Feeling scattered by multiple email accounts and the growing pile of paperwork? Experts offer tips to see the surface of your desk and a single digit number from your inbox.

STARTERS

8 SAVVY VIDEO BROADENS ITS SCOPE

10 CURALATE CONNECTS RETAILERS WITH CONSUMERS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA

11 STABLE 12 GOES FROM THE BARN

TO BRIDGE STREET

2

Page 5: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

FULL SERVICE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE & ADVISORY FIRM

gp-biz.comgp-biz.com

l Landlord Representation l Investmentsl Tenant Representation l Property Managementl Research & Marketing Information l Appraisal & Advisory Servicesl Corporate Real Estate Representation l Construction Services

For more information, visit WolfCRE.com or call 856-857-6300.

Building Successful RelationshipsTM

Marlton, NJ l King of Prussia, PA

PERFECTING THE ART OF THE DEAL.

Changing the way commercial real estate gets done.

Page 6: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Editor’s Letter

Welcome to Greater Philadelphia Busi-ness Magazine’s

inaugural issue. We are open for business. And “Open for Business” will be an ongo-ing focus of coverage in our magazine.

We all know starting or ex-panding a business is a gutsy, time consuming, potentially life changing venture. It takes a great amount of introspection be-fore a formal plan is actually laid out. The first and foremost question in any startup is am I ready to be the boss? Next, you also must examine the personal sacrifices needed.

Expansion is more complicated. It is not just about adding square footage or multiple locations. It is about knowing when an initial estimated market is saturated. This is a question busi-nesses hope to face and can answer realistically.

Savvy Video Production (pg. 8) grew from Rick Davis’ still photography business. Every person with a smart phone has the ability to produce videos. Why hire a professional? Davis has over thirty years’ experience working with agencies. He has a trained eye that capture the images which tells his clients’ story. It’s where the process starts before the cameras roll. For Savvy, the story is the key.

Zachary’s BBQ (pg. 42) plans to more than double its current space in Norristown and is taking over dining operations at the Grand Ballroom in Philadelphia. Owner Keith Taylor takes his responsibility as a leader as seriously as his slow cooked ribs. “What kind of leader would I be if not creating opportunities for my employees?”

Neither Zachary’s BBQ nor Savvy Video Production was start-ed on a whim. But sometimes we see places spring out of no-where and expand rapidly. “Where did they come from? It’s like they popped up overnight.”

Another ongoing feature will be a county spotlight. Consider the “County Spotlight” like a fingerprint as each one has their own identity based on location and demographics.

If you run a business or are planning for the day you can an-nounce “open for business,” valuable resources starts on page 34.

When the workday ends, we like to decompress with some non-screen time. In our Life and Style section which starts on page 50, you will find options for staying in (books and wine) or going out (golf, wineries, and exhibits). With the fierce com-petition for our discretionary dollars, this section will not only highlight our picks for relaxing downtime, but will ask those in the hospitality and leisure industry how they attract guests and adapt to their needs.

Lastly we ask, “Where do you go to solve the world’s prob-lems or even talk about them?” Social media forces us to look for adult conversation that is not a screenshot to be sent to HR. “After Hours” wants your input. Where’s a safe spot where you and your friends can talk about all the things you are not supposed to talk about? We may not be solving the world’s problems but we are having fun trying. In this issue, we spend “After Hours” at Cigar Mojo. Suggestions to where we should go next? Let us know.

Overnight success will always be one of America’s favor-ites, right up there with playing catch with dad, stuffing ev-erything with bacon, and knowing how great it is to be an American. The things we value – whether be it an app on our phone, a service we didn’t know we could live without, or an advertising jingle we can’t get out of our head (chicken parm you taste so good) -- make us say, “what took so long for something like this” or “why didn’t I think of that?” They are the questions which are the core of all great innovations.

Greater Philadelphia Business Magazine hopes to spotlight those who not only had the courage to turn on the proverbial “open for business” sign but also to bring you interesting and compelling content from those who have driven the region’s economy for decades.

Editor

4

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Page 7: Greater Philadelphia Business

1 in 3 women dies of

heart disease and stroke.

It’s not just a man’s disease.

You can prevent it.

make a change at GoRedForWomen.org

TM Go Red trademark of AHA, Red Dress trademark of DHHS.

Page 8: Greater Philadelphia Business

Read the Digital Copy Online

Get the most updated news, weather, sports, scores, stocks

and commodities

Be a part of the region’s largest

surveys

Get your day started with dailies! Find area networking events! Buy the newest team apparel!

6

gp-biz.com

Tony LeodoraLeodora has been an editor at a number of magazines, while also working on the business end of the golf industry in man-agement, sales and marketing.

Lisa TierneyLisa Tierney is a certified professional coach and an award-winning marketing professional with over 18 years of experi-ence in providing effective, strategic mar-keting advice.

Jennifer RobinsonRobinson conducts talks and work-shops with a broad range of businesses, non-profits, conferences and groups to ensure they are maximizing networking opportunities.

online

Stay connected with us!

• Who’s Hiring

• Spotlight: Bucks County

• Franchise Elite

• Q & A with new college president

Contributors

www.gp-biz.com

Coming Next Month:

Page 9: Greater Philadelphia Business

before anything else, we’re all humanrethink your bias at lovehasnolabels.com

Page 10: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Of all the images Rick Davis has captured in his over forty years of still photography, the two

that greet you upon entrance to his new venture, Savvy Video Production, is a bike racing peloton and a stem of broccoli.

One is an action taken shot of bikers forming an inverted V formation Davis captured while shooting on the back of the car. The other is a vegetable parents hide in other food hoping to trick their children into eating it.

Both show the range of Davis’ talent of finding beauty in everything from a cruci-ferous vegetable to a team of ten speeds.

“People are born with it. Seeing the composition, the color. Putting it in the right light. One of the things people don’t understand is a professional pho-tographer makes it happen every time the very best they can. It’s what we do. We produce a thing that is ephermal for you. It only existed at that point in time. It’s there and its gone,” said Davis.

Davis operates his commercial still pho-tography business out of a studio in West Chester since 1986. Over the past five years he has been working as a cinema-tographer doing motion work and wanted to take it to the next level and establish a full production company in addition to the services he offers as a cinematographer.

“With motion work you are moving through a set of moments. It’s different ways of explaining life. I wanted to say more creatively and be more involved with the whole creative process. Still photography is a distillation of a mo-ment. Telling stories has always been in the background. The ability to ramp up and do that with technology became a lot easier with the advancements in digi-tal filmmaking which is where I saw my opening,” said Davis.

In November 2015, Davis launched Sav-vy Video Production, a new production company that offers full HD/UHD and 4K cinema digital video to clients. While some of the cameras and lenses can be

Savvy Video Broadens its ScopeBy Katie Kohler

used for still and motion, the sound and lighting instruments and computer capa-bilities are greater for production work. The growth required what Davis called a “fair investment” which will be ongo-ing as technology advances. Savvy works primarily with healthcare, pharmaceuti-cals, corporate, consumer, and non-profit clients to produce promotional/branding films, commercials and interviews.

Lead Producer Colleen Mullen, with a multifaceted background in produc-tion, joined in the summer of ‘16 to help launch Savvy. She previously worked at the West Chester based home shopping channel QVC.

“I was a little stifled by the corporate nature of the work. It was a wonderful experience and I had a great time and learned a ton but it wasn’t the best fit for me. A situation like this where I can wear a number of hats with an entrepreneurial, creative drive was really important to me. Life is short. You have to be really invested in what you are getting up out of bed every morning for, said Mullen.

“What spoke to me about Rick’s vision for Savvy was he wanted to tell stories and that is where my passion is with

filmmaking and creativity. I think stories and what people have been through and what they have to share is what’s import-ant. It excites me when we are able to capture that and share it,” added Mul-len who earned her Graduate Certificate in Advertising and Media Production in 2012 from Villanova.

The studio features green screen capa-bility and the largest egg cyclorama in the Philadelphia, Delaware and Southern New Jersey area. They offer services from pre-production storyboarding through postproduction editing, and Blu-Ray/DVD authoring—Davis brings three de-cades of experience collaborating with creatives in advertising, public relations, and in-house communication teams.

“We listen to a story. We have to know about your company, your goals, and brand. The biggest part of what we do is understanding that. The involvement in film production and making movies is about listening and brining what the person or company wants to say about their business, their story, out. We are storytellers. We need to know. We need to listen,” said Davis.

Mullen stressed the importance of be-ing able to translate clients’ ideas from

“It’s different ways of explaining life. I wanted to

say more creatively and be more involved with the

whole creative process.”

Rick DavisColleen Mullen

STARTERS

8

Page 11: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

9

any stage, even if it is still in their mind or jotted on a napkin.

“I think that is what is unique about us,” said Mullen. “We bring an advertising, public relations, and marketing back-ground on my side and so much compo-sition and technical work on Rick’s side. Anybody can pick up their phone and video their boss. That’s not the type of stuff we are doing. We are making things that are powerful, visual and will be re-membered. Not just a video for the sake of a video,” said Mullen

“Technology kicked down a lot of walls. It allowed a lot of people to come in. It allowed what I call ‘good enough’

to be de rigueur,” said Davis. “It never used to be like that because there used to be people who knew - high priests of design, copywriting photography - who made things and delivered it. Now there is a free for all. It’s a big food fight and it will be that way for a while. People have to make a living at it. How do you know what your worth? I know what I’m worth. Some don’t. There’s been a great democratization in the visual arts. Being able to deliver every time is what profes-sionals like myself do.”

Some business owners feel the invest-ment in video production will be costly or that with the advancements in tech-

nology they can make a quality video on their phone. This may be a mismanage-ment of marketing dollars, especially if an organization has spent on other forms of media to engage consumers.

“It’s mis-thinking around what a bud-getary line item is. How important is the brand that you built or your corporation built? How do you want to appear in the marketplace compared to your competi-tors?” said Davis.

Savvy Video Production

210 Carter Drive, Suite 9

West Chester, PA 19382

www.savvyvideoproduction.com

An office just isn’t about physical space.John Tooher and Dan Lievens, managing partners at Head-

Room, believe that the actual spot you charge your laptop is only one part of the ecosystem of a shared office.

Lievens notes that HeadRoom’s original goal was to create an environment for like minded people to help each other grow and collaborate on ideas, rath-er than simply provide generic office space for individuals and businesses.

HeadRoom relies on a three- column support structure.

Space: Residents get their own office and conference rooms 24/7 for 50 hours a month and phone answering services.

Strategy: Lievens, who has 20 years experience with early stage businesses, and Tooher, whose background is in strategic planning, are available for consulting.

Collaboration: The main ingredient according to Tooher, the open work areas create an environment that rivals tech startup incubators with free flowing ideas and varied opinions.

Offices with doors and windows and conference rooms are available but HeadRoom’s mission is to get its “residents” to talk to each other. There are no tenants or strangers here. “There is a sense of belonging. Of being in it together. A big part of what we do is making you feel at home and connecting residents,” noted Lievens. “It truly is more about creating a safe environ-ment for businesses to lean on each other and grow.”

Tooher touts the eclectic mix of service providers and how 70% use the services of other residents.

“It was very important for us to get that mix. It’s also important they are talking and interacting with each other,” said Tooher.

HeadRoom’s first location opened in Media in September 2014 and they welcomed res-idents to their Wayne location in October. There are plans for a third location this year. “Our goal is to make it a destination for businesses looking to go to the next level,” said Lievens.

But don’t look for HeadRoom in the saturated with co-working environments city limits. “We will never be in the city. We are look-ing for the hometown energy and

feel. We are catering to slightly more established businesses in the suburbs,” said Lievens.

“There are a lot of people who would like to do business and stay in the suburbs. They don’t have any reason to go into the city. There is a great market for us here. If anything you will start to see some other players in the city expand or move out this way,” said Tooher.

HeadRoom offers two-day, fee-based strategic-planning ser-vices for $2,000 to $2,500 and a mentoring program for $4,000 a year at each of its locations. Access costs $350 a month, which buys you 50 hours of use, a receptionist/phone-answering service, Friday happy hour, and a one-hour consultation with Lievens and Tooher.-K.K.

HEADROOM OFFERS PRIVATE AND COLLABORATIVE OFFICE SPACE.

Expands Shared Office Space Concept

Page 12: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Visual Commerce software maker connects retailers with consumers via social mediaBy Harry Bambi

If a picture is worth a thousand words, how does that translate into dollars? It’s Curalate’s job to help businesses

monetize the picture of Taylor Swift and make the process from the thought bub-ble of “I want her shoes/earrings/shirt” to pressing the “buy now” button as easy as possible.

As the only content monetization plat-form, Curalate assists brands ranging from mall staples such as Forever 21 and J.Crew, to the internet media giant Buzzfeed.

Curalate’s main goal is to connect these brands with consumers using the power of images and inspire them to purchase. Curalate reduces the consumer’s journey from liking the picture to ordering the shoes on Nordstrom’s site. Before the technology was created, the time from seeing the latest trend to purchasing it required several steps, and the chance of losing the sale was moderately high. If a link to the brand’s website wasn’t pres-ent, the shopper would need to spend time researching the product which could lead to a dead end or purchasing from a competitor. Curalate makes sure the styles, products, and articles individ-uals want will be easy for them to access and purchase.

This approach differs from other forms of digital marketing by giving the compa-ny an unparalleled understanding of how a brand’s marketing efforts are perform-ing. Rather than emailing a generic, one-size-fits-all email to every customer in a database, Curalate identifies top images and posts with high levels of engagement to build a tailored path for each individual consumer. “We are transforming the na-ture of visual commerce through our in-

novative technology” explained Apu Gup-ta, the CEO of Curalate. “Connecting with consumers has never been more com-plex, as the journey from inspiration to purchase takes many more paths through social media and savvy shoppers tune out anything that is generic or impersonal.”

Constant changes to the digital terrain have been a boon for Curalate as brands look for ways to retain customers and generate new business. Creating brand loyalty when many shoppers are choosing the “price lowest to highest” filter requires brands to constantly prove their value.

“By providing retailers with the tools to connect images to sales and to gather the most authentic images that are generated by fans of their products, we provide value by in-creasing client revenue and enabling brands to better engage with their customers,” said Gupta.

The tools Curalate offers businesses of all sizes helps firms construct their own bridge to both local consumers and shoppers around the globe.

Investors are believers in Curalate as Gupta announced in February a $27.5 million investment from past backers which include New Enterprise Associates (the largest U.S. venture capital), Phila-delphia-based FirstRound Capital (the biggest venture firm based on the East Coast); and MentorTech Ventures, which focuses on firms run by Penn grads. Since 2012, they have bought into Cura-late to the tune of $40 million.

With the latest investment, Curalate is aiming to double its staff of 115, which is spread across locations in Center City, New York, and Seattle, by year’s end.

“Curalate’s success depends on our abil-ity to attract and retain incredibly talented people and Philly has become such an attractive place for young, educated, cre-ative people to live and work. This city is a completely different place from what it was when I first arrived here twelve years ago,” said Gupta, who has an MBA from Wharton. “The quality of life and af-fordability together with our world class universities make it such a unique place.” www.curalate.com

GUPTA’S CURALATE AIMS TO HELP BRANDS

BETTER UNDERSTAND AND LEVERAGE THE

VISUAL WEB.

STARTERS

10

Page 13: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

“Do you live in a barn?”The phrase used by mothers across

multiple generations has a differ-ent meaning for Rick Wolf, owner of Stable 12 in Phoenixville. Wolf spent most of his life at his family’s farm, Saddlebrook Equestrian Cen-ter in Skippack. The barn was a “12 stall” structure that would become a makeshift laboratory for Wolf and his longtime friends Tyler Fontaine and Chris Carbutt’s home brewing operation. After nearly three years, the team outgrew their “entrepre-neurial incubator” and set off to find a location for a brewery.

Today, the three beer-loving friends have become downright city folk, estab-lishing their location on Bridge Street in up and coming Phoenixville.

Since opening, Stable 12’s marketing strategy has been humble (their sign went up in late March) they have enjoyed a great response. Focusing on Phoenixville’s foot traffic, building a clientele, and word of mouth have been their top priorities. Their position on Bridge Street drives foot traffic from bar-hoppers, cinema buffs leaving the Colonial Theater, and foodies looking for a post-dinner liquid dessert.

Wolf’s love of beer, coupled with the booming rise of craft beer and a fami-ly full of entrepreneurs, made entering the beer business a smart move to Rick and his friends.“My whole family owns businesses so when this started to come about it was a no brainer. The market is growing at 17 percent per year,” said the 28 year-old Wolf.

Most of the financing for Stable 12 was out of pocket with a little help from friends and family. Wolf recalls the dif-ficulty in obtaining funding after being rejected by nine banks. “One bank said ‘you look like a kid. This isn’t going to work.’ They weren’t interested in doing business with us,” said Wolf.

Since opening, three of those banks have returned lobbying for Wolf’s busi-ness in the form of a line of credit.

Despite the rapid expansion of brewer-

ies popping up around the area, Stable 12’s beer list centers on classic, ap-proachable creations instead of the niche brews that can be difficult to palate for the average beer drinker. “We aren’t doing any sours. We are go-ing more for the American IPA’s and we want to start getting into a barrel aged program” notes Wolf.

Stable 12’s best-selling beer, their West Coast IPA, is not only having success in the brewery, it’s also finding popularity at the Collegeville Movie Tavern.

IPA’s are certainly having their moment in the craft beer sun as you can find countless varieties at Wegman’s Pub, and at local distributors. The 7.6% IPA stands out by offering light notes of grapefruit to balance the surprise of a higher than usu-al ABV. A must-try for any IPA aficionado.

Other highlights of Stable 12’s line up include the boozy 12.4% Russian Imperial Stout, the fittingly named Farm Boy Saison, and the 4.8% Cow Tipper Milk Stout on nitro. While some nitros have a tendency to be too smooth for their own good, Cow Tipper circles back around after a moment of smoothness to bite with a hint of hops, a nice change of pace from other nitros.

Wolf and his team plan on opening an outdoor beer garden. To ring in the be-ginning of the outdoor drinking season, Stable 12 will have some seasonal selec-tions available including a Saison IPA, a Raspberry Witbier, and a classic Kölsch.

STABLE 12 GOES FROM THE BARN TO BRIDGE STREET

By Harry Bambi

Beer Terms GuideA.B.V. – Alcohol By VolumeA.B.W. – Alcohol By WeightI.B.W. – International Bitterness UnitI.P.A. – India Pale AleNitro - a mix of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. nitrogen produces tiny bubbles and a creamy texture and diminishes acidity.

About Craft Beer According to the Brewers Association• Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer

or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annu-al sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.

• Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent econom-ic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

• A brewer that has a majority of its total bever-age alcohol volume in beers whose flavor de-rives from traditional or innovative brewing in-gredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

• The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.

• Craft beer is generally made with tradition-al ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.

• Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.

• The majority of Americans live within 10 miles of a craft brewer.

