Whether it’s a small business on a commercial corridor, an energy-efficient building retrofit, or a start-up tech company, we seek to fill the gaps left by today’s private debt and equity markets. This requires innovative uses of traditional public economic development resources, coupled with new strategies to secure private resources, so that Philadelphia continues to grow as an attractive place for business investment, development and job creation.

Throughout our history, PIDC has continually focused on deploying public funds to support business and development projects meeting very specific criteria around capital investment and job creation. In an effort to support Philadelphia’s evolving and diversified economy, we have attracted new and more flexible financing tools to expand resources for Philadelphia’s business community.

PIDC Community Capital

Raising Flexible Capital for Growing Businesses

In 2012, PIDC obtained its community development finance institution (CDFI) certification and has successfully attracted private bank and foundation capital for small businesses who are otherwise not being served by the private sector. To date, we have raised approximately $14 million in new loan capital to lend to growing companies in Philadelphia. Over the last 3 years PIDC has loaned nearly $94 million to 196 growing businesses to support their development in the city.

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Investing in Entrepreneurs

Startup PHL: New Funding 

Philadelphia today is alive with start-up and early-stage business development. With little or no revenue and no collateral, these high-potential start-ups cannot access traditional debt financing, but nonetheless are crucial to the city’s economic vitality. To support this burgeoning sector, PIDC joined forces with the City of Philadelphia to announce a series of initiatives known as StartupPHL.

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Regional Center

Attracting Foreign Capital to Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Regional Center, a partnership established in 2003 between PIDC and CanAm Enterprises, LLC (CanAm), was created to sponsor investment opportunities in qualifying projects that meet the requirements of the U.S. Immigration Investor Program (EB-5 Program). The EB-5 Program provides foreign nationals a path to U.S. citizenship for making an investment of $500,000 in a project which will create at least 10 new direct or indirect jobs for U.S. workers in a targeted employment area.

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Leveraging Federal Funding for Philadelphia

Since 2007, PIDC has been awarded $148 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the federal government, which is aimed at revitalizing low-income communities and increasing economic opportunity nationwide. These federal tax credits are a critical element in PIDC’s economic development toolbox. PIDC has invested $110 million of our NMTC credits into nine development projects to eliminate blight, create jobs, and transform neighborhoods in Philadelphia from Mantua to Kensington to North Philadelphia. These credits leveraged an additional $239 million in private investment to create more than 950 jobs and stimulate investment in the City’s most distressed communities.  PIDC’s most recent award of $38 million in credits will be deployed over the next year.

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