PIDC reached a big milestone in 2018—the 60th year since its inception.

Founded in 1958 by the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the PIDC is Philadelphia’s public-private economic development corporation.

It’s mission is to “drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia” by creating jobs, revitalizing neighborhoods, spurring investments and supporting business growth throughout the city.

As part of their 60th anniversary, PIDC gradually rolled out a 60 Years, 60 Stories feature series throughout the year, to highlight its history and showcase the wide variety of projects the organization has undertaken over its six decade long history.

From work in corporate & commercial development, financing, and industrial real estate to arts & culture and hospitality work, PIDC has really made an effort to impact Philadelphia and Philadelphians in as many ways as possible.

“Our clients and projects really are what PIDC is," Vice President of Marketing Communications at PIDC, Jessica Calter, said. "The activities that we undertake are really the story of PIDC, and the success of PIDC is driven by those clients and projects.”

Throughout the course of its history, PIDC has done more than 7,100 transactions with more than 4,000 clients across the city, and the goal is to see both numbers continue to grow.

“We have plans for the future to continue to showcase some more of the stories moving forward” because “there’s a lot of untold stories,” Calter said.

In addition to sharing the 60 stories, PIDC also celebrated their anniversary by having their marketing team visit 60 of their many clients throughout the city in one day. Some of them include the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Reading Terminal Market, the National American Museum of Jewish History, Dietz & Watson, SEPTA, and Comcast.

Looking ahead to 2019, the 70th anniversary and beyond, PIDC can sum up their approach with one question: How can we help to make the investments to revitalize all of the neighborhoods of the city of Philadelphia?

Through a wide range of projects, PIDC has made huge efforts in driving that goal.

“We worked closely with the Commerce Department and we’ve been actively working on a few things to help drive that growth out into all of our neighborhoods, and with a particular focus on our commercial corridors in every neighborhood,” Calter said.

The USS JFK (CV-67) ship at The Navy Yard. Photo Credit: PIDC.

PIDC is also working on launching a few new products in the small business financing world, as well as helping businesses obtain mortgages to own property and build equity, Calter said.

“We are definitely working closely with the city and others, in terms of larger scale investments and anchor projects that can happen in neighborhoods throughout the city of Philadelphia,” she added.  

The goal is to continue to find more opportunities for growth within the city for many more years to come.

“We’re excited to be wrapping up our 60th year, and excited looking forward.”