Small Brews, Big ImpactIn 2015, craft brewers produced 24.5 million bar-rels, and saw a 13 percent rise in volume3 and a 16 percent increase in retail dollar value. Re-tail dollar value was estimated at $22.3 billion, representing 21 percent market share. The num-ber of operating breweries in the U.S. grew 15 percent, totaling 4,269 breweries—the most at any time in American history. Small and inde-pendent breweries account for 99 percent of the breweries in operation, broken down as follows: 2,397 microbreweries, 1,650 brewpubs and 178 regional craft breweries. Throughout the year, there were 620 new brewery openings. Com-bined with already existing and established brew-eries and brewpubs, craft brewers provided near-ly 122,000 jobs, an increase of over 6,000 from the previous year.–Brewers Association figures.

STABLE 12’S INTERIOR IS INSPIRED BY

ITS FARM ROOTS.

STARTERS

11

Page 14: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Around the Region

King of Prussia Mall announced four new din-

ing establishments to open within the new ex-

pansion connector at the East Coast’s largest

shopping center.

The dynamic roster, which boasts several

Pennsylvania newcomers, includes:

• �Hai�Street�Kitchen�&�Co. – a Japanese-ca-

sual eatery born and bred in the City of

Brotherly Love, acclaimed by Zagat and foo-

booz for its inventive sushi burritos, bowls

and specialty sauces, made in-house daily

with fresh, all-natural ingredients

• SHAKE�SHACK – a modern day ‘roadside’

burger stand serving up 100% all-natural,

antibiotic-free Angus beef burgers, hot dogs,

crinkle cut fries, frozen custard, beer and

wine selection, and more

• �Nicoletta�Pizzeria – New York-based Italian

eatery, specializing in homemade pizzas, pas-

tas and gelatos from Michelin-starred chef

Michael White

• �Melt�Shop – the Manhattan transplant that

boasts artisanal comfort food from gourmet

grilled cheese to specialty shakes

•��Top�Chef�Kevin Sbraga will open a second

location of Southern-style bar, The Fat Ham,

which is slated to open in the late summer.

“The demand – particularly by our Millenni-

al customers – for more dining and entertain-

ment-driven amenities at King of Prussia Mall

has increased in recent years. Our goal is to

deliver, and with this latest lineup, we’re offer-

ing some of the freshest concepts that are new

to the market,” said Kathy Smith, Director of

Marketing and Business Development.

These latest names will join at least 20 true

luxury retail brands in the new space includ-

ing recently announced CH Carolina Herrera,

Clarins, Diane von Furstenberg, Jimmy Choo,

MONTGOMERY

PHILADELPHIA

Robert Graham, Stuart Weitzman and Vince.

Five existing King of Prussia Mall luxury brands

including Louis� Vuitton and Burberry will

also take advantage of the new expansion, re-

locating and expanding their current footprints

to create flagship stores. Neiman� Marcus,

Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s are adding new

entrances to integrate into the new connector.

Come August 2016, the new 155,000-square-

foot connector will open, offering not only

50 new and contemporary dining and retail

concepts, but also modern features such as

common area dining counters with integrat-

ed, multi-tiered fountains, floor-to-ceiling

windows, device-charging stations, a con-

cierge-level guest service center, valet services,

a state-of-the-art parking garage and many

more conveniences and amenities.

A new Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) will open to the public at uCity Square in Philadelphia this summer. The MIC, which is the result of a collaboration between Microsoft Corp., SeventySix Capital, the University City Science Center and Wex-ford Science & Technology, will be the first in the region and the third in the U.S., with other locations in Atlanta and Miami. The Innovation Center complements and enhances Microsoft’s regional presence, which includes an office in Malvern and a Microsoft Store at King of Prussia Mall. Currently there are over 350 Microsoft employees in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Located on the ground floor of the Science Center’s corporate headquarters at 3711 Market Street, the MIC will be equipped with the latest Microsoft technology. Through a combination of programming and outreach activities, Microsoft – working close-ly with the Science Center and SeventySix Capital – will seek to spur economic development and create new opportunities for the local tech startup community. Further, the MIC will host ac-tivities that will bring underrepresented groups to greater aware-ness of and involvement with STEM activities and careers.

“Bringing Microsoft to Philadelphia and uCity Square is a game changer on many levels,” said Science Center President & CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., MBA. “Not only have we attracted a large tech company to our city, but the MIC also offers a means to engage our neighborhood, innovation, and entrepreneurial communities and give them access to Microsoft technology and training. It took a true collaboration between SeventySix Capital, Microsoft, Wexford and the Science Center to make this happen.”

“We are thrilled to work with SeventySix Capital, the Uni-

versity City Science Center, and Wexford Science & Technology to bring technology and resources to the great city of Philadelphia,” said Jeff Friedman, director of Modern Government in Microsoft’s State and Lo-cal Government Solutions Group. “MICs are part of Microsoft’s broader strategy to empower developers and entrepreneurs, extending into local metro markets to help startups grow their business with technology and services such as cloud comput-ing, developer tools, software and open source technologies.”

The MIC will open in time for the Democratic National Conven-tion (DNC) in July and will serve as a hotbed of Microsoft activity during the convention, with a number of programs and events that explore the intersection of technology and civic engagement.

After the DNC, Microsoft, the Science Center and SeventySix Capital will develop and deliver a suite of ongoing technology and innovation focused programming that will offer the startup, entrepreneurial, academic and neighborhood communities ac-cess to Microsoft resources and expertise.

“Microsoft’s presence in uCity Square will enhance our com-munity of ingenuity and become a catalyst to continue innova-tion and economic growth in our city,” said Joe Reagan, Vice President at Wexford Science & Technology. “With this opportu-nity, Philadelphia’s flourishing premier innovation district, uCity Square, will work in tandem with Microsoft to attract talent and companies that will bring businesses of all sizes together to ad-vance technology and collaboration. We’re excited to see what the future holds for uCity Square.”

12

Page 15: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Around the Region

13

The Judge Group, a West Conshohocken professional-services fi rm, has promoted Mick Angelichio to president of Judge Healthcare.

Lincoln Financial Group, Radnor, has pro-moted Kenneth S. Solon to executive vice president and chief information offi cer.

Aleister Saunders has been named senior vice provost for research at Drexel University.

Lars Ola I. Sjoholm been appointed chief of trauma and surgical critical care in the depart-ment of surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and medical director of the trauma program at Temple University Hospital.

William H. Tickner has been hired as assis-tant vice president of Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in Malvern.

Kylie Flett has rejoined Punch Media as PR and social-media strategist.

Bryn Mawr Bank Corp., parent of Bryn Mawr Trust Co., has named Stephen M. Wellman as senior vice president and chief operating offi cer of the wealth-management division of the bank, and named Keith B. Mc-Cutcheon senior vice president and treasurer of the corporation and the bank.

Ursinus College in Collegeville has named Montgomery County businesswoman Mau-reen Cumpstone entrepreneur-in-residence, a newly created position designed to support the college’s U-Imagine Center for Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies.

WSFS Financial Corp., parent company of WSFS Bank, Wilmington, promoted Tracy L. Feinsilver to senior vice president, region-al manager, and Albert J. Roop IV to senior vice president, director of technology services.

Cooper University Health Care, Camden, has appointed Thomas W. Rubino vice presi-dent of communications, responsible for public and media relations, corporate and employee communications, social media, and the corpo-rate website.

TD Bank has hired Nghia V. Ho as assistant

vice president, store manager of a branch in Havertown, and promoted Matthew D. Ro-mano to assistant vice president, sales and ser-vice manager of a branch in Marlton. Named Marisol Medina assistant vice president, store manager of a branch in Philadelphia and Paul D. Marini has been promoted to store manag-er of the Towamencin branch in Lansdale.

Richie Furino has been promoted to re-gional vice president of operations for Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, from regional manager.

David J. Fish has been appointed professor of clinical anesthesiology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and director of critical care in the Department of Anesthe-siology at Temple University Hospital.

MakeOffices, a company that offers fl exible, affordable workspaces and services for busi-nesses and entrepreneurs, has hired Danika Er-vin as city lead for the company in Philadelphia.

Grant Thornton L.L.P has admitted Melis-sa Beaumont and Michael Pramberger as audit partners in the fi rm’s Philadelphia offi ce.

Steven H. Gartner has been promoted to managing director of retail for the Greater Pennsylvania Region of CBRE Group Inc.

AT&T has named Judy Cavalieri vice presi-dent and general manager of the Liberty States region, based in its Philadelphia offi ce.

Comcast Corp. Philadelphia, has named Sridhar Solur as senior vice president product development for Xfi nity Home and Internet of Things for Comcast Cable.

Genesis Healthcare, a Kennett Square pro-vider of post-acute rehabilitation, has hired Richard A. Feifer as chief medical offi cer of Genesis Physician Services.

Independence Blue Cross, Philadelphia, has named Heidi J. Syropoulos, a geriatrician, as medical director of government markets.

Widener University has named Jayati Ghosh as dean of the School of Business Admin-istration and professor of international business.

People on the Move

To have employees in your organization included in People on the Move, email EDITOR@GP - BIZ.COM

Save a life. Don’t Drive HoMe buzzeD. BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING.

Page 16: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Around the Region

14

A $290 million manufacturing com-plex along the Delaware River in Cam-den is set to open next April. 300 en-gineering and support staff employees of Holtec International, a company that designs and builds equipment for nucle-ar, solar, and conventional power plants worldwide, will be working at the site of the former New York Shipbuilding Corp. Company officials say total em-ployment at the new Holtec Technology Campus could reach 1,000 by the end of the decade, making Holtec one of the largest employers in the city.

NEW JERSEYAtrium Health & Senior Living hosted a

grand opening on April 19th of its new post

acute care center in Woodbury, NJ at the former

site of the Woodbury Country Club. The cen-

ter boasts a number of premium features, such

as best-in-class rehabilitation equipment, includ-

ing a HydroWorx 1200 Aquatic Therapy Pool™,

an AlterG® Anti-Gravity Treadmill® and Acceler-

ated Care Plus® programs and technologies.

The private patient rooms are equipped with a

personal television and mini refrigerator, Wi-Fi,

high-quality air purification, warm lighting, hy-

poallergenic bedding and blackout shades. The

center also holds a movie theatre, bistro and pub.

“This project was set into motion several years

ago, with every step of the construction process

guided by the needs of the patients. We pride

ourselves on offering the thoughtful luxuries

that make a world of difference to our resi-

dents, patients and guests,” said William Burris,

co-chairman and co-chief executive officer, Atri-

um Health & Senior Living. “The end result is a

post acute care center that delivers upon every

demand and provides a safe, comfortable envi-

ronment for our patients and team members.”

DELAWARETenants have slowly been filling of-

fice space in downtown Wilmington over the past seven years. As a result, the city’s office vacancy rate in 2015 hit an all-time low since 2009.

According to an update from the Bucci-ni/Pollin Group, Inc., Wilmington’s down-

town central business district (CBD) end-ed 2015 with a 15.2% vacancy rate. The figure is based off of research from JLL.

“The delivery of new housing stock and restaurants on Market Street is creating a more vibrant downtown, which is attract-ing employers and energizing workers,” Rick Kingery, a vice president at Colliers International said in a Delaware Business

Now article. “A real live-work-play at-mosphere is developing as the city sees a diversification of employers and the dynamics of a once ‘company town’ are changing. A FinTech [Financial Technolo-gy] cluster and entrepreneurial communi-ty have emerged while the banking and legal anchors are still thriving.”

Holtec Set for Spring ’17

Amazon.com, Inc. announced plans to expand its footprint in New Jersey by opening two new fulfillment centers. The new sites will be located in Florence and Carteret. Through these new buildings, Amazon will bring more than 2,000 full-time jobs to the Garden State.

“We place our fulfillment centers close to customers to provide the fastest possible delivery times, and this expansion in New Jersey is directly tied to our increasing customer demand,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North America fulfillment operations. “We currently have more than 5,500 full-time jobs in the state and we are excited about the opportunity to add 2,000 new full-time positions.”

Amazon currently operates a fulfillment center in Carteret with more than 500 full-time associates. This new fulfillment center, the second in Carteret, will be more than 800,000 square-feet and employ more than 1,500 full-time associates. The more than 600,000 square-foot fulfillment center in Florence will employ more than 500 full-time associates when opened.

A 156-unit apartment complex on Camden’s Waterfront

proposed by Carl Dranoff was approved by the city’s Plan-

ning Board. The project’s civil engineer and architect, Jerry Roll-

er, of the Philadelphia-based firm JKRP Architects presented

the details, which also included 5,000 square feet of retail and

192 parking spaces.Dranoff previously converted a nearby Camden landmark,

the Nipper Building, into an upscale apartment building known as the Victor Lofts.

The Dranoff website says “…Dranoff Properties had a vi-sion for Camden; a vision of two cities building on each other’s strengths, united by their shared waterfronts. Hoboken to Phila-delphia’s Manhattan...”

THE 2016 CAMDEN WATERFRONT MASTER PLAN PROPOSES A COMPREHENSIVE

VISION FOR A VIBRANT, MIXED-USE, URBAN WATERFRONT NEIGHBORHOOD

DESIGNED TO ATTRACT COMMERCIAL OFFICE HEADQUARTERS, A MAJOR

HOTEL, NEW RESIDENTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD RETAIL STORES. RENDERINGS

FROM ROBERT A.M. STERN ARCHITECTS.

Page 17: Greater Philadelphia Business
Page 18: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Now.This simple three letter word is the reason innovators stay

awake at night and why startups dare to believe they have the next can’t-live-without-it idea. It’s the impetus of customers’ need to receive what they want, when they want it.

The hard work of these pioneers has resulted in a massive influx of technologies making shopping easier than ever. The On-Demand economy brings all of these marvels to the con-sumer’s fingertips. With the a few taps on a smartphone, an Uber will arrive to transport you to a meeting or the next bar on a Saturday night (beware of their infamous surge-pricing.)

Craving pizza for your House of Cards marathon? Grubhub. No time to search for the restaurant-quality ingredients the

Top Chefs use? Blue Apron.“We have just become so impatient. I attribute some of this

to our use of technology. We basically get what we want when we want it when we are online. So the idea we would take the time to drive, park, shop, is old fashioned for many con-sumers today. Everything retailers can do to facilitate that new need consumers have for immediate gratification is giving them a leg up against he competition,” said Kit Yarrrow, consumer psychologist and author of Decoding the New Consumer Mind: How and Why We Shop and Buy.

Ease of use and delivery are the key components attracting con-sumers, especially Millennials, to become loyal, repeat customers. With the number of stores offering Click and Collect continuing to grow, retailers looking to stay ahead of the curve of omni-chan-nel shopping are offering Curbside Pickup. Target, Nordstrom, Walmart, and even the struggling Sears are early adapters.

The process is simple – place an order on your computer or mobile device, an email notifies you when it’s ready for pickup, park in a reserved spot and notify the store through the app of your arrival.

Still not Now enough? Sears guarantees you’ll receive your items in five minutes or

less upon arrival at the store. Target boasts “you don’t even need to park - we hand your order to you as you pull up.”

No curbing consumer’s enthusiasm for quick pick up

A New HabitCustomers still vote with thier feet. Ninety percent of re-

tail shopping is still done in-store, according to a recent U.S Census study. However, fingers have proven themselves good decision makers.

InfoScout determined that of the 34.6% of Americans who have tried Click and Collect, half of them tried it for the first time in 2015. Fifty-four percent of shoppers, who have used this service, used it during the 2015 holiday season. Research also shows, 95% of shoppers who used this service during their 2015 holiday shopping indicated that they were very likely to use it again for their 2016 holiday shopping (vs. only 1.6% who said they would be unlikely to do so again).

“Curbside shoppers have raved about the service. We’ve seen a 60 plus percent return user rate – people who use it once typically did so again,” said mobile shopping app Curbside co-founder Jaron Waldman who noted users refer to the service as “convenient, easy, and reliable.”

New York based WSL Strategic Retail conducts about four sur-veys a year among shoppers and publishes their findings to their clients under the ‘How America Shops’ brand name. WSL’s role is to understand what shopping trends are emerging and what shoppers are responding to or are rejecting.

“Curbside pickup is certainly a rapidly expanding trend and it will expand even more. It’s here to stay. It’s going to be an entrenched habit,” said Candace Corlett, President of WSL Stra-tegic Retail.

More retailers are catering to consumers desire to grab and go. Is it a trend on the express lane to fading or has it just started it’s journey? By Katie Kohler

THE NEW DRIVE-THRU. TARGET OFFERS A DEDICATED AREA FOR

CURBSIDE PICKUPS16

FEATURE

Page 19: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

According to Corlett, in terms of consumer packaged goods, shoppers want to do their shopping and get it home the same day. Sometimes delivery isn’t a viable option due to lack of a reliable drop off location or inability to schedule a time to be available. In other instances, there simply isn’t enough time to deal with parking, scanning the aisles, and waiting to checkout.

“This bridges the need of ‘I want to order it’ and ‘I want to pick it up and take it home today.’ It takes the angst and stress out of at-home delivery,” explained Corlett who mentioned the majority of curbside shoppers are Millen-nials and Gen Xers.

Early adoptersProving the click and collect method of shopping isn’t just for

groceries and home goods, Nordstrom’s “Buy online, Pick-up in Stores” option has been leading the charge since 2008 and ex-panded to curbside pickup in May 2015 for in-a-hurry customers. The program has grown from the original group of 20 stores and the service is now available in most Nordstrom locations includ-ing King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, and Christiana Malls.

Nordstrom isn’t just keeping up with fashion trends. Their core mission of going above and beyond with each and every customer has resulted in the company’s continued success. “Our number one goal every year is to improve customer service and we rec-ognize the customer’s definition of service is changing. As service expectations increase, so do our opportunities to stay relevant to our customers and speed, convenience, e-commerce and person-alization are becoming more important to how the customer views good service,” said Nordstrom spokesman Dan Evans.

Curbside, a two-year-old San Francisco Bay area startup that received $9.5 million in funding, now is available in over 100 cities and is partners with Target, Best Buy and CVS.

Curbside’s technology offers customers an accurate inventory of retailers’ items and location-based technology that notifies store employees as soon as a customer arrives for a pickup. The service offers same-day gratification without the mark up or delivery fees associated with same-day delivery.

In October 2014, Target was one of the first retailers to partner with Curbside. Target’s curbside pickup expanded to one hundred more stores on November 1st, 2015. For the holiday season, their order volume in the last two weeks before Christmas Eve was up an average of 145 percent — over the average weekly order vol-ume from September to November, according to Waldman.

For Target, fourth quarter comparable sales increased 1.9 per-cent, driven by traffic growth of 1.3 percent. Digital channel sales increased 34 percent, contributing 1.3 percentage points to comparable sales growth.

“It was always the plan to expand to new retailers and mar-kets across the U.S. and we are excited for the future of Curb-

side and what we see is the future of mobile shopping. We identified Philadelphia as a metro area where shoppers are con-tinually looking for ways to get the items they want from local stores – like Target – as quickly as possible. So far the response has been terrific,” acknowledged Waldman.

The not-to-be ignored behemoth Walmart launched a curbside grocery pickup service at select stores in eight U.S. cities starting in early October 2015. Customers select their items, pay, and sched-ule a pickup time online. Upon arrival, a Walmart employee loads the groceries into their vehicle as part of the no extra fees service.

“Our customers love it. They love the convenience and they love that it’s free. They especially like if they do a weekly shop and it saves their items and they easily click and reorder. It saves a lot of time and money and that is what we are focused on helping our customers do,” said Walmart spokesman John Forrest Ales.

Walmarts in the Greater Philadelphia area do not currently offer grocery curbside pickup, however according Ales, Walmart will announce expansion of the service to new markets later this year.

A new online supermarket shopping study of more than 7,200 consumers by customer intelligence solutions provider Mar-ket Force Information found just 5% of respondents said they have used click-and-collect, which involves ordering online and picking up curbside. But of those respondents who had used the service, 75% said they were highly satisfied with the service.

“We are continuing to innovate and think about entire custom-er experience and what that means,” noted Ales.

Not a passing trendWhile Waldron and his team of developers at Curbside dis-

played forward thinking in developing the app, they, along with retailers like Target are responding to competition and consumer preferences.

“The difference between today and ten years ago is all the technology. It has enabled us to do this and changed our psy-chology. We have this emotional collaboration between the new needs we have for immediate gratification and the ability we have with technology to deliver on those needs,” said Yarrow.

Brick and mortar retail stores are being encroached upon in certain categories by online shopping. According to WSL it is less so in the grocery sector but they are feeling the drain in apparel, baby, and diapers. With Amazon’s fleet of drones pos-sibly looming, retailers aim to think of creative opportunities to meet expectations.

“This is retailers responding to the power of the Internet to take sales out of their stores and the smartest response you can do is give shoppers what they want,” said Corlett.

In this on-demand delivery arms race, companies are battling for the individual who will choose a product based on how quickly it can be in his or her hands, rather than the price. From small garage start-ups to multinational corporations, companies are thinking of different ways to make products instantly available to consumers worldwide. We may be a few years away from drones dropping off our groceries but we are living in a time where it has never been easier to have something new in your hands, now.

“Our customers love it.

They love the convenience and

they love that it’s free...”

17

Page 20: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.comgp-biz.com

Sometimes it really is lonely at the top. Some CEOs recognize this, but many do not. Or if they do notice the loneliness they do not

always admit it. After all, it wouldn’t be the alpha thing to do.

Little known fact - CEOs don’t have many friends. Why? Aren’t CEOs friendly? Of course they are. Most CEOs became CEOs because they are great at interact-ing with people. They may be loved by their employees, they may be approach-able, but they still might not have any

friends they can talk to. If they do have a close friend it is probably a friend from college or high school. The reason CEOs do not have friends is that friends take time. It is the one thing most CEOs don’t have enough of.

What is a friend? Friends are always ‘there’ for you, they are ‘always on your side.’ Importantly for CEO’s, a friend is someone you can trust with your secrets. We may not think of them as ‘secrets’, but CEOs have many things they cannot

discuss with…well, with anyone really. What they need is someone who is:

1. Not related to the business in any way;

2. Can be trusted - bet your life trusted;3. Who can relate to the subject;4. Has the time and the ability to r

eally listen;5. Is not judgmental; and (hopefully)6. Won’t give advice unless it is

asked for.Whoa! Someone like that is pretty hard

to fi nd. To begin with, it has to be the right person and you will have to spend some time with them before a true friend-ship can develop.

What is a CEO to do?Experience tells us that the best way to

build a friendship is to work on some-thing together. The more time spent to-gether mixed with the signifi cance of the work (to the workers) strengthens the friendship. It’s why most people make friends among their peers at work. The challenge for CEOs is they have no peers at work. The only peer of a CEO is an-other CEO. How does one fi nd another CEO and something to work on with that person?

If you had the chance to help out a small group of nice people, wouldn’t you want to do it? If you had the opportu-nity to tap into the wisdom of a dozen really smart people, wouldn’t you take advantage?

A very small number of CEOs (less than 5%) have joined peer groups of CEOs of

non-competing companies. At regularly scheduled meetings, they work on the important challenges and opportunities of each of their companies. They become each other’s peer advisors.

The rewards can be amazing. Not only is it personally satisfying to help these other nice people, but their companies end up growing at three times the rate of average US companies. The CEOs grow as individuals, make a positive difference in the lives of others, and their compa-nies reap the benefi ts.

It turns out spending this time with true friends isn’t spending at all. It’s an invest-ment with a great ROI for both the CEO and their organization. For that, CEOs do have enough time.

“The CEOs grow as

individuals, make a

positive difference in

the lives of others, and

their companies reap

the benefi ts”

Joel Adams is the facilitator of a CEO peer advisory board consisting of distin-guished CEOs of outstanding companies in the Philadelphia area. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelaadams [email protected]

It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top

Vistage offers peers for top execs

CEO ADVISOR

18

Page 21: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

The Sandler Selling System

The Sandler sales call should be different than any other sales call you have ever done. It should feel different to both you and the prospect. You should hear things from your prospects that you have never heard before. You should be able to “sell” without the stress and pressure of traditional sales.

Stealth Selling

Do you know why salespeople get a bad rap as pushy and obnoxious, despite the fact that there are thousands of good salespeople out there? It’s because when you encounter a professional salesper-son, you don’t even realize you are being sold. They don’t come to you in a loud and blatantly obvious manner like the traditional used-car guy. Professional salespeople have normal conversations with prospects and help them make a good decision— and no one is the wiser. It is a discovery process for both parties, not just a sales presentation. When done right, selling is an honest conversation about whether there is a good fit, followed by a decision to move forward or part ways.

How to Succeed at Sales: The Solution

The Sandler Selling System

How to Succeed at Sales: The Solution

Robert Waks and Robert Sinton are Sandler certified trainers who are passionate about sharing the Sandler Success Principles and teaching the interpersonal

communication skills needed to greatly improve your life and business.

If you would like to learn more about the Sandler Selling System, visit our training center at:

466 Germantown Pike Lafayette Hill, PA

www.TTC.Sandler.com610.940.0600

goes wrong. That doesn’t make the new client feel appreciated, and they could slip Iinto buyer’s remorse. They also probably need a new set of expectations about what is going to happen as they transition from prospect to client. At this stage, you can also deal with any unresolved issues (like ex-isting vendors); ask for referrals; or begin a conversation about repeat business. If you hang in there for a few more minutes, a lot of problems can be avoided. This will also separate you from traditional salespeople and position you as being a trusted advisor.

Do you believe a less, but better approach to your business development would work?

When you use the Sandler Selling System, you present only to qualified prospects so your number of presentations will go down, but your conversions from prospects to customers will go way up. It doesn’t sound that difficult or scary, does it? There is obviously a lot more to it, though, and it is easier said than done. But it’s our hope that this abbreviated explanation will help you rethink your sales process so you can avoid the pressure and distrust of the traditional sales model.

If you would like to learn more about the Sandler Selling System, visit our training center at:466 Germantown Pike

Lafayette Hill, PAwww.TTC.Sandler.com

610.940.0600

Robert [email protected]

Robert [email protected]

Robert and Bob are Sandler certified trainers who are passionate about sharing the Sandler Success Principles and teaching the interpersonal communication skills needed to greatly improve your life and business.

SALES

19

Robert [email protected]

Robert [email protected]

Page 22: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

The paper monster covering the desk used to be the big-gest enemy of office organization. No matter how hard you tried to file completed work it kept growing. Today,

it’s partner in clutter crime, electronic correspondence, may be more powerful.

Escaping the paper monster seems easy: lwweave the of-fice and close the door. However, the ever-growing number of emails flooding the inbox is burning a hole through your pocket.

The McKinsey Global Institute and International Data Corp. found that email is the second-most time-consuming activity for workers, next to “role-specific tasks.”

With a stream of buzzing electronic notifications and a grow-ing to-do list it can seem impossible to know where to start.

Laura Leist, Productivity Consultant, Speaker, and Author of Eliminate the Chaos at Work: 25 Techniques to Increase Pro-ductivity said, “People often try to implement a new system, new piece of software or new app – based on brand prefer-ence, or what everyone else is using. This is a bad approach. I hear people complain that they tried to implement something but it didn’t work. The reason it didn’t work is usually because they did not make the necessary time to fully implement the system and use it for at least a month before they give up. One also needs to remember that being productive and organized

Organization at workThe not-so-impossible dream?

Feeling scattered by multiple email accounts and the growing pile of paperwork? Experts offer tips to see the

surface of your desk and a single digit number from your inbox

By Katie Kohler

20

FEATURE

Page 23: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

at work is about “maintaining” and using the systems that have been put in place,”.

The to do list serves as an old stand by and one of the most effective ways to stay on track.

“It all depends on how you create it (the to do list). The phone with its alerts is fine for people with ADD, but if you are a visual personal it doesn’t seem real because you don’t touch it. There is nothing wrong with a traditional daily planner, es-pecially if you like to cross things off or keep a paper record. The medium has to be something that works for you,” added Debbie Lilliard, an internationally recognized organizing expert based in the Greater Philadelphia area, who has run Space to Spare, a professional organizing service since 2003.

Slaying the Paper BeastIf the digital revolution has taken over, it has yet to fully hit

the desks of workers who struggle to clear space for their morn-ing cup of coffee let alone see more than half the surface.

When professional organizers such as Janet Bernstein or Lil-liard are brought in to service an office, the number one source of chaos is paper clutter.

“It’s definitely still paperwork,” said Lilliard about the top complaint. “We divide down the middle. Where is the backlog and what is current has to be separated.”

“I still believe most of us benefit from the old fashioned inbox or tray system. I think separating documents out, and prioritiz-ing into a couple of trays works really well,” responded Bern-stein, CPO and Founder of the Greater Philadelphia based The

Organizing Professionals. Before starting her business in 2006, she lived in five different

countries. Bernstein developed her organizing expertise through her travels, multiple international moves, and working abroad, including nine years in the former Soviet Union.

“Traveling and moving around makes you a minimalist, which most of us can really benefit from. You are constantly paring down. The less we have in our lives, the more productive you are going to be. I don’t have tons of papers around. I haven’t had the luxury of keeping certain things,” said Bernstein.

For those who find it difficult to embrace a minimalistic life style or simply do not know what to throw away, there is hope.

The Container Store, with area locations in King of Prussia and Cherry Hill, offers a wide variety of solutions. After spending an afternoon in their aptly designed box shaped stores, it is easy to believe that your organization and storage problems have been solved.

“Most people need a system. They

aren’t going to 100% disorganized

to Miss Perfect overnight so it has

to be something they can adapt to

otherwise they won’t do it.”

SARAH GRADY, VISUAL SALES MANAGER AT THE CONTAINER STORE, HELPS CUSTOMERS SOLVE THEIR CLUTTER PROBLEMS.

Phot

o by

Mik

e Irb

y Ph

otog

raph

y

21

Page 24: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Lilliard Unroll.me - Unsubscribe from unwanted email

subscriptions, discover new ones and organize

them all in one place. The Rollup is a digest that

gives an overview of all the subscriptions you

receive each day. It will keep your inbox clean

by organizing the subscriptions you receive into

a daily digestible email.

Neat Desk - A high-speed, duplex desktop

scanner and Smart Organization Software.

Scan receipts, business cards, and documents

in one batch while the software identifies, ex-

tracts, and organizes key information.

Leist OneNote - Great for taking notes during

meetings and keeping a to do list. It has the

ability to attach documents, audio files, vid-

eos, tables and more to a notebook to keep

everything in one place. “Most people have

heard of Evernote, however OneNote is part

of the Microsoft Office Suite and integrates

with Outlook and Tasks.”

ScanSnap IX500 – This best seller guides you

through every step of the scanning process,

and allows access to documents anywhere.

Leist loves this device for small offices or indi-

vidual offices.

GradyPoppin desk accessories – This popular line

has items available in colors ranging from a

pink fit for a Disney Princess to a more subdued

dark grey which add personality to your desk.

“It’s a great way to liven up office with a little

bit of color. Color makes it fun.”

Elfa Filing Cart – The perfect Daily Action

Center fits underneath a desk and comes with

hanging rails for quick access to files and two

drawers for storage.

BernsteinBrother Printer PT70BM Wireless Person-

al Handheld Labeler. “Labeling your files can

transform those paper files you still need to keep

and makes them so much easier to read and

cleans up the look of your files. If you share your

workspace with others, a labeler keeps everyone

informed of where items should be placed,”

said Bernstein.

ORGANIZERS FAVORITES

22

Page 25: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Sarah Grady, The Container Store’s visual sales manager in King of Prussia, delves deeper than point-ing customers into the direction of filing cabinets or plastic totes.

“The number one complaint is usually clutter. We have to get them to define what their clutter is, whether it is paperwork or fil-ing. Then we go from there. They usually say they have papers ev-erywhere. Then we talk them through that. What kind of pa-perwork? We try to find out what the real root of the problem is. A lot of people come in and want to Band-Aid a problem. It works for a little bit but is a mess again. Tell me why it’s a mess. Why is it cluttered? We try to work back-wards to try to solve the root of the problem,” explained Grady.

The Monster in Your PocketSome think the world can be easily divided into two sectors.

Those who don’t mind the big red number glaring from their inbox and those who do.

Organizers agree on keeping work and personal email sep-arate while being vigilant about unsubscribing to things of no interest. Also, if your alert sounds it does not mean to stop your current task to reply.

“It’s almost a generational thing. The forty plus crowd, we don’t have a problem in delaying a response to emails. My two daughters in college have an immediate response. I am a great believer in setting aside time and responding to emails in one block. It’s easy to lose track of time when we are switching from one activity to another,” said Bernstein.

Authors of a report from the London-based Future Work Cen-tre, which conducts psychological research on people’s work-place experiences, said emails are a “double-edged sword” that provide a useful means of communication but can also be a source of stress. Psychologists who warn that constant updates have become a “toxic source of stress”

“The inbox is not a catch-all for all e-mail. Instead, think of it as the processing center for anything that still requires ac-tion. Any other e-mails should be deleted, filed or forward to someone else. Having a workable e-mail electronic structure is advised,” advised Leist

Leist suggests Quick Steps in Outlook to quickly process e-mail and “project” folders where you can file e-mails regard-ing a specific project that don’t require additional action on your part. Starting all of these files with the word “project” will keep them in order in Outlook version prior to 2013. For certain versions of Outlook you can drag and drop folders so all of your folders are in one place.

Leist recommends a Daily Action Center (DCA), a place easily acces-sible from your desk chair, to cor-ral all your projects in files. Any-thing not needed on a daily basis or isn’t a current project should be stored in a reference file, if at all

“Ask yourself – is this information still needed? Can I scan it? If origi-nals must be kept, file it in an area that isn’t at your fingertips to keep you DAC items to a minimum,” said Leist.

Lilliard, who has appeared on Mission: Organization a home im-provement show on HGTV, is also an advocate for a DAC for both home and office mail. She has cli-ents who employ her services sort through their mail. Lilliard recom-mends sorting on a daily basis be-fore it becomes too overwhelming

to deal with by dividing into “to do,” “to read,” “to file,” and “recycle” for junk mail.

No Overnight FixBefore the paper monster takes over, or the inbox breaks an

all time high score. Taking time to organize regularly is the key to maintaining a productive workspace before the paper monster takes over, or the inbox breaks an all time high score.

“In a messy office, no one is making the time to actually go through and organize. There is something else more pressing and urgent. I’m a huge believer in maintenance. It can be sched-uled once weekly, whatever time it takes to get your space or-ganized. Most of us don’t do that,” said Bernstein.

“Without the on-going and often daily maintenance, there will be back-sliding and that is where people begin to feel over-whelmed again. Setting time with yourself to work on these areas on a consistent basis will be helpful,” said Leist.

Grady notes not everyone needs an overhaul and some do just need file storage or letter trays.

“Most people need a system. They aren’t going from one hundred percent disorganized to Miss Perfect overnight so it has to be something they can adapt to otherwise they won’t do it. It has to work with their lifestyle and be some-thing they can get excited about,” said Grady.

Think finding time on your now organized planner will be difficult?

“Does that meeting you scheduled need to be one hour? Can what you need to accomplish be done in 20 or 30 minutes? If so, you’ve gained 30 to 40 minutes of time to answer e-mails and return calls. Too often I see meetings blocked on people’s calendars in one hour time blocks with absolutely no time to do anything in-between let alone take a bathroom break. Rethink how you schedule your time” said Leist.

THE ELFA FILING CART PROVES AN IDEAL DAILY ACTION CENTER.

23

Page 26: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Greater Philadelphia is at the forefront of transformations that are defining how business gets done, not only in our commu-nity, but across the country and the world. This is illustrated in the unprecedented surge of construction activity across our eleven county neighborhood of northern Delaware, southern New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania.

The multi-billion dollar redevelopment of the Camden water-front – Liberty Property Trust committed to investing $1 billion to help create the Camden of the future – the massive expan-sion of the King of Prussia Mall, the emergence of apartments and mixed-use properties, and more all underscore a develop-ment boom happening across Greater Philadelphia.

In Center City Philadelphia, there are a growing number of cranes that are now part of the city’s skyline. These cranes rep-resent thousands of construction jobs that come with this de-velopment and are working on major projects, including: The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s new 735,000 SF medical research facility; the 2.7 million SF FMC Tower; the transfor-mation of Market East and its anchor The Gallery Mall; and Comcast‘s new $1.2 billion Innovation and Technology Center.

Most recently, Drexel University and Brandywine Real-ty Trust announced their $3.5 billion investment in the 14-acre Schuylkill Yards project – one of the largest-scale development projects in the city’s history – which will in-clude spaces designed for innovative start-up companies, research laboratories, and corporate offices, along with residential, retail, and hotel, and robust open green space.

The reimaging of Greater Philadelphia extends far beyond the city proper, and is engulfing our entire tristate, 11-county neigh-borhood. We are seeing development and major capital invest-ment activity extending from New Castle County, Delaware to Mercer County, NJ, and from Chester County, PA to Salem Coun-ty, NJ. Projects of all shapes and sizes are emerging, and include:

• Virtua Health System’s planned $1 billion medical campus in Westampton, NJ

• Holtec International’s new 600,000 SF campus on the Cam-den waterfront

• H&M’s investment in a 545,000 SF manufacturing facility in Burlington County

• Zacros America’s newly relocated operations for its Hedwin Division Newark, DE with a $12 million, 182,000 SF facility

• The 170,000 SF expansion of the King of Prussia Mall, mak-ing it the largest retail mall in North America

• The evolution of Ardmore’s Suburban Square with a new 26,000 SF expansion

• The transformative $100 million investment to revitalize the Granite Run Mall in Delaware County

• The new 25,000 SF headquarters for Subaru of America in Camden

• Bristol Meyer’s Squibb expanded presence in Mercer Coun-ty with a 650,000 SF complex

• The new 125,000 SF home of the Philadelphia 76er’s corporate offices and practice facility along the Camden waterfront

• The $17 million 34,700 SF Science Building at Bucks Coun-ty Community College

• Rowan University’s new 96,500 SF Rohrer College of Busi-ness School facility

The energy embracing our region is driven by many aspects from the favorable cost of doing business and the exceptionally competitive cost of living, to access to top talent that is coveted by local and global employers, and the advantageous proximity to Europe and the US, which is essential for many industries.

For these reasons and more, business leaders, entrepreneurs and researchers form across the country and the globe want to establish their operations in Greater Philadelphia.

Matt Cabrey is the Executive Director of Select Greater Philadelphia, a non-profit business attraction organization. [email protected].

The Growth of Greater PhiladelphiaBy Matt Cabrey

Select Greater Philadelphia is the business attraction organization for the tristate, 11-county region of northern Delaware, south-ern New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania. Through a dedicated focus on marketing and communications activities, Select highlights Greater Philadelphia to a regional, national, and international audience. The goal: grow the economic vibrancy of our collective community through attracting new businesses to the area and supporting the expansion of existing organizations.

GUEST COLUMN

24

Page 27: Greater Philadelphia Business

FULL SERVICE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE & ADVISORY FIRM

l Landlord Representation l Investmentsl Tenant Representation l Property Managementl Research & Marketing Information l Appraisal & Advisory Servicesl Corporate Real Estate Representation l Construction Services

For more information, visit WolfCRE.com or call 856-857-6300.

Building Successful RelationshipsTM

Marlton, NJ l King of Prussia, PA

PERFECTING THE ART OF THE DEAL.

Changing the way commercial real estate gets done.

Page 28: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SPOTLIGHT:Montgomery County

FIGURE 2: Population in 2010

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

FIGURE 3: Employment in 2010

7

FIGURE 2: Population in 2010

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

FIGURE 3: Employment in 2010

Source: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission estimates

MontgomeryCounty

Chester

Delaware

Philadelphia

Bucks

76

476

476

276

76

295

95

Berks

Lehigh

To the Lehigh Valley

To Harrisburg

To Wilmington,Baltimore, and

Washington, D.C.

To CentralNew Jersey andNew York City

• A Leading Innovator for Businesses and Industries through-

out American History - From early paper mills, iron works, and fi lm studios to cutting-edge pharmaceutical and invest-ment fi rms, Montgomery County has been on the leading edge of innovation in the nation’s economy. Today, with over half a million jobs, the county remains a vibrant place of commerce and work.

• A Transportation Gateway to Pennsylvania - With the Penn-sylvania Turnpike, Northeast Extension, Schuylkill Express-way, and Blue Route intersecting in Montgomery County and with an extensive railroad network, the county is a transportation hub, linking the Philadelphia area with the rest of the state.

• A Tapestry of Neighborhoods and Homes - Above all, Mont-gomery County is a place that over 800,000 people from all walks of life call home.

• A Procession of Traditional Towns Dotted along old Train Lines

- Classic old towns, like Narberth, Conshohocken, Royers-ford, Glenside, Ambler, and Souderton, are strung along the county’s rail lines, providing appealing main street down-towns for the county’s residents.

• A Historic Place tied directly to the Nation’s Founding - From Valley Forge National Historical Park to the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, from colonial-era farm-steads to art deco movie theaters, the county refl ects the ever-changing character of southeastern Pennsylvania.

• An Interconnected Community of Schools, Parks, Libraries,

and Trails - With parks like Valley Forge and Green Lane; with many colleges and universities, such as Bryn Mawr and the Montgomery County Community College; with ex-cellent public and private schools; with its extensive trail network along the Schuylkill River, Perkiomen Creek, and Wissahickon Creek; and with its many libraries, Montgom-ery County provides abundant community resources to its residents and citizens.

• A Shopping Destination - The King of Prussia Malls, which form the largest mall complex on the east coast, as well as the Philadelphia Premium Outlets and countless malls, shopping centers, and stores, make Montgomery County a regional attraction for shoppers.

Employment in 2010Population in 2010

Montgomery County TODAYBackground Information for MONTCO 2040: A SHARED VISION,the new comprehensive plan for Montgomery County

Prepared by Montgomery County Planning CommissionMontgomery County, Pennsylvania

26

AERIAL VIEW OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA MALL DURING BLACK FRIDAY.

(PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA MALL)

Page 29: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Connecting Patterns

9

FIGURE 5: Commuting Patterns

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

In 2010, 85,536 more people commuted into Montgomery County than out. Commuting patterns between Montgomery County and its neighboring counties are shown below.

Montgomery County connects the region with the rest of the state.Here are a few key transportation facts.Montgomery County has:

• Over 57 miles of limited access highways, more than any other

Pennsylvania county in the region.

• Nearly 1.2 billion auto trips per year, almost as many as Philadelphia.

• 109 million annual trips on the PA Turnpike, most in the state,

coming from 6 interchanges.

• Over 10.8 million annual trips on regional rail, slightly less than

Philadelphia, from 41 rail stations on 6 rail lines.

27

Page 30: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SPOTLIGHT:Montgomery County

The manufacturing sector in Montgomery County

has lost 30,000 jobs since 2001. It is currently the

fourth largest industry in the county behind

healthcare, retail, and professional, scientific, and

technical services. The county’s manufacturing

sector still ranks first in Pennsylvania, as the

economy and loss of jobs to cheaper labor markets

has affected many high manufacturing employment

areas in the commonwealth and nation.

• The other industry sector that rapidly declined this

decade was the information sector. The largest

losses in this sector occurred during the first half of

the decade as technology reduced demand for

traditional media publications and wired

telecommunications.

• The largest increase in employment is in the

professional, scientific, and technical services sector,

which gained over 12,000 jobs since 2001. Its fastest

growing subsector services were scientific research

and development and accounting services.

• County businesses continue to evolve. Recently,

Dow Chemical purchased Rohm & Haas and

announced it will move some operations to the Pfizer

campus, which Pfizer had bought from Wyeth.

Almac, an Irish pharmaceutical company,

consolidated its North American operations at a new

headquarters in Lower Salford.

# COMPANY INDUSTRY SECTOR

FIGURE 99: Top Employers in Montgomery County

Source: PA Center for Workforce Information and Analysis

Montgomery County has a fairly diverse base of industries

and enterprises, which in the past has enabled the county to

weather broad economic downturns as well as specific

industry shortcomings. The majority of the county’s

industries are classified in service providing sectors as

opposed to goods producing sectors. In fact, only 14% of

the total jobs in 2013 were held in goods producing

industries. It wasn’t always this stark of a contrast. Going

back to 1970, over 40% of jobs in the county were in goods

producing industries. That percentage was halved by 2000,

when there were 20% of jobs in goods producing industries.

According to the 2012 County Business Patterns, private

industry groups from the service sector with over 10,000

employees include company management, general hospitals,

restaurants, insurance carriers, building/dwelling services,

employment services, and grocery stores. One goods

producing industry, pharmaceutical manufacturing and

research, is also considered among the county’s largest

industries, although the Census Bureau withholds actual

employment figures due to the small number of companies.

Pharmaceuticals, both manufacturing and research & development, have

been an important part of the county economy.

27

FIGURE 25: Health Care Facilities

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

76

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

General and Specialty Hospitals

Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health

FACILITY TYPE LOCATION

LICENSED

BEDS

STAFFED

BEDS

OCCUPANCY

RATE

AVG STAY

(DAYS)

FIGURE 26: Health Care Facility Statistics (as of June 2013)

FACILITY LOCATION

TOTAL

PATIENT

VISITS

TOTAL

OPER.

ROOMS

FIGURE 27: Ambulatory Surgery Centers (as of June 2013)

Source (both figures): Pennsylvania Department of Health with additional

information from Einstein Medical Center-Elkins Park.

27

Health Care Facilities

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

76

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

General and Specialty Hospitals

Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health

FACILITY TYPE LOCATION

LICENSED

BEDS

STAFFED

BEDS

OCCUPANCY

RATE

AVG STAY

(DAYS)

Health Care Facility Statistics (as of June 2013)

FACILITY LOCATION

TOTAL

PATIENT

VISITS

TOTAL

OPER.

ROOMS

FIGURE 27: Ambulatory Surgery Centers (as of June 2013)

Source (both figures): Pennsylvania Department of Health with additional

information from Einstein Medical Center-Elkins Park.

Top Employers in Montgomery County

Health Care Facilities Statistics (as of June 2013)

Ambulatory Surgery Centers (as of June 2013)

Source (both fi gures): Pennsylvania Department of Health with additional information from Einstein Medical Center-Elkins Park.

Montgomery County TODAYBackground Information for MONTCO 2040: A SHARED VISION,the new comprehensive plan for Montgomery County

Prepared by Montgomery County Planning CommissionMontgomery County, Pennsylvania

28

Page 31: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Industries in Montgomery County by Private Sector Jobs: 2013

Public Sector Jobs in Montgomery County: 2013

131

INDUSTRY

SECTOR 2013 JOBS

% OF TOTAL

2013 JOBS

% CHANGE

2003—2013

LOCATION

QUOTIENT

FIGURE 100: Industries in Montgomery County by Private Sector Jobs: 2013

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Location Quotients (LQ) are accepted measures of how

concentrated a specific industry is in a county or region as

it compares to the same industry from a larger base such

as the state or nation. They can reveal what makes the

county unique in comparison to the national average. The

LQs from the chart on the left represent a ratio of the

percentage of total jobs within a particular industry in the

county divided by the percentage of total jobs within the

same industry .

LQs greater than one indicate that the industry is more

highly concentrated in the county than it is nationwide.

These industries are usually considered export-oriented

industries because they tend to serve more than just the

local economy and bring money into the county rather

than just circulate money that is already in the county.

LQs less than one indicate that the industry is less

concentrated in the county as compared to the nation and

likely serves other businesses or industries within the

county as opposed to a larger customer base.

The LQs presented in the chart are intended only as a start

to providing more understanding of the employment

figures and the county’s economy. It may be useful to

look at more detailed or specific industries within the

sectors shown or consider the Philadelphia region as a

whole before drawing definite conclusions.

FIGURE 101: Public Sector Jobs in Montgomery County: 2013

GOVERNMENT LEVEL 2013 JOBS % CHANGE 2003—2013

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

131

INDUSTRY

SECTOR 2013 JOBS

% OF TOTAL

2013 JOBS

% CHANGE

2003—2013

LOCATION

QUOTIENT

FIGURE 100: Industries in Montgomery County by Private Sector Jobs: 2013

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Location Quotients (LQ) are accepted measures of how

concentrated a specific industry is in a county or region as

it compares to the same industry from a larger base such

as the state or nation. They can reveal what makes the

county unique in comparison to the national average. The

LQs from the chart on the left represent a ratio of the

percentage of total jobs within a particular industry in the

county divided by the percentage of total jobs within the

same industry .

LQs greater than one indicate that the industry is more

highly concentrated in the county than it is nationwide.

These industries are usually considered export-oriented

industries because they tend to serve more than just the

local economy and bring money into the county rather

than just circulate money that is already in the county.

LQs less than one indicate that the industry is less

concentrated in the county as compared to the nation and

likely serves other businesses or industries within the

county as opposed to a larger customer base.

The LQs presented in the chart are intended only as a start

to providing more understanding of the employment

figures and the county’s economy. It may be useful to

look at more detailed or specific industries within the

sectors shown or consider the Philadelphia region as a

whole before drawing definite conclusions.

FIGURE 101: Public Sector Jobs in Montgomery County: 2013

GOVERNMENT LEVEL 2013 JOBS % CHANGE 2003—2013

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Location QuotientsLocation Quotients (LQ) are accepted measures of how con-centrated a specific industry is in a county or region as it com-pares to the same industry from a larger base such as the state or nation. They can reveal what makes the county unique in comparison to the national average. The LQs from the chart on the left represent a ratio of the percentage of total jobs within a particular industry in the county divided by the percentage of total jobs within the same industry in the nation.

LQs greater than one indicate that the industry is more highly concentrated in the county than it is nationwide. These indus-tries are usually considered export-oriented industries because

they tend to serve more than just the local economy and bring money into the county rather than just circulate money that is already in the county.

LQs less than one indicate that the industry is less concentrat-ed in the county as compared to the nation and likely serves other businesses or industries within the county as opposed to a larger customer base.

The LQs presented in the chart are intended only as a start to providing more understanding of the employment figures and the county’s economy. It may be useful to look at more detailed or specific industries within the sectors shown or consider the Phil-adelphia region as a whole before drawing definite conclusions.

29

Page 32: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Hart oversees the expansion of the

King of Prussia MallPhoto by Mike Irby Photography

Hart oversees the

The Man

Behind the

Kingdom

30

Page 33: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

During the peak of the holiday season, King of Prussia Mall has 250,000 visitors a day, essentially making General Man-

ager Robert Hart mayor of the third biggest city in Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The second largest mall in the country is under-going a massive expansion set to be completed this summer. It will include a new corridor con-necting the Plaza and the Court, fifty new stores and restaurants, and a state of the art parking deck.

Since taking over the top spot in 2004, this is the second expansion Hart has overseen. Hardhats and blueprints line hall leading to his office but it doesn’t mean Hart hasn’t been busy with the malls current four hundred plus stores, or welcoming the new addition of fashion-forward European gi-ant Primark and three restaurants in 2015.

You’ve been in the business over thirty years. Why did you make a career in retail property management?I started in retail after college then got into shop-ping center management and enjoyed it. It’s di-verse and has changed a lot. It’s an interesting profession. There is something new every day. It’s a very general manager type position in that there are a lot of different ways you can go and focus your energies and I find that very interest-ing. And it’s real estate so it’s a lot of fun.

How have you seen shopper’s behaviors change?The customer is more digitally evolved right now. Everybody has a smart phone and they do more research on the product. They are a smarter cus-tomer. Customer’s tastes change and retail will al-ways change. What’s hot today may not be hot down the road and there will always be new retail-ers coming in. Retailers who aren’t in touch with the consumer will go away. It’s why you see a lot of variety and change when you go shopping.

Amazon’s drones haven’t taken over the skies yet but brick-and-mortar stores can’t ignore online shopping. How does King of Prussia Mall handle its growing presence and competition?The International Council of Shopping Centers recently reported 91 percent of shoppers this hol-iday season did their purchasing in stores. Online is definitely competition but we look at it as our customers want to come out and experience the mall. They want to touch the product and try it on. They enjoy the social aspect of the seeing the special events and going out to eat. That type of thing you can’t experience online.

King of Prussia Mall employs 7,200 people and averages 20 million of visitors per year. How do you prioritize tasks on any given day? It’s exciting. A lot of teamwork. It’s a big op-eration. We have great employees both at the property and the corporate level. At the corpo-rate level we have an outstanding leasing group. Marketing does a great job. Housekeeping, se-curity and customer service…it’s all focused to make the shopping experience the best for the customer. Simon Property Group (the largest U.S. Mall owner) brings a vast knowledge and sup-port system. We’ve enjoyed that both from man-agement, leasing and the redevelopment stand-points. There are a lot of spokes in the wheel and we are all working together to make this this run at its highest and best level.

How long has plans for the connection of the Mall and the Court been on Simon’s radar?In late 2011, Simon president David Contis came up with the idea of connecting the two centers and making them one. That was the start of it but it takes a while. A lot of back of house work, designing and leasing strategy. We worked with the township for approvals and met with fire and police to make sure we were all in this together to get their buy-in to make it run as best possible.

How is the expansion progressing?We are getting there right now. The connector is enclosed and now the focus is working on the interior and doing the finishes.

What aspect will shoppers be most impressed with?It’s one mall now. It’s not the Court and the Plaza. It’s one mall where you don’t have to walk out-side and it’s easier to navigate through. It’s a ma-jor improvement. We are going to bring in brand new restaurants and retailers, half of which are going to be new to the area. This has really been one of the things that King of Prussia Mall has done very well, bring in retailers to this center that are not found in the area. They are not found in other malls. People drive longer distances to come here. That’s why our market is so large. It’s a benefit to every store and restaurant in the mall. We are going to see great new retailers and restaurants coming in. We are hoping to provide the best customer service and amenities of any mall. We are excited to see how customers will perceive this.

31

Page 34: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SPOTLIGHT:Montgomery County

DESCRIPTION

2012

JOBS

2015

JOBS

NUMBER

CHANGE

PERCENT

CHANGE

Industries Projected for Near Term Growth

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

76

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

Less than 10%

10% - 19.9%

20% - 29.9%

30% and greater

Forecasted Employment Increases by Percent

FIGURE 111: Forecasted Percent and Number Change in Employment Between 2010 and 2040

Source: Delaware Valley Regional Planning

Commission

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

143

DESCRIPTION

2012

JOBS

2015

JOBS

NUMBER

CHANGE

PERCENT

CHANGE

FIGURE 110: Industries Projected for Near Term Growth

Source: Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board, Local Plan July

1, 2012-June 30, 2017

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

76

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

Less than 10%

10% - 19.9%

20% - 29.9%

30% and greater

Forecasted Employment Increases by Percent

FIGURE 111: Forecasted Percent and Number Change in Employment Between 2010 and 2040

Source: Delaware Valley Regional Planning

Commission

Source: Delaware Valley Regional Planning

Commission

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

276

76

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

Less than 1000 jobs

1000 - 1999 jobs

2000 - 2999 jobs

3000 and more jobs

Forecasted Employment Increases by Number

143

DESCRIPTION

2012

JOBS

2015

JOBS

NUMBER

CHANGE

PERCENT

CHANGE

FIGURE 110: Industries Projected for Near Term Growth

Source: Montgomery County Workforce Investment Board, Local Plan July

1, 2012-June 30, 2017

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

Less than 10%

10% - 19.9%

20% - 29.9%

30% and greater

Forecasted Employment Increases by Percent

FIGURE 111: Forecasted Percent and Number Change in Employment Between 2010 and 2040

Pottstown

Norristown

Lansdale

Collegeville

Jenkintown

Conshohocken

476

422

202

611

100

309

Hatboro

Ambler

Pennsburg

73

663

29

29

73

Less than 1000 jobs

1000 - 1999 jobs

2000 - 2999 jobs

3000 and more jobs

Forecasted Employment Increases by Number

Industries Projected for Near Term Growth

Forecasted Percent and Number Change in Employment Between 2010 and 2040

32

TEXTS AND GRAPHS EXCERPTED FROM MONTGOMERY COUNTY TODAY

Page 35: Greater Philadelphia Business

visitKOP.com

See what makes King of Prussia a world-famous place to shop, dine, and stay!

With the largest mall on the East Coast, gaming and entertainment, a culture of amazing dining, and a plethora of luxurious hotels, King of Prussia is every convention-goers ultimate destination.

OUR EDGE.

YOUR VOTE.

In town for the Democratic National Convention?

Page 36: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SMALL BUSINESS

The United State Small Business Administration (SBA) helps entrepreneurs navigate business through loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance. As an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, they also help people recover from disasters and rebuild their lives by providing fi nancial assistance to homeowners, renters and businesses.

Statistics from the fi scal year 2015 include: • 17,556 clients served; 10,328 attended trainings in Pennsylvania• 1,379 SBA- guaranteed loans for $484,792,800 and 233 microloans for $2.57 million

in SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania District• 3,088 small businesses located in SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania District received

federal contracting actions totaling $1,241,446,563.Antonio Leta, Director of SBA’s Eastern Pennsylvania District offi ce, oversees 40 coun-

ties and is eager to share his thoughts on how the SBA can help your small business.

What should people know about the

SBA that they probably don’t?

We are here. We are more than lending. We have many more programs. We have many different partners that we work with that can help a small business. Come see us. Let us talk to you. Let us tell you how we can help you. Maybe we aren’t going to help you directly but we can certainly provide you the right resource to help with your business. There are so many free services available to businesses and they are not taking advantage of them. Whether it is SBA, state, county or local government free services…there are free

services out there galore. If you aren’t taking advantage of them you’re doing you and your business a disservice.

Why don’t you think business take

advantage of free services?

One, they don’t know where to look. Also, they are too busy working in their business and not on their business. They are in the day to day. Small busi-ness ownership is diffi cult. There is not enough hours in the day to wear a thou-sand hats and be able to take the time to step away from that and go meet with somebody about trying to get help. What

is the time commitment involved with getting help? It probably puts people off because they are so busy running their business on a day to day basis they aren’t looking beyond making payroll for this week or getting a deal closed. It’s short term and they aren’t looking at a two to three year vision of ‘how am I going to get this business from here to there’ and what do I need to do that. It’s not a fault. It’s just a reality.

Why is it important for small business

to make the time to see what the

SBA offers?

Don’t make this like going to the gym. You can fi nd a million reasons to fi ll your day and not fi nd time to go to the gym. For a small business owner, they can fi nd a million reasons not to ask for help because they are so busy in their business, but if you block out that time, like you’d be healthier if you went to the gym, a small business would be healthier if they made the time to ask for help.

The SBA’s recipe for success consists of “Three C’s” – Capital (fi nancing), Counseling (technical business advice), and Contracting (doing business in the Federal Government). In the following issues, Greater Philadelphia Business Magazine will take a closer look at each of the ingredients starting next month with Capital.

For more information visits https://www.sba .gov/of f ices/d is t r ic t /pa/king-of-prussia

34

Page 37: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

InnovateHER CHALLENGE FINALISTS COMPETE AT NATIONALS

Three Eastern Pennsylvania S.B.A. In-novateHER Challenge fi nalists had the opportunity to compete for $70,000 in cash prizes offered by Microsoft in a national pitch competition in Washing-ton, D.C. March 16-17. The Innovate-HER Challenge is a national competi-tion aimed at unearthing products and services impacting and empowering the lives of women and families.

“Women control 80 percent of the pur-chasing power in this country; yet make up less than fi ve percent of venture cap-italists. This is why SBA launched the ex-panded InnovateHER Challenge, which focuses on empowering more women in the investment space and in the innova-tion space. Women across our country will benefi t from investing in research and inventions that impact their experiences at home, in the workplace and even at the doctor’s offi ce,” said Sonia Smith, Eco-nomic Development Specialist/Women’s Business Center Technical Representative.

SBA’s national 2015 fi rst place winner was Philadelphia’s Bethany Edwards, who won out against 15 fi nalists from across the country. Her fi rm, LIA Diagnostics, designed a pregnancy test to provide a better experience for women at a stress-ful moment in their lives. This year’s fi rst place winner was Elizabeth Caven from

UpCraft Club, Des Moines, IowaThe three Eastern PAInnovateHER fi nal-

ists were:• Yasmine Mustafa, Roar For Good

co-founder and CEO. Mustafa is the creator of Athena Safety Jewelry; a sleek and discrete simple that pro-tects women from assaults with the touch of a button. Once pressed, it emits an alarm and messages emer-gency contacts. Mustafa was the win-ner of the competition hosted by the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs, and their partners University City Sci-ence Center, Robin Hood Ventures, Techgirlz, and Colliders Accelerator.

• Mary Tiffin, Mangata LLC President/CEO. Tiffi n designed and patented a sleek glove with built-in high-pow-ered LED lights for runners, cyclists, and other athletes who want to exer-cise at dusk or dawn. Tiffi n was the winner of the competition hosted by Bucknell University’s Small Business Development Center in Lewisburg, PA and their partner, Pennsylvania State Representative Lynda Schlegel Culver.

• Patrice Banks, Girls Auto Clinic founder/CEO, engineer and auto-motive technician. Banks owns Girls Auto Clinic, which offers dialogue about the workings of vehicles and

how to service them through female auto repair garages, maintenance workshops, books, and an apparel line. Banks was the winner of the competition hosted by The Enterprise Center of Philadelphia.

“SBA’s criteria was to fi nd products or services that have a measurable impact on women and their families, fi ll a need in the marketplace, and have the poten-tial for commercialization,” said Smith.

Women-owned fi rms have increased as a share of total businesses over the years, but they remain smaller, on average, than male-owned fi rms. In Pennsylvania, data shows 27% of businesses are woman-owned. Ac-cording to a recent report from the National Association Of Women Business Owners, in 2014 Pennsylvania had 297,700 wom-an-owned businesses which puts it in the Top 10 states – and Greater Philadelphia in the Top 10 Metro Areas for woman-owned business ownership.

The U.S. Small Business Administra-tion is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government whose mission is to help small businesses start, grow and succeed through loan guarantees, contracts, counseling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses.

35

SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has gathered statistics on buying and selling small businesses that show a solid economy for both business buyers and sellers.business buyers and sellers.

Page 38: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SMALL BUSINESS

Skills-based volunteering is on the rise in popularity. A grow-ing number of companies and working professionals are volun-teering valuable business skills to nonprofit organizations. This unique form of volunteering offers small nonprofits the chance to tap into expertise they could not normally access, and offers professionals the opportunity to train, leverage, network and give back to the community.

One Philadelphia area volunteer organization, RSVP (formerly known as RSVP of Montgomery County), has tapped into this recent development in volunteering with its Volunteer Execu-tive Consultants (VEC) program.

VEC Program Manager Ruth Cella recently shared VEC’s expe-rience in this new field of skills-based volunteering.

She explained, “Most of our 65 volunteers are retired from high level jobs as either CEOs or presidents of businesses in the for-profit community. We also have professors, doctors, lawyers, people with backgrounds in finance and banking, and engineers.”

Their primary purpose in volunteering? The same motivation as other volunteers: to contribute their skills to a good cause.

Cella continued, “These are high level professionals, and what they want to do in retired life is to share their skills with people that work at nonprofits. They have had suc-cessful careers, and enjoy networking with their peers as they volunteer their time and expertise.”

VEC was started in 1983 and conducts nonprofit consulting services throughout the five-county Delaware Valley area.

The organizations served are mostly very small, often with a budget under $100,000 and with only one or two staff. Volun-teers typically work as a team, for a limited 3- to 6-month peri-od, and the most common requests are for help with strategic and business planning, marketing, financial basics, as well as fundraising across the board.

A central goal is often to help the nonprofit form a functioning board: this is critical for nonprofits to attract adequate funding, and nonprofit founders may not have the knowledge necessary for recruitment and governance. VEC also receives requests for assistance from start-ups, aspiring nonprofits who hope to ac-quire 501c3 status. “We assist a number of start-ups, and begin by making sure their mission and vision is unique, sometimes counseling them to collaborate with an already established non-profit organization, rather than acquiring their own tax-ex-empt status,” Cella added.

One of VEC’s new clients contacted a private consulting firm to create a business plan, and they received a cost quote of $14,000, before coming across VEC’s services. When clients work with VEC, there is no or minimal charge for the consulting services provid-ed. VEC receives partial funding support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, Tayganpoint Consulting, and its parent organization, RSVP.

Current Professional VolunteersCella also noted that five of VEC’s volunteers are currently

working full-time as professionals, and virtual volunteering helps make their participation possible. They may meet one-to-one on a weekend early on, and then may connect virtu-ally by phone, teleconference, and email during the course of the project.

Many corporations are requiring their employees to give back to the communities where they live and work. This cre-ates a wonderful way for VEC to access the skills of working professionals to balance teams with retired members. Current employed VECs are from pharmaceutical companies and ac-counting firms.

Other ActivitiesVEC provides education in the form of semi-monthly work-

shops on topics of interest to nonprofit boards and staffs. Up-coming workshops cover finance fundamentals, board devel-opment, and social media marketing. An annual highlight is VEC’s Meet the Funders panel where foundation and corporate representatives explain the grant funding decision process to nonprofit grant seekers.

The Parent OrganizationRSVP was part of a nationwide network of volunteer programs

funded by the federal government in the early 1970’s, but it has since developed into a locally operated multiservice non-profit volunteer agency (receiving only a small portion of their funding from the government) meeting the ever-growing and changing needs in our communities.

The bulk of RSVP’s volunteer opportunities serve vulnerable populations such as veterans, the elderly, disadvantaged pre-school children, at-risk youth and adults. Volunteers also sup-port nonprofits meeting important community needs by staffing food cupboards, historic sites, blood drives, senior centers, ju-venile centers and many other agencies.

Skills-based volunteering offers a multitude of ways for pro-fessionals to make a significant impact in the nonprofit world. Many nonprofits are fledgling organizations and have scarce re-sources, so they provide an opportunity for a skilled profession-al to make a large impact, with relatively little time investment.

The projects they assist with are often temporary in nature: short-term projects with a clearly defined goal. The work is flexible: volunteer consultants frequently connect virtually throughout the duration of the project. The impact can be tremendous: nonprofits in the range VEC works with have a drastic need for help, but do not have the resources to hire for-profit firms.

The Impact of Skills Based Volunteering

By Scott McKinney

36

Page 39: Greater Philadelphia Business

HELPING MANAGE YOUR LOVED ONE’S MONEY

UNDERSTANDING BENEFITS

T:10”

Page 40: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

In college, Angela Megasko’s neighbor had a dragster they would race every week-end. An athlete in high school, Megasko missed the excitement of being a part of a team and joined the pit crew. Surrounded by the hum of engines and the whoosh

of cars, she not only learned about executing a job in a hurry but how all those little jobs combined can keep a car and a business from crashing.

“Being a part of a pit crew team, everybody has a job to do. It has to be executed with clockwork precision,” said Megasko. “When your driver pulls into the pit or when you are getting ready to have the car jump off the line, everybody had to be doing exactly what they are supposed to do at the exact right time. It’s like a machine. When you think about business teams, everybody has to be doing their job with clockwork precision if they are going to be successful. It gave me an opportunity to see how the drivers needed to prep for each race and how they needed to know their competition’s strength and weaknesses.

“The things you do well and the things you don’t do well are in the spotlight whether you are involved in a pit crew or a departmental team.”, said Megasko.

Nearly twenty years ago Megasko started Market Viewpoint to provide consulting services to organizations that were interested in realizing higher rates of profi tability through customer retention. The primary focus is to provide a professional, legitimate mystery shopping service that performs customer service evaluations for a wide va-riety of organizations, internationally. Market Viewpoint’s staff works with a client’s internal team to develop their survey instrument and any standards that may be nec-essary to ensure a consistent approach is used by fi eld representatives.

The fi rm conducts over 5,000 customer service evaluations and customer service audits each year with an international database of 30,000 shoppers. In 2001, Market Viewpoint added a training and coaching division. Recently they expanded a series of workshops and retreats for women, called “Heart of Achievement.”

The competition amongst mystery shopping services can be as tight as on the race-track. Market Viewpoint boasts a team with a customer service background and fl exibil-ity with their clients. “We see each of our clients as being unique. As a vendor I need to be able to respond to how clients do business differently in the marketplace. We take an individualized approach with each of our clients, explained Megasko. “Our clients recognized that if the right questions weren’t asked, surveys conducted by applications like Survey Monkey, can be a dangerous thing in terms of the quality of data collected.”

Market Viewpoint goes beyond the standard mystery shopping markers of which employees smile and if they asked for a customer’s email address at point of sale. The data can go down a number of paths such as advice for adjustments on policies and procedures, website and phone improvements, and tips for the appearance of the storefront.

“We are giving strategic intelligence on what’s going to make them be seen as a force to be reckoned with in the marketplace. We have given lots of advice, recom-mendations, and best practices for our clients to consider and we love it when they take our advice and put it into action because it makes a difference. Their customers appreciate it,” said Megasko.

National Associate of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Member Spotlight

ANGELA MEGASKO

Market Viewpoint, LLC995 Fairview RoadGlenmoore, PA 19343www.marketviewpoint.com

NAWBO is a network of women entrepreneurs who provide each other with valuable information, resources, referrals and more! Local, regional and national meetings and seminars provide members with face-to-face business connections for new clients, vendors, mentors and friends. NAWBO’s national online database connects thousands of members across the United States. For more information and a calendar of events visit www.gonawbophilly.org.

Megasko has been a member of NAWBO since the inception of Market Viewpoint and praises the expertise and support she has received from the organization.

“They level of support I have gotten over the years has been extraordinary,” said Megasko of the Greater Philadelphia NAWBO Chapter. “I don’t know if there is anyone who understands being in busi-ness like another person in business un-derstands. A woman in business can real-ly only be understood by another woman business owner. We have challenges we face. We have frustrati ons we deal with that women in corporate America don’t necessarily deal with. We are out there alone. Women in corporate America are surrounded by other support depart-ments (sales, HR, marketing). Women in business for themselves are creating all that for themselves from scratch.”

38

SMALL BUSINESS

Page 41: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SMALL BUSINESS

Q: Is there one skill that is essential to career success?Dr. Mawritz: Having a really high level of self-awareness, which is captured by the idea of emotional intelligence, is very important to a successful career. Understanding yourself, your desired lifestyle and what you’re looking for in your career is very important; it might be compensation, work-life balance, pro-motions, etc. You have to know who you are and what you want.

It’s also worth noting that the more you understand yourself, the more you will understand how people perceive you which is also essential to career success.

Q: What skills are essential to being an effective leader?Dr. Mawritz: This builds on what I was saying about self awareness. I would say it’s a combination of taking a situational approach to leadership as well as being authentic.

I think it’s important for a leader to understand that you need to acclimate to the situation at hand. You, yourself, are a unique person, and every single person that you interact with is a unique person. Every interaction that you have as a leader with your subordinates is unique. You need to understand yourself in order to understand how to be the most effective leader that you can be, but also understand the particular person and the particular situation that you’re dealing with.

I think it’s essential to take an individualized approach, where you think about the person you are dealing with in terms of their skillset, their developmental needs, the coaching that might be necessary, the task at hand, and then figure out what type of leadership style will work best for that situation, as well as what will work best for you in terms of your own strengths, weaknesses and values.

When I teach classes on leadership, I often teach about lead-ership styles or behaviors that are effective. I tell my students they need to put all of that information into a leadership tool belt. Think about research on leadership, the books that you might read about leadership, the things you hear in the media, and use all that information to understand what’s effective. But, you also need to understand what works best for you and the current situation at hand.

Q. Are there any key factors that prevent women from achieving career success?Dr. Mawritz: The biggest thing is something we can control – showing ourselves in a confident, competent manner. Unfor-tunately, there are socially constructed norms, gender stereo-types, that result in women feeling the need to downplay their certainty, or speak in certain ways that make it seem like we don’t know what we are talking about.

For example, women are much more likely to use qualifiers or ask questions instead of making definitive statements. So, if you think it’s cold in here, you might ask, ‘Isn’t it cold in here?’ Instead of just saying, ‘It’s cold in here.’

Women also tend to apologize more. There’s actually research that shows that men interpret apologies as taking blame. But when women say ‘I’m sorry,’ typically they are not saying ‘It’s my fault,’ they are just showing sympathy, if you will.

Society is beginning to see women differently these days. It’s becoming more acceptable for women to show masculine char-acteristics – to be more aggressive or more dominant, but that’s changing very slowly. So we still have these socialized norms that we play into that make it difficult for women to act as con-fident and as competent as they may, in fact, be.

Of course, there are a number of factors that play into your abil-ity to rise the corporate ladder as a woman, but I believe these are the most important because they are what we can control. And so, I encourage you, when you find yourself in a situation like a job interview, or up for a promotion, don’t be afraid to play up the fact that you deserve that job or promotion – because we know our male counterparts are very likely to do that.

Women are also much less likely to negotiate salaries, which plays into the male/female pay gap. But part of that is our own doing, because we fail to promote ourselves. And so, I think the biggest thing you can do is portray yourself in a very confident manner and don’t play into those social norms that say women shouldn’t act confidently.

Keys to Career Success for WomenLeBow’s Mawritz offers tips on leadership

Excerpt from a panel discussion featuring Mary Mawritz, PhD, assistant professor of management and a fellow within Drexel LeBow’s Institute for Strategic Leadership that took place at the 2015 PA Conference for Women – which was sponsored by LeBow College of Business. Aliza Licht moderated the panel.

39

Page 42: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

In 1967, Joseph Talluto sold his fami-ly’s home in Southwest Philadelphia for $7,500 to purchase a $7,400 ravi-

oli machine and moved his family of six into a building he owned “around the corner.” Joe was sixty years old, and at a time when most men his age were pre-paring for retirement, he was committed to pursuing his longtime dream, both personally and financially.

Today, Joe’s son and grandchildren operate a multimillion-dollar, award-win-ning seven-time winner of “Best of Philly” business, Talluto’s Authentic Ital-ian Food, Inc. (TAIF) that manufactures and markets nearly ninety varieties of pasta, sauces, and other food products in their 50,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility in Folcroft, Pennsylvania with fifty-five full-time and four part-time employees. Customers include regional and national food service companies, re-tail grocery stores, delis, specialty food stores, restaurants, and other food manu-facturers. Actively involved in the senior management of the business are Joseph A.M. Talluto, president and CEO; his son Joseph F. Talluto, vice president; and his daughters Angel Storti, finance and human resources; and Joanne Brown, retail, production, and administration. “For years my father spoke of one day opening his own ravioli store. In fact, it was often considered a joke around the house. I’m not sure anyone, but he, knew how serious a dream this was... until the day he set forth to pursue it,” Joseph A.M. Talluto said. “My father was a man of many words: very strict and very head-strong. I remember telling my father that he should really consider taking on less responsibility, not more. But he was con-vinced that ‘now is the time’ and would not stray. My father’s dream continues in-definitely as friends and neighbors enter a Talluto’s store to find nearly ninety va-rieties of pasta, fresh mozzarella cheese made daily, and many complementary

Italian cuisine… all still served by Joe’s friends and family!”

At an awards ceremony held in 2015, TAIF was recognized as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Family Owned Business of the Year for 2015 for the Eastern Pennsylvania District. In receiv-ing the award, his son, Joseph F. Talluto said “we are both honored and humbled to be recognized as 2015’s Family-Owned Small Business of the Year. Tough eco-nomic times have recently tested the strength of our company, and to receive this award is not only testimony to the hard work and resolve of our staff, but also the support we received from the Widener Small Business Development Center, DNB First Bank, and the Small Business Administration.”

“I was honored to have the opportu-nity to nominate Talluto’s Authentic Ital-ian Foods, Inc. for SBA’s Family-Owned Small Business award. I have known and worked with the Talluto family for over six years and find the family and their business to be a role model of American entrepreneurship and in-tegrity as well as an inspiration to the community and their network of cus-

tomers, suppliers and business part-ners,” said James Porter, former business consultant with the Widener University SBDC. “The family has struggled through difficult financial and economic condi-tions and came out on top in a situation where others would have given up. In the process, they demonstrated staying pow-er, grew sales, expanded employment, improved profitability, and continued a family tradition that never compromises on quality, safety, or integrity.”

With the loss of a major customer in late 2006, followed by the recession in 2007-2009, TAIF faced 2-3 years of de-clining revenues. In collaboration with the Delaware County Commerce Center, SEEDCOPA, and the Widener University SBDC, the company developed a strate-gic plan that included internal restructur-ing, process improvement, new product development, and market diversification.

Business owners facing operational challenges have access to confidential, no-fee consulting services provided by the Pennsylvania SBDC network to help them expand and grow. The SBDC program offers growth services for estab-lished companies including environmen-tal management, international business, government marketing, online business, technology commercialization as well as in-depth research and analysis. All of these services are provided at no-fee to business owners since the SBDC program is a pub-lic/private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and 18 universities and col-leges across the Commonwealth.

Philadelphia-area SBDCs at Widener University, The University of Pennsylva-nia’s Wharton School, Temple University, and Kutztown University are available to assist existing business owners and as-piring entrepreneurs. Businesses seeking assistance can find their local SBDC by visiting www.pasbdc.org/centers.

Talluto’s Authentic Italian Foods Overcomes Obstacles to Win

Family Owned Business of the Year

TALLUTO FAMILY FROM LEFT: JOSEPH

A.M. TALLUTO, PRESIDENT AND CEO; HIS

DAUGHTERS ANGEL STORTI, FINANCE

AND HUMAN RESOURCES; AND JOANNE

BROWN, RETAIL, PRODUCTION, AND

ADMINISTRATION; AND HIS SON JOSEPH F.

TALLUTO, VICE PRESIDENT.

KUDOS

40

Page 43: Greater Philadelphia Business

T:10"

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO INVEST IN A GOOD THING.Introducing Better FuturesTM—a whole new kind of investment with a greater return than money. When you invest,it helps kids go to college. Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste but a wonderful thing to invest in.TM

©2013 UNCF Invest in Better Futures at UNCF.ORG/INVEST

Page 44: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SMALL BUSINESS

Chef Keith Taylor bets neither you nor your friends have ever dined at a Swiss restaurant. Swit-

zerland’s neutrality makes for safe bank accounts but it doesn’t translate into tan-talizing cuisine.

“The great cuisines of the world are based on struggle,” explained Taylor, owner and executive chef at Zachary’s BBQ in Norristown. “Food represents comfort so the people with the least of means can get back to that struggle and move on the next day. Soul food isn’t “black,” it’s the child of struggle. The great cuisines of the world all have their own soul food. It’s a food born of the struggles that these cultures went through.

“BBQ is a vehicle, Taylor continued. “My business is focused on soul. If I said I was opening a soul food place people wouldn’t get it. Soul and BBQ are inter-woven. As a chef and culinary profes-sional I know I am about to formalize soul food and bring it in a big way to the national landscape of culinary arts.”

Customers unsure of the difference be-tween soul food staples such as Hoppin’ John and fried okra, need not worry.

BBQ EmpireWith a bit of smoke, a smattering of sauce and a whole lot of soul, Chef Keith Taylor looks to expand his businessBy Katie Kohler

Zachary’s staff is quick to dole out sam-ples. They serve as a compliment to BBQ staples such as Carolina pulled BBQ pork or beef brisket.

A native of Nutley, New Jersey, Taylor graduated the Culinary Institute of Ameri-ca (CIA) and Cornell’s School of Hospital-ity and Management. He then worked for Disney and the University of Pennsylvania.

Chefs may be versed in the classics, but Taylor made it a point to learn about the business end of restaurants. He took time after a sixty plus hour workweek to speak with controllers, food and beverage direc-tors, and bookkeepers.

“The average chef only knows 32 per-cent of the PNL. What’s the other 68 percent? That’s what people don’t know and it’s why you hear nine out of ten restaurants close or don’t do well. Most restaurateurs only know 32 percent of the PNL. If you understood your num-bers you wouldn’t be underfunded,” said Taylor. “The biggest thing I can say to anyone no matter what career you’re in, you may be a master at that skill or craft, but if you don’t take the time to learn the business of it you are not prepared to be Ph

otos

by

Mik

e Irb

y Ph

otog

raph

y

42

Page 45: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

in the business of it.”In 1991, Taylor started his own corpo-

ration while working for other organiza-tions and doing catering and consulting on the side. Zachary’s began as a catering business in 2003 and in March 2011 estab-lished a location at 1709 Markley Street.

Big things are about to happen to Zach-ary’s that are in line with Taylor’s plan for growth. Within the year, the restaurant will more than double its current space to 4,000 square feet. The expansion will allow for a larger dining area and kitchen, walk-in box, sales office and a teaching kitchen.

“I want to invite people in so they can learn how to cook comfort food,” said Taylor about plans for the teaching kitchen. “It’s my goal to demystify the world of the chef. I build customers by teaching them how to make good BBQ. You come to me when you don’t want to do it yourself.”

Zachary’s will also be expanding their footprint outside of Norristown as they take over dining operations at the Grand Ballroom at 38th and Market. Taylor has also been scouting locations and plans to open a Philadelphia location.

“It will become the new model and from that we will keep building them until God says I can’t build them anymore,” said Taylor of his future expansion plans.

Taylor is espcially proud of the diversi-ty on both sides of the counter from the sauce covered fingers regulars to the out-of-towners who tote two hands worth of to-go bags.

The eclectic catering menu features BBQ staples - hickory-smoked St. Lou-is-style ribs, brisket, ribs, pork, chicken and smoked turkey. It also has antipasti, brus-chetta, hummus, spanikopita and south-west inspired smoked chicken crumpets.

Half of the restaurant’s sales comes from catering. Zachary’s caters events from backyard BBQ’s, to gradation par-

ties, to large scale corporate events, or the recent Convoy of Hope in Norristown with 5,000 people.

Taylor serves as an instructor in the culinary programs at Montgomery Coun-ty Community College, Drexel, and the Community College of Philadelphia. He becomes especially animated when dis-cussing his role the Central Montco Tech-nical High School. Each year he takes on four assistants from the school to keep him connected to the “farm league” and to “put kids in a position to see and be a part of things they may want to do.”

“Think about being a high school kid or a minority, someone who is considered “less than,” which is what the vocational school system was and here they are in this pro-gram. Who do they have to look up to? They have no one who looks like them. I walk in their school and I am real exam-ple compared to the fake media generated examples. They don’t really tell a kid the work you really have to do,” said Taylor. “I am really committed to providing exam-ples and avenues so they can learn and be a part of what it is they are aspiring to be.”

Leadership is a common theme in Tay-lor’s kitchen like the smoky aroma of meat. Since opening Zachary’s, he has kept to his three tenets: faith, family, finance. He realized to take care of his family he had to be home. To do this, he created leaders and closed two days a week, a rarity in the restaurant business. He did the numbers and picked the slowest day (Monday) and Sunday to be closed.

“If I wanted that for myself, what kind of leader am I if I am not pro-viding that example and opportunity to my staff. Leadership in business means you are going out of your way to create opportunities for everyone that you lead and teaching them to create opportunities for everyone they lead,” said Taylor.Ph

otos

by

Mik

e Irb

y Ph

otog

raph

y

TAYLOR TAKES PRIDE IN EMPLOYEE DIVERSITY AND JOB SATISFACTICION

43

34 years of award-winning

advertising and brand

experience.Down the hall,

second door to your right.

Introducing InHouse Collective —

a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too kind of agency.

So, let’s get the ball rolling.

Call Andrew at 212.629.0130

or email [email protected]

#BuildBrandsInHouse

CA • NJ • NY • PA

“InHouse Collective” isn’t a name.

It’s a brand manager’s dream:

grade-A marcom talent and 3

decades of experience across a

breadth of industries, delivering

results with more efficiency and

cost-effectiveness than an

in-house creative team.

Brand building without all the

bottom line breaking.

Page 46: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

SMALL BUSINESS: ASK THE EXECUTIVE COACH

Question: How can you tell one coach from another? There are so many people doing coaching these days and although people say they’re certified, as a consumer, how can we know whether they’ll be a good fit? Based on what I’ve read and talked with people about, there appear to be different approaches to coaching. How does a consumer know if it’s a ‘match’ for what they really need?

Submitted by Glenna C.

Answer: As the coaching profession has grown in popularity, more con-

sultants and trainers have chosen to use the word “coach” to describe

themselves. I have seen former athletes and thier coaches parlay their ca-

reers into serving professionals at corporations. Today, despite attempts

to universally trademark an official accreditation by certain large coach-

ing training organizations, anyone can market themselves as a “coach.”

My advice is two-fold.

1. A Real Accreditation / Training Certification – Look for initials

after the last name and/or the words certified in front of the name and

ask about the coach’s training. There are many diverse training and certi-

fication programs. Some coaching training programs focus on aspects of

personality and some are very human resources training focused. My per-

sonal training focused on brain hemispheric integration as a change agent.

Coaching programs should be intensive in hours of study and practice

required and should last a year or more, with a commitment to continuing

education. Feel free to ask your coach where and how they got certified.

2. Experience & Proven Success - The coach you hire should have

direct experience in helping others like you achieve a specific goal. They

might also have real life experience that fosters rapport and mimics your

skillset. Coaches are encouraged to find their niche and cater to certain

ones such as divorce, grieving, self/body image, ADHD, etc. There are

coaches who aid professionals in passing exams or reaching educational

milestones and they often have backgrounds in education. There are

coaches who have experience with business development, leadership,

communication, mid-life career transition and achieving empowerment

in the workplace. Some coaches specialize working with women who are

struggling in a male-dominated workplace. Others focus on improving

physical health. My personal credo is figure out what you want, then

learn how to ask for it. When you have figured out exactly what you

want to achieve from hiring a coach, you can then search for a coach

who has done it for others at least a dozen or more times (of course,

the more experienced coaches may charge more). How you gauge suc-

cess of a coaching relationship is an important consideration. You and

your coach should have clearly defined expectations around how you will

both determine the success of your work together.

by Lisa Tierney

Question: How do you make a career transi-tion or reinvent yourself when you are over 50? Submitted by Sharen N.

Answer: Many of my clients are professionals who come to me after a

twenty plus year career, admitting they are feeling unrewarded and disen-

gaged. It’s a common problem but the good news is that anyone who has

been around as long as someone in their 40s or 50s usually has a lot of

knowledge and experience they take for granted. The key is to harness

the essence of what you have done consistently over the course of

your career which you have enjoyed and excelled at. Even if you have

worked at several seemingly different positions at a variety of companies the

trick is finding the common ground. Examples of successful transformations

include a communications director who was able to identify her value in a

compelling way that landed her a higher position in management at a com-

peting firm. Another example is a professional service provider who decided

to target a completely different and specific kind of client – one that she

related to and admired - moving from serving manufacturers to focusing on

a niche of agri-business (food producers and distributors).

As a coach, one of the most common limiting beliefs I hear is from

those who say they can’t re-invent themselves “at this stage of the

game” is that they won’t make as much as money as they do now and

they can’t afford to go back to school or have no time to learn something

new. Hogwash! I promise you can make as much if not more money and

work less than before when you understand and can demonstrate your

value to a potential employer or customer. And, if you are lucky enough

to successfully harness your passion in life and bring it into what you do

to earn a living, then “work” is not work anymore.

Lisa Tierney, CLSC is a certified life strategy coach and marketing strategist. She is the Founder and President of TIERNEY Coaching & Consulting, Inc., offering high-level coaching to male and female professional service providers, business owners, and individuals to achieve goals around empowerment, business development, marketing, communications, public speaking, mid-live career transition and leadership development at all levels. Lisa can be reached at or at [email protected].

44

Page 47: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

In my experience as a franchise consultant not only working with brands to implement the franchise development process, but also to

help business leaders make the decision whether to franchise their business, the question arises as to why some signifi -cant brands have not franchised and yet have still been successful in building a large network of locations in different markets. For example, In-N-Out burger, Chipotle or Starbucks, have not utilized franchising as an expansion vehicle?

Like most strategic questions, there is never one encapsulating answer, but from my time in the industry it seems that the following elements typically are at the core of why these brands never chose to franchise.

1). They didn’t have to. Chipotle took the company public and brought in signifi cant investment capital to expand. In-N-Out just weathered the test of time and grew the busi-ness organically over some 75 years with company owned growth. Star-bucks leveraged venture capital and eventually took the business public in order to fund the growth of the system. There was never the need to bring in franchise investments for store openings when the coffee market expanded as quickly as it did and the VC’s were knocking. As the business went global, Starbucks did indeed offer a master license mod-el for international growth, but this was driven by the need to have lo-cal, vested management teams in the new countries they expanded into.

2). There were extremely unique mar-ket opportunities in place. Star-bucks revolutionized the coffee market and convinced us that $5 was a reasonable amount for a cup of coffee. Without any real compe-tition, the margins were signifi cant enough to create fi nancials which

attracted the professional invest-ment community. Chipotle revolu-tionized the organic, farm to table segment and caught the tidal wave of Americans concerns related to GMOs and other processed food issues. Chipotle made it cool to eat healthy and to pay for it as the av-erage ticket sale went through the roof. In-N-Out burger was able to initially ride the coattails of McDon-ald’s in the fast food burger crazy of the 60s, 70s and 80s and then had a unique cult following that drove growth into the 2000s.

3). Leadership was comfortable with minimizing store level profi tabil-ity in order to maximize employ-ee retention and involvement with the success of the business. Each of the brands have deep lay-ers of management, generally offer better employee benefi ts and pay and have a dedication to a compa-ny culture. Store level profi tability is and always will be important, but empowering the people who wor k in the business drives the overall success of the brand.

These thoughts do not weigh the nega-tives of choosing not to franchise a busi-ness. The liability of all these employees, risk of being on every lease, operational liabilities and other issues are signifi cant-ly higher with company owned growth

THE FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT PROCESSBy Christopher Connor

when compared to franchise expan-sion. Chipotle has recently been work-ing hard to manage a bacterial infection outbreak from several of their stores. Al-though the damage to the brand is cer-tainly an issue either way, the stores had been franchised this liability to the fran-chise would be signifi cantly limited.

For some businesses, there are ample opportunities for expansion outside of franchise growth, and for brands such as Starbucks, In-N-out and Chipotle they paved their way to success without the franchise model. Franchising isn’t for everyone and certainly shouldn’t be the only expansion option, evaluate your interests and business as to whether the franchise expansion model is the best fi t for your brand.

Christopher Connor is the President of Franchise Marketing Systems. Franchise Marketing Systems is a full service franchise development, franchise consulting and franchise sales organization. They have taken over 200 small businesses and turned them into successful franchises. The fi rm is designed to work with small businesses & small business owners who want to grow quickly and effi ciently through franchising, but with a lower investment and more manageable cash requirements. www.franchisemarketingsystems.com

SMALL BUSINESS

45

Page 48: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Not everyone is a natural networker. Some people dread going to a networking event the way some of us fear getting a root canal. They are frozen with anxiety at the pros-pect of walking into a room full of strangers or initiating a conversation. Have no fear or at least be able to hide it. There are ways navigate building a network and growing your business or career in the process.

Capitalizing on Networking Opportunities as an IntrovertBy Jennifer Robinson

introduction. Watch how they do it. Even-tually, that is the place you want to get to yourself - being of value to people by making introductions.

Bring a wingman/womanUsually my advice at networking events is to never navigate them with a friend or colleague. However, there are excep-tions if you are an introvert. Ask a more outgoing friend for their help. Plan ahead with them some things you want to high-light. Job hunting or looking to hire? Searching for a partner on a project? Ask your more extroverted friend to be your PR person at the event. As you navigate conversations together if you don’t feel comfortable talking about yourself, your friend can do it for you. Eventually, you will feel more comfortable, know people in the room and be able to navigate the event without your friend.

CheatFind a way to approach a stranger at an event without having to approach them at all. How? Get in line for food or drink. People are captive and bored. Make sure your phone is away and you are present. Think about a few easy topics before-hand such as “How has your day been?” or “Have you attended this networking group/event before? What do you like about it?” Don’t launch into a pitch or try to make a sale. Remember, it is always all about making a connection.

PreparePreparation is key. The more prepared, the less anxious you will be since you eliminated some of the unknowns. Re-search the event format. Is there open networking? Will there be a designated time for a 30 second pitch? Will there be food? Spend time before the event making a few notecards with lists of conversation starter questions, topics to discuss or both. Review those before the event to help put you at ease. If there is an elevator pitch, give time to rehearse beforehand.

Why do I mention food? It’s best to arrive having already eaten (or not starving). If there is no food or something you don’t like, you won’t be grumpy because you are hungry. Feeling lightheaded or wear-ing a pout because you’re starving is not putting your best self forward. You may also be inclined to leave sooner if you are hungry.

Set a goalBefore arrival, tell yourself you will meet three people and have meaningful con-versations – more than a simple exchange of name and industry while handing off a business card. Once you have a few pos-itive conversations any fears will (hope-fully) have dissipated. But if it’s not the case, that is fine too. As long as you meet your goal of three conversations consider the event a success. Don’t forget to fol-

low up with your new acquaintances af-ter the event to build and cultivate those relationships.

Don’t set yourself up for failureIf you are just starting out networking or aren’t confidant mingling with new people begin at a smaller event with no more than 25-30 people so you will not feel over-whelmed. A great place to start is Meet-up.com. There are groups for just about anything in every geographical area. Some are large but generally they are informal gatherings of small groups of people who share common interests. Both the number of people and the informal setting will help you to navigate the event.

Take advantage of the extrovertsThe extroverts at an event are usually easy to spot. They move around the room with ease making introductions and having conversations. Approach one extrovert and tell them you don’t know anybody in the room. Can’t spot an extrovert? Every event has at least two people who are the coordinators. It’s their job to make people feel welcome. When you do your prepa-ration, know who they are and be sure to introduce yourself at registration and let them know the connections you hope to make. Odds are they know a number of people and will not mind making an

NETWORKING

46

Page 49: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

NAWBO Annual MeetingDream Bigger,

Launch Your Legacy#nawbophillyannualmtg16

Molly Shepard

Join speaker Molly Shepard of Leader's Edge/Leaders by Design for "Dream Bigger, Launch your Legacy." Our Annual Meeting and Board

Induction will follow the program.

Tuesday, June 7, 20169:00 am - 11:30 am

(Registration and networking breakfast will begin at 8:30 am)

Plymouth Country Club888 Plymouth Road

Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462

To Register:www.goNAWBOPhilly.org

For a complete list of networking events, visit the Basecamp Business Calendar on our website

47

Try out the networking tips at these events

Eastern Pennsylvania Business Owners Network Local Business Networking June 16 - 11:30 a.m - 1 p.m.Italiano Delite Ristorante1985 Brookside Rd.Macungie, PA

N.J. Business & Industry Association Young Professionals Networking Happy Hour June 16 - 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.The Taproom and Grill427 W. Crystal Lake AvenueHaddonfield, NJ 08033

Career Success Group Presented by Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group June 20 - 12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania CareerLink1855 New Hope StreetNorristown, PA Job Search Networking Workshop by Pennsylvania CareerLink - Chester CountyJune 21 - 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. CareerLink - Chester County and United Way Financial Stability Center479 Thomas Jones Way • Suite 500Exton, PA

Lafayette Hill Business Networking Event June 21 - 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.The Training Center For Sales & Business Development, Inc. 466 Germantown Pike Lafayette Hill, PA

Main Line Chamber Young Professionals Networking Happy Hour June 21 - 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.Bolingbroke Mansion424 King of Prussia RoadWayne, PA

Bucks County Business Association Speed Networking June 22 - 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Beneficial Bank 34 S. Sycamore Street Newtown, PA

Philly Techfest BreakfastJune 23 - 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.Drexel University Paul Peck Alumni Center3142 Market StreetPhiladelphia, PA Main Line Chamber of Commerce Network at Noon June 27 - 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.The Radnor Hotel591 E. Lancaster AvenueWayne, PA

Regular Events

Women’s Power Networking: Coffee And ContactsEvery Thursday in June - 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.Special Teas Tea Room 100 Ridge Road, Chadds Ford

Women’s Independent Networking Group for SuccessEvery Thursday in June - 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.Charlie Brown’s 1001 Baltimore Pike, Springfield PA

South Jersey Networking and Referral GroupEvery Thursday in June - 7 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.Marista’s Cuisine106 E. Main Street, Maple Shade, NJ

Page 50: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

The Philadelphia Zoo feeds animals with appetites from hearty – a male gorilla gorges on 40 pounds of produce a day - to paltry, a vampire bats sips on 20 milliliters of

blood. Sourcing food for a range diets without the option of ever calling for a pizza poses a challenge. Especially when three male and two female gorillas are only a small part of the zoo’s 1,300 animals, many of which are rare or endangered.

Last spring, Barbara Toddes, Nutrition Program Director at the Philadelphia Zoo, and her husband stopped at the Variety Club’s farm stand across the street from their home in Worces-ter. They met Steve Rock, now Variety facilities manager, who was lamenting the loss of some of the produce.

“The zoo is very interested in locally grown sources. There is so much demand for fresh produce in the city, the zoo just can’t compete. We discussed it with different places. We are not looking for people’s garbage or seconds. We are looking for quality product for the animals. That’s where Variety came in. It offered a nice opportunity for us to help them and for them to help us,” said Toddes, who has been with the Philadelphia Zoo for more than 30 years.

Variety - The Children’s Charity of Greater Philadelphia then formed a partnership with the Philadelphia Zoo to sell produce that Variety grows in its greenhouse and garden to feed the animals.

“We bought a lot of product from them and it’s made a positive im-pact for the collection,” said Toddes. “We’re really happy about it.”

Last year, Variety sold about $10,000 worth of produce to the zoo, which included red Russian kale, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, and squash. The program will continue to grow based on specifi c items the zoo looks to pur-chase. Variety is also harvesting browse – trimmings from trees and bushes – that’s edible and accounts for a large portion of the diets of animals such as giraffes, gorillas, tortoises and goats.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Variety CEO Angus Murray. “Our kids have been heavily involved, from planting, to harvest-ing, to understanding the business acumen associated with this venture. The idea is to continue to grow the program. The zoo has said they have a six-fi gure budget and we are just beginning

to tap into that. The more we expand, the more we can produce, the more jobs we can create for our kids and teach them voca-tional training skills they will use the rest of their lives.”

Three years ago, the greenhouse was an “abandoned mess” in the corner of Variety’s 80-acre property. Rock volunteered to fi x it up and the greenhouse is now one of the gems of the property featured on tours. Rock also tripled the size of the still growing vegetable garden. The greenhouse also features an aquaphonic tank system fi lled with tilapia. They defecate in the water which raises the nitrate level, making it an ideal source of nourishment for seedlings. Those seedlings, cradled in dirt, sit in Styrofoam containers above the nitrate-rich water. Drawing from that water supply actually allows the produce seedlings to grow three times faster.

“It’s huge for us because, not only is it giving us a great op-portunity to build vocational skills for our kids and educate our camp kids, but it’s also becoming a viable reve-nue stream. Any revenues we are generating, we are plugging right back into the program,” said Murray. “For our kids to be creat-ing a ‘product’ that can be bought and sold is huge, not only fi nancially, but also for their independence levels and self confi dence. It gives us a steady stream of income that we can rely upon, even moreso than other streams of income.”

Variety serves children of all ages with disabilities through an extended school year program, a vocational program, overnight camp and day camp. These fee for service program rely heavily on corporate donations, individual donations, grants and events.

Variety is currently embarking on a full scale feasibility study and community needs assessment to ensure that the organiza-tion continues to develop and offer programs and services that are of critical need to children with disabilities and their families throughout the Greater Philadelphia area. -K.K.

Variety Club Grows Produce for Zoo

“For our kids to be

creating a ‘product’

that can be bought

and sold is huge...”

48

Page 51: Greater Philadelphia Business
Page 52: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Guacamole is a good, early mark-er of what to expect at a Mexi-can restaurant.

If it’s chunky, someone got lazy with the avocado mashing and doesn’t care about the welfare of the tortilla. Too many jala-penos makes me think it’s hiding some-thing. If it tastes sour or looks brown, assume that the rest of your dining expe-rience will be south of the border.

Guacamole was the first thing I had at El Poquito on a cold, late winter week-day night when my friend and I met at their bar. The two smooth scoops begged to be eaten with a spoon instead of a tor-tilla chip but my manners won.

“Clearly, El Poquito isn’t afraid to use lime,” I said after the first bite. And that’s a good thing. Lime helps cut the fatty flavor of the avocado. Too many places skimp on this.

El Poquito characterizes itself as a fam-ily friendly Mexican cantina. However, according to my Chestnut Hill based friend, their bar scene is quite lively. It has the fuel to back it up with a nice selection of tequilas, mezcals, margari-tas and Mexican and domestic beers. We

both ordered the fresh-squeezed lime juice margarita which forever ruined any non-island based attempt. No wonder it is one of their top sellers, especially when it is nearly impossible to limit your-self to only one.

The fajitas are, according to the menu, “for up to two guests” and unlike a chain restaurant, don’t come out sizzling. I am willing to forfeit the sizzle and the oblig-atory warning by the waiter to “not touch it” for El Poquito’s full, flavorful skillet of sliced chicken, peppers, onions and corn tortillas.

My Dining Buddy, who has insatiable appetite for Mexican food, ordered the enchiladas con pollo which he obviously enjoyed judging by the fact he scraped its guajillo chile sauce off of the plate to “officially finish.”

On a following visit with my Dining Wife, were greeted by a much louder crowd and packed bar. Luckily, we made reservations for Saturday night and were brought into a quieter side of the din-ing room. The server, Alex, was much more attentive than the Tuesday night bartender. Despite full tables, he took

EL POQUITO ADDS MEXICAN FLAVOR, WITH A TWIST OF LIME, TO CHESTNUT HILLBy David J. Putney

DININGLife &Style

Phot

os b

y Ju

lia L

ehm

an P

hoto

grap

hy

50

Page 53: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

time to answer DW’s questions, she not as versed in Mexican as DB, and kept a cool demeanor.

We both had the blood orange margar-itas, the seasonal fruit, which packed just the right amount of tart.

On the recommendation of Alex and my own curiosity, I ordered the brus-sell sprout tacos, cooked to a perfect crispiness and complimented with smoked onion ranch. They were the surprising star of both visits. You’re skeptical it will work until the first bite. Then at the last, you are hoping more magically appear.

DW ordered steak tacos. The order came with tres which were on the small-er side but an excellent combination of flavors, and yes, accompanied by lime.

Don’t expect a Chipotle like heavy hand but you won’t leave hungry. El Po-quito’s drink and dining menu is meant to be explored at a casual pace and is certainly a welcome addition to Chestnut Hill’s dining scene.

El Poquito (“the little one”) has roots from the Garces Group with Managing partner George Atterbury who helped

oversee the Garces Group Amada, Distri-to and Village Whiskey restaurants at the now shuttered Revel Casino in Atlantic City. The chef is Garces vet Andrew Sa-bin most recently of JG Domestic.

The inside of the restaurant features reclaimed building materials from floor to ceiling including hardwood, floors wooden booths, and even a rehabbed motorcycle on the wall.

But it’s the outside which pushes El Poquito into a destination for date night or simply a Saturday night with friends. String lights hang above an outside din-ning area with communal tables and fire pits. On this frigid night, it was surpris-ingly easy to close my eyes and fast for-ward to a few months to a mild spring evening finishing a second margarita with the fresh squeezed summer fruit juice.

El Poquito has been open for over a year and is clearly not in the same realm of a standard setter like Amada. It lacks also the atmosphere of Distrito. For now, it fits its name. But little ones always grow up. I’ll be interested to see what it becomes, and will back at the first hint of spring.

Price range $11-30

Parking – Street (there is a new parking lot

behind the restaurant but with the new

grocery stores and existing restaurants, good

luck finding a spot on the weekend.

Takes Reservations – Yes

8201 Germantown Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19118

http://elpoquito.comPhot

os b

y Ju

lia L

ehm

an P

hoto

grap

hy

51

Page 54: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Pink Is InWhen selecting a wine, I’m always amazed

how people let the color of a wine dictate choice. To this I say, pink is in.

I hear every excuse under the sun on why pink wines aren’t ordered; just a few,

· I’m allergic to pink· Only a certain age drink pink· It’s too girlyNow even fashion’s Mr. Blackwell says

pink is in for everyone and everything.For the sake of all rosé fans, pink wine

is really red wine in a bikini, and who doesn’t love bikinis? It’s a saignee (sen-ye) in layman’s terms, a light squeeze of one red grape or several big red grapes, in turn producing an elegant provence (pro-vonce), dry style wine. From the pedestrial palate to the most cerebral, this dressed to kill fashion statement in a glass is all about

Hot off the Vineby Laura Lamprecht

PALISSADE Rose, France

Bright and vibrant pink in col-

or with a nose of wild flowers,

candied fruits and essence of

strawberries. Crisp and clean.

Wonderful bouquet of crushed

flowers, red berry fruit and

spice. The palate explodes with

notes of big, bright berries, and

deep floral aromas. Perfect with

light foods or by itself. Saignee

of Merlot. Enjoy a glass of this

deliciousness at The Rose Tat-

too, Callowhill St. Philadelphia

HENDRY Rose, Napa Val-

ley, CA Luscious deep pink

color. Herbal and strawber-

ry flavors and medium-high

acid. A wine perfect for

warm-weather drinking,

well chilled, with simple

foods. Hendry Rose is a dry

wine with no residual sug-

ar, which is the result of a

saignee of a unique combi-

nation of varietals grown in

the vineyard. Blend compo-

nents: 47% Zinfandel, 20%

Primitivo, 9% Merlot, 11%

Cab Franc, 7% Petit Verdot

and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. Savor a glass of

this beauty at Talula’s Garden, Washington

Square, Philadelphia.

WineLife &Style

Grace Winery 50 Sweetwater Road

Glen Mills, PA 19342

Saturdays Tasting

Room Open and Live

Music.

.

Chaddsford Winery 632 Baltimore Pike

Chadds Ford, PA 19317

Tastings vary throughout the year.

Reservations are not required. May 28- May 30

Memorial Day Music Festival

The New Hope Winery6123 Lower York Road

New Hope, PA 18938

Wine tastings are offered every day. Individual

and group wine tastings are available at the wine

bar. Performing June 11, 12 – Al Stewart.

July 9th – Yellow Brick Road A Tribute to Elton John

Crossing Vineyards and Winery Inc. 1853 Wrightstown Road

Newtown, PA 18940

Summer Happy Hour at the Winery

Every Wednesday in June, July and August. 5

pm to 8 pm

June 10 - The Fabulous Greaseband: Featuring

the best of the 50’s through 90’s Rock and

Roll Dance Songs.

July 8 - The Eric Mintel Jazz Quartet: Creative

American Jazz with a Cool Twist.

July 22 - The Mango Men: a Jimmy Buffet

style Rock to Pop to Country Dance Band.

Amalthea Cellars 209 Vineyard Road

Atco, NJ 08004

Complimentary and

VIP tastings every

weekend. Visit their

website for informa-

tion on their Saturday

night bonfires.

Willow Creek Winery 160-168 Stevens Street

West Cape May, NJ 08204

Willow Creek is open to the

public for daily farm and

vineyard tours & wine and

sangria tastings.

LOCAL WINERIES OFFER TASTINGS AND ENTERTAINMENT

taste. So don’t let a little color throw you off, and dispel the outdated notion that pink is for girls, when-in-fact – pink is in!

My Pink Picks

52

Page 55: Greater Philadelphia Business

WHEN IT COMES TO FINANCIAL STABILITY, DON’T GET LEFT BEHIND.There are people just like you who are making good fi nancial decisions every day. To learn how

you can join them, and take control of your fi nancial future, visit feedthepig.org.

FEEDTHEPIG.ORG

RETIREMENT

FEELS EVEN

FURTHER AWAY

WHEN YOU

CAN’T

AFFORD IT.

WHEN IT COMES TO FINANCIAL STABILITY, DON’T GET LEFT BEHIND.There are people just like you who are making good fi nancial decisions every day. To learn how

you can join them, and take control of your fi nancial future, visit feedthepig.org.

FEEDTHEPIG.ORG

RETIREMENT

FEELS EVEN FEELS EVEN FEELS EVEN

FURTHER AWAY FURTHER AWAY FURTHER AWAY FURTHER AWAY

WHEN YOU WHEN YOU WHEN YOU

CAN CAN’T

AFFORD IT AFFORD IT. AFFORD IT. AFFORD IT

Page 56: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

NexbeltNexbelt, the company that took the golf industry by storm in 2013 with its “belt with no holes,” made Tony’s Top Ten in its inaugural year. This year, after introducing a few new styles (the Fast Eddie, includes a dual-purpose divot tool and bottle opener) and models (the Tactical, a rigid cord belt for use in carrying heavy objects such as tools or weapons), the company experienced another bump in interest, as well as continued success throughout the line.www.nexbelt.com

Hoping to follow in the successful footsteps of Nexbelt are this year’s hottest products (in no particular order).

The Best New Products in the World of Golf

Tony’s Top TenBy TONY LEODORA

Antigua’s Heather Shirts and Wind ShirtsAntigua has long been a leader in both style and technology, when it comes to its line of golf shirts and outerwear. This year, style took the lead.

The new line of heather shirts and wind shirts bring a softer look to the many bright colors that have domi-nated the golf market in recent years. Made from a blend of 95% polyes-ter/5% spandex knit, the shirt features irregular stripes and a self fabric collar. www.antigua.com

Tour Edge Exotics EX-9 DriverTour Edge Golf, based in Batavia, Illinois, has been a rising name in the golf equip-ment industry for more than 20 years. This year’s winner is the new EX-9 driv-er, featuring the highest MOI (Moment of Inertia) in golf. It is a draw-enhancing, fully adjustable driver. Its unique nature comes from a Full-Speed Impact design that maximizes club head speed through a sloped crown and a subtle sole design that optimizes weight distribution.www.touredgegolf.com

Bridgestone B330RX Golf BallsBridgestone attracted a lot of attention in the golf ball market in recent years due to many technological advances. The new B330RX and B330RXS golf balls, for golfers with swing speeds under 105 mph, has all of the hot en-gineering of the B330 and B330S Tour golf balls but they are designed spe-cifically for the amateur golfer. Its new Amateur Core and SlipRes cover allows the ball to have less spin off the driver, while increasing spin off wedge shots. www.bridgestonegolf.com

High Heat Hybrids and Fairway WoodsIn 2015 the new High Heat driver took the golf industry by storm. It was de-veloped by Dean Knuth, an engineer and golf innovator who worked for many years with the USGA. This year, he rolled out the logical progression of last year’s success – the High Heat line of hybrids and fairway woods. Buck-ing the industry norm of using steel in the head of hybrids and fairway woods, Knuth used a titanium, cup-faced de-

sign that is a major improvement over the run-of-the-mill clubs.www.knuthgolf.com

The Survivor TeeAfter three years of research, Philly-based company Greenkeepers came up with another in their long line of in-novative golf acces-sories. The Survivor golf tee is the latest in the company’s line of performance golf tees, under the leadership of President and cre-ative genius Frank Carroll. Within the first month of play, more than 20 PGA Tour players put the Survivor into play. The best players in the world are inter-ested in performance and the Survivor tee has been proven to have the lowest ball spin rate of any golf tee that has been tested.www.survivorgolftee.com

Life &Style

54

Page 57: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Cleveland TFI 2135 PutterThere are a lot of new putters, but only one putter had a truly unique feature. The Cleveland TFI 2135 putter has a raised alignment guide, 21.35 millimeters above the bottom flange or exactly at the mid-point of the golf ball. Cleveland found that 80 percent of all golfers did not have their eye directly over the sightline, or over the golf ball. The new Cleveland TFI 2135 Put-ter allows for perfect alignment, and more accurate putts.www.clevelandgolf.com

Golphin Based in Scotland with an intent to in-spire golf’s next generation, Golphin designed and manufactures innovative kids’ golf clubs. In particular, the com-pany focuses on beginners, ages 3 to 12.

The award-winning GFK golf sets are intended to help young kids fall in love with golf.www.golphin.com

Leupold GX2i2 Range FinderWhen it comes to point-and-shoot range finders, there are three important factors to consider: size, accuracy and affordabil-ity. The new Leupold GX2i2 Range Find-er combines the best of all three factors into one product. It gives golfers the ex-act yardage to the flagstick (or any other mark), plus the downhill or uphill factor and how to adjust the yardage. The sec-ond feature is not legal for tournament play, but it can be turned off easily on the GX2i2, making it fun to use for play or practice but legal to use in tournament play after the slope calculation is turned off. Best feature: the retail price is $329.www.leupold.com

Cure Classic PutterCure Putters have been dubbed “the fastest growing putter on the Champi-ons Tour” and for good reason. Cure Putters has led the industry in delivering the highest Moment of Inertia (MOI) in putters since launching in 2014. The new

Classic Series delivers stability and for-giveness of a high MOI mallet, but in a traditional blade style putter. www.cureputters.com

Golf Skate CaddySingle-rider golf carriers have exploded on the market lately and for good rea-son, there is an advantage over a sitting golf cart in that golfers keep core muscles engaged and warm throughout the round, leading to better performance. Plus, they are easy and more fun to use. The Golf Skate Caddy proved to be the best of the bunch in tests at golf industry conferences.www.golfskatecaddy.com

55

Page 58: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Between his roles as New York Times bestselling author, Top Ranked Keynote Speaker, and small business marketing con-

sultant, Michael Port has plenty to keep himself booked solid. His expertise and passion lies in helping service profes-sionals turn leads into clients and imple-ment a marketing strategy.

Q) Your two books, Book Yourself Solid, Beyond Booked Solid, isn’t just about mindlessly filling your date book. You stress choosing clients as carefully as your choose your friends (Red Velvet Rope Policy) and not thinking in terms of making contacts but making connections with real people. Through this approach, how do clients prosper?

This is the lesson some people find con-fronting because people could say that they’re at the early stages and they need to find all the business they can get. That’s a totally fair concern. Your Red Velvet Rope can be looser in the earlier development of your business, but you tighten it up as your demand for services increase. You didn’t go into business for yourself to work with people that drain your energy and make you feel like it isn’t worthwhile. You went into business to be with people that inspire you and that you connect with. The results are two fold: You tend to love the work you do (which is sort of the point of all of it), and you appear much more confident to the outside world, which has a significant effect on you booking business--people don’t hire desperate people.

Q) What advice would you give to improve your networking and selling game?

There are three things they can do each day:

1) Introduce two people inside their net-work who may not yet know each other but would find each other relevant. If they do that, it’s a wonderful way to stay in touch with people and add value to their life at the same time. If you’re not sure if someone would want an introduction, all you have to do is ask. Most people who are serious about making something of themselves want a bigger network.

2) Share some information with at least one person every weekday. Not neces-sarily your ideas, but something that is relevant to them, based on an article you’ve seen or a book you’ve read.

Q) Share some intentional compas-sion with at least one person inside your network every day. People care more about how you make them feel than what you do. If someone is go-ing through a rough time, do some-thing nice for them. If somebody had some major accomplishment or won an award, do something special to congratulate them. In other words, be a good human being.

If you do the math and you introduce people every weekday, share informa-tion with one person every weekday, and act with compassion every weekday, you’re staying in contact with at least 80 people a month. When the time comes and you need something, you’ve earned the “ask” and when somebody asks one of them for a referral, you’ll stay top of mind and you’ll get that introduction.

3) Many startups and small businesses are wary about handing off to clients to employees because they feel only they can provide the best possible service. How do

you balance “loosening the reigns” while still feeling in control of outcomes?

Get over yourself. You’re not that much better than everyone else. In fact, some people that work for you will serve cli-ents better because their personalities will match those particular clients. What do you care more about: total control or building something that is bigger than just you, something that has scale? In other words, a real business that can deliver without you delivering all the services. If you don’t believe that your employees and staff can do a great job of serving your customers, then you’re either not hiring well or you don’t have enough faith in others. Both of those is-sues should be addressed if you want to build something special.

Q) Seinfeld has a famous joke about public speaking. He said, “it’s peo-ple’s number one fear. Number two being death. That means they would rather be in the coffin rather than give the eulogy.” What advice do you give people to not only overcome their fears but also become effective public speakers?

First of all, Jerry’s joke is hilarious. However, there’s a fallacy inherent in the foundation of the idea. The reason peo-ple might think that public speaking is the number one fear is because you don’t think about death that much. You don’t have to die every day. But you DO have to speak publicly every day, and that’s the reason we’re more afraid of it. However, if you’re afraid of public speaking...and I had a loaded gun, and I was pointing it at your head...and I said, “You have

Booked Solid with Michael PortThe bestselling author aims to help fill your date book with only the most desirable clients

BooksLife &Style

56

Page 59: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

two choices right now: give a speech or get shot in the head,” which would you do? Most people will say, “I’ll give the speech.” Hence proving the fact that pub-lic speaking is not the number one fear.

I can understand how nerve-wracking it can be. I do it professionally and still get nervous. It’s because you care about the outcome. The thing that produces the most anxiety is if you fear not get-ting approval. However, if instead focus-ing on getting approval you worry about helping the audience get results by being helpful, you’ll take some of the pressure off of yourself because you’ll stop wor-rying about if you’re good, and you’ll fo-cus on how to solve the problems for the people in the room.

Q) You stress long-term planning and accountability when building a business. Name an entrepreneur or CEO who you have seen successfully execute this and what can we learn from that case study?

Brian Scudamore , the founder of 1-800-Got-Junk. I’ve done a case study on him in my second book, Booked Be-yond Solid. He started as a guy in col-lege with a truck and a buddy picking up stuff to make money after school. As soon as he realized he had a concept of clean trucks, clean uniforms, and great customer service, he understood that he had more than just a junk service--he had a potential franchise business that could scale to the high heavens. He quickly got up to speed on that type of business model that he’d been previously using and put together his long-term plans to grow that into a signifi cant company which he did, year-by-year.

Michael Port is available for bookings in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Visit http://www.stealtheshow.com/media/#Inquire

Barnes & Noble Top 5FictionHarry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I & II by J. K. RowlingThe Crown (B&N Exclusive Edition) (Selection Series #5) by Kiera Cass

The Obsession by Nora Roberts

The Hidden Oracle (B&N Exclusive Edition) (The Trials of Apollo Series #1)

As Time Goes By by Mary Higgins Clark

Non – FictionBrave Enough by Cheryl Strayed

The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son On Life, Love, and Loss by Anderson Cooper

Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan by Bill O’Reilly

First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies by Kate Andersen Brower

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

BusinessMONEY Master the Game: 7 Simple Steps to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins

The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future by Steve Case

Dream Home: The Property Brothers’ Ultimate Guide to Finding & Fixing Your Perfect House by Jonathan Scott

Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

DO OVER: RESCUE MONDAY, REINVEVENT YOUR WORK, AND NEVER GET STUCK (Penguin, 2015)

By Jon Acuff

As a young girl, I was the worst hula hooper in

the neighborhood. During the “who can hula

hoop the longest” contest I was always the fi rst

one out. When the plastic toy hit the asphalt

too soon I yelled “do over!” to have more time

and not sit on the curb watching as the other

smiling, pony tailed girls tested their endurance.

Somewhere in between the school yard and

the corner offi ce, we have forgotten that, at

times, it’s still okay to say, maybe not in the

same whiny, pouty voice, “do over.” Jon Acuff

takes a humorous, straightforward look into

the possibility in “Do Over: Rescue Monday,

Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck.”

After hitting a Career Ceiling, he bluntly lists

three options. Get a job at another company,

do a job you didn’t want to do like being a cre-

ative director, or suck it up and die inside over

a period of roughly thirty years.

Acuff assures a “Do Over” over is possible

with a “Career Savings Account” which is a

combination of relationships, skills, character

and hustle. Some skills Acuff touches on seem

basic such as maintaining relationships and to

take notes at meetings. Others may be quali-

ties like honesty and kindness which you hope

a person inherently has to some degree. How-

ever, that is the point of the do over. When you

have hit a wall in your career where you no

longer care to cultivate the basic skills of how

to be successful or your morals are tested, it’s

a red fl ag that its time to pick another game.

Hula-hoops weren’t fun anyway. All that work

without moving forward. Katie Kohler

WHAT I’M READING

Jim Pitts, New Business Development, USI Affi nity - Do it Rhino Style by Dave Magrogan

Rochelle Culbreath, SEPTA

Constituent Relations Coor-

dinator Public & Government

Affairs - The New Jim Crow:

Mass Incarceration in the

Age of Colorblindness by Mi-

chelle Alexander

James Knipp is a Benefi ts

Project Manager at Comcast

and the president of the Phil-

adelphia Writers’ Conference

board - Finders Keepers by

Stephen King

57

Page 60: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

“You are a toy! You are a child’s plaything!” Woody said in exasperation to Buzz

Lightyear in Toy Story. Buzz didn’t be-lieve he was a mass produced piece of plastic and the innovators at Pixar knew the Emperor Zurg fi ghting spaceman and their brand of blending storytelling with technology was anything but child’s play.

The journey to infi nity and beyond in terms of moviemaking obviously in-volves science and math. “The Science Behind Pixar,” an interactive exhibition at The Franklin Institute, takes a unique look at the award-winning fi lms through the lens of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts used by the artists and scientists.

“We wanted to leverage the popularity of Pixar and its movies with underlying STEM concepts in an engaging and im-mersive way,” said Larry Dubinsky, Pres-ident and CEO of The Franklin Institute.

“The Science Behind Pixar” was made in a consortium including Franklin Insti-tute and the Museum of Science in Boston which developed the exhibit.

“Visitors are going to learn a lot about animation, computers, phys-ics, math, and what goes into mak-ing these movies which really does talk about science and technology. The great thing is you are going to do it in immersive sessions. The amount of time they are staying is impressive because people love to learn especially when they are hav-ing fun. This exhibit does that as well as any of them,” said Dubinsky.

Exhibit highlights include:Sets and Cameras where visi-

tors discover how a bugs-eye view was achieved for A Bug’s Life by viewing an actual set from a bug’s perspective through a viewing portal and then using camera angles and large-set design tech-niques on a touch-screen computer.

In Modeling, visitors learn how Toy Story’s digital sculptures are created based on sketches from artists.

Lighting explores the challenges in Finding Nemo artists faced in creating animated water with virtual light.

Rigging showcases how models are given a virtual skeleton to enable the animators to add movements. A virtual model of Sulley from Monsters, Inc. has 30,000 posable points.

In Surfaces, visitors can immerse themselves in the techniques behind adding color and texture to every surface in a fi lm by designing “skins” for comput-er models of characters from Cars.

The Pixar Pipeline: Inside Outshowcases the entirety of the production

process from its conceptions to scenes to its rendering. Screens in the area are set up to mimic the fl ow of how artists and animators work together to create the Modeling, Rigging, Surfaces, Set and Cameras, Animation, Simulation, Light-ing, Rendering and fi nally actual scenes from the fi nal of version.

The exhibit which debuted in March and runs through September 5th opened to a “great reception” with spring break visitors and school trips.

“We know the summer is a big tourist time here in Philadelphia. The Institute is one of the largest tourist attractions in the city. We think this is going to do very well this summer and continue to help be a draw for visitors to come and ex-perience arts, culture, science, and great restaurants. We not only see ourselves as an educational and cultural institution, but also an economic development driv-er,” said Dubinsky. -K.K.

Visitors get an immersive experience in “The Science Behind Pixar”

@ The Franklin InstituteLife &� � e

Phot

o of

Sul

ly a

nd M

ike

by M

icha

el M

alys

zko

Phot

o by

Dar

ryl W

. Mor

an P

hoto

grap

hy

58

Page 61: Greater Philadelphia Business

LIFE HAS TAUGHT HIM THINGS NO CLASSROOM COULD.

LEARN HOW TO FIND, TRAIN AND CULTIVATEA GREAT POOL OF UNTAPPED TALENT.

ACLYUPP4006_Mag_FullPage_v1c.indd 4 9/3/14 10:18 AM

Page 62: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Art Alexakis has seen the country through the eyes of a troubled youth and as the front man of Everclear. After nearly dying of an overdose in 1984, Alexis cleaned up and relocated to San Francisco and then Portland to pursue a career in music. The release of Eveclear’s second album Sparkle & Fade in 1995, which featured “Santa Monica” entered them into the regular rotation of alt-rock radio.

“I don’t say it once during the song,” said Alexakis of the city he grew up. “It’s just about comfort zones.”

Everclear visited the Valley Forge Music Fair to play new songs from its ninth studio release Black is the New Black and give the audience a jolt of nostalgia with “Won-derful,” “I Will Buy You a New Life,” and “Father of Mine.”

What are your “Must-Do’s” when visiting Philadelphia?

I go to Jim’s Steaks on South Street. I go see some historical stuff. You guys have a great modern art museum here. I tend to do that when I have a little time on the road. First things first, I go to Jim’s for sure.

What are your impressions of the city?

I love Philadelphia. It’s a dirty, funky East Coast city with so much history and flavor. I love the vibe of it. I love the peo-ple and how passionate they are.

Is it true about the “rock star life-style,” especially on the road?

I don’t have a rock star lifestyle. I’ve

always been pretty pragmatic. I’ve been clean and sober the whole time with Everclear. The main thing is the loneli-ness and missing my family. You are in hotel rooms a lot or in a bus. I try to keep connected with them. Technology makes it easier. I see my kid and we talk every day. A lot of times my wife and him will be having dinner and they will put the phone up and I can be there and have dinner with them.

The thing about being on the road is trying to walk the line of enjoying where you are and getting the culture of it, which I usually do through food, I’m a middle aged guy, food is everything to me. I don’t drink or do drugs or chase girls. I eat. I do a tour in the summer with all 90’s bands (Summerland Tour)

and it’s fun, we’ll be backstage and a hot girl will walk by and we will look at her, and go ‘hey man, did you try the brisket at lunch? Was that a marinade or a rub.’ That’s where we are at now. It’s not sex,

drugs and rock and roll anymore. It’s sex

with your wife, food, and rock and roll.

I think being on the road for me is trying to find the perfect balance some sort of normalcy and being able to enjoy where you at and get that culture. Espe-cially, in this country, I love this country. It’s so different from town to town. Even in Pennsylvania, you go to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia and it’s pretty different.

Pick your ultimate traveling playlist.Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen are in

a tie for first. Joni Mitchell. Otis Redding. Some Hank Williams. Rock and roll, soul, a little country.

Upcoming at the Valley Forge Music Fair

NATASHA LEGGERO

SATURDAY, JULY 02

THE CHARLIE

DANIELS BAND

FRIDAY, JULY 08

Originally located in Devon, the Valley Forge Mu-sic Fair was established in a tent in 1955 before be-coming a permanent structure constructed in theater in the round style which seated 3,000. It hosted leg-endary acts such as Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, The Beach Boys, and Richard Pryer. The Music Fair closed in 1996.

Continuing the revival of a 40-year local tradition which began in 2014 with a performance by Smokey Robinson, Valley Forge Ca-

sino Resort presents the Valley Forge Music Fair as on-going music, comedy and entertainment series showcasing top headliners and up-and-coming stars of tomorrow. All performances are held in the prop-erty’s newly renovated high-tech convention center

(The Center) and Waterford Ballroom (The Venue).All shows are on sale now at Ticketmaster and start at 8:00pm,

with doors opening at 7:00pm.

Passing ThroughLife &Style

60

Page 63: Greater Philadelphia Business

FIND IT. LOVE IT.Robert Graham Stuart Weitzman St. John Peloton

Page 64: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Delaware County Council highlighted economic success stories and county initiatives at the 2015 State of the County Address

CHAIRMAN CIVERA MEETS PATRICK

GILRONAN WHO BROUGHT TABLE

CENTERPIECES CRAFTED BY WORKERS AT

MELMARK SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL.

DELCO DA JACK WHELAN, COUNCILMAN DAVE WHITE, COUNCILMAN JOHN MCBLAIN,

PRESIDENT OF THE DELAWARE COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TRISH MCFARLAND,

COUNCIL VICE CHAIR COLLEEN MORRONE, COUNCILMAN MICHAEL CULP AND CHAIRMAN

MARIO CIVERA JR.

CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP AWARDS RECIPIENTS

THE GOURMET GETAWAY COMMITTEEAMANDA PARKER WITH THE MANY

RAFFLE BASKETS.

PRESIDENT & CEO OF THE MAIN LINE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

BERNIE DAGENAIS, FOUNDER OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL

WOMEN EILEEN CONNOLLY ROBINS AND 2015 CHAIRMAN OF THE

MAIN LINE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE STEVE SCOLARI.

Main Line Chamber of Commerce Awards

The Women in Business Committee of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce presented the 23nd Anniversary of the Gourmet Getaway, an evening of food and fun which benefits the Women in Business Scholarship Fund

B SceneLife &Style

62

Page 65: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

@ The BallparkLife &� � e

Give your Taste Buds a Big League Treat with New Menu Offerings

HARRY THE K’SAndrew Zimmern’s Korean Fried Pork

Belly Sandwich - From the three-time James

Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef and

teacher, best known as host of Travel Chan-

nel’s Bizarre Foods. Battered and fried pork

belly with grilled pineapple, gochujang sauce

and chili lime salt, on a toasted bun.

Amish Turkey Burger - Fresh ground turkey,

sharp cheddar and shallot marmalade on a

griddled sesame bun.

Smoked Brisket - House smoked brisket with

whiskey barbecue sauce and creamy cider slaw.

CONCESSIONSNew Partner! Chick-fil-A is bringing its

famous Chicken Sandwich to the ballpark. A

boneless breast of chicken served on a toast-

ed, buttered bun with dill pickle chips.

New Partner! Rita’s Water Ice - Rita’s fa-

mous water ice available in a variety of fl avors.

Wayback Signature CBP Burger Cheesy

Burger with pork roll, garnished with a mini

corn dog.

Federal Fried Chicken Sandwich - Boneless

chicken breast with buttermilk ranch season-

ing, American cheese, dill pickle and spicy

Rooster Sauce, on a Potato Roll.

Beer Braised Frankfurter - Hatfi eld natural

casing dog with hard cider, braised, onions

and grain mustard on a pretzel roll.

Asian Dog - Hatfi eld natural casing dog with

sweet & sour pickled slaw and Sriracha mayo

on a poppy seed roll.

Phot

os b

y M

itche

ll Le

ff

Sonoran Dog - Hickory bacon wrapped natural

casing dog with smoked tomatillo salsa verde,

Tabasco mayo, chopped tomato and onions.

Upcoming Promotions

Saturday June 18 @ 3:05 vs. D-Backs

All fans receive AT&T Maikel Franco

Bobble Figurine

Sunday, June 19 @1:35 vs. D-Backs

Men 15 and over receive Hawaiian Shirt.

Friday, July 1 @ 7:05 vs Royals

Fireworks Show.

According to Aramark Phillies last season fans ate more than 135,000 orders of Crabfries and 140,000 cheesesteaks. This season, they anticipate fans will eat 4,500 Phillies Franks each home game.

ANDREW ZIMMERN’S KOREAN FRIED

PORK BELLY SANDWICH AMISH TURKEY BURGER ASIAN DOG

63

Page 66: Greater Philadelphia Business

gp-biz.com

Where do you go to solve the world’s problems?Some times you want to go…That familiar spot where maybe your opinions and those around you are as liberal or conservative

as yours.Trying new places can be, shall I say, interesting.Visiting cigar parlors, local watering holes, hotel bars, coffee shops and other gathering spots can expand

our horizons, or require stitches to close our wounds.Let’s stop texting awhile, correct our posture, expand our minds, laugh-out-loud and meet new friends.In that vain, recently on a Friday evening I chose a cigar parlor (they’re cropping up everywhere). I

selected the recommended Cigar Mojo, a BYOB in King of Prussia, for a chance to relax and engage in some friendly back and forth.

Mojo offers a comfy setting and a huge selection of cigars. Although I’m a neofi te, the crowd is eager to offer suggestions. They’re all brought together by the brotherhood of the leaf (BOTL). It serves as a common denominator, a go-to source of conversation.

I settle in – I’m smoking Java Mint by Drew Estate,Traditional cut, sweet, earthy coffee fl avor.My libation – Highland Park Single Malt Scotch – neat.The aforementioned crowd is eclectic (CEO’s to laborers) and over the course of several hours the

sometimes laugh-out-loud sometimes heated banter was all over the place from sports to politics, comics to TV, contractors to the typical mother-in-law lament. There was also a strong contingent of Walking Dead fans.

I did mention there is some alcohol involved. Nothing was out of bounds, but the last one did hasten my exit.

The situation with North Korea, Iran, the wall, the perfect steak and many other topics weren’t resolved this night but it wasn’t for a lack of opinions, and proved to be a most enjoyable text free evening.

AFTER HOURS

64

Page 67: Greater Philadelphia Business
Page 68: Greater Philadelphia Business

BREAKINGGROUND.

BUILDINGGREATNESS.

That’s Our Edge.

Over $1 Billion in Economic Development

What makes so many businesses—from a #1 ranked children’s hospital to international fashion powerhouses—come to KOP? Simple: Our Edge.

visitKOP.com