While the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia has been hard at work helping the region’s businesses navigate through the pandemic, it’s also been keeping track of the progress the region has been making since the start of the pandemic.  

On May 11, the Chamber released its Inclusive Growth Dashboard, a new data visualization tool that will help city and regional policymakers, business and civic leaders, and the public understand the strength of the Greater Philadelphia economy. 

The dashboard will have a noted focus on expanding equitable opportunities, jobs, and wages on par with the U.S. economy and ahead of Greater Philadelphia’s peer metro areas — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.

The dashboard will detail five key indicators of the region’s economic health and vitality:

• Job growth — holistically, across industries and skill levels
• Wage growth — by median individual income overall, and also by gender, race and ethnicity
• Small business growth — tracking number of jobs, financial stability score, and bill delinquency
• Poverty reduction — in addition to poverty rates for families, disaggregated by race and ethnicity
• Vaccine acceptance — how it underscores all other aspects of inclusive economic growth by determining levels of allowable participation in the regional economy 

Through these five metrics, the dashboard will monitor macroeconomic conditions in Greater Philadelphia over time, and compare it to the seven peer metropolitan areas. 

“For over 200 years, the Chamber has brought area businesses and civic leaders together to foster cooperation, to promote growth, and create opportunity in our region. The Inclusive Growth Dashboard is an extension of this work, as we set out to create a shared and central tool that gathers and showcases data critical to our region’s post-COVID recovery,” said Claire Greenwood, Senior Vice President of Economic Competitiveness for the Chamber.

In addition, the dashboard will help stakeholders in the region understand what the region’s economic recovery and success looks like. 

“It also allows for a unified message across all sectors and a shared vision for Greater Philadelphia that demonstrates and pinpoints where we have excelled in inclusive and equitable economic activities,” Greenwood added. 

This effort builds on the Chamber’s initial pandemic response.

In 2020, the Chamber and its regional CEO Council for Growth initiated a public-private collaboration with commitments from over 160 expert leaders from the business and civic communities to create the Philadelphia Regional Recharge & Recovery Task Force in an effort to devise, present and implement solutions toward the pandemic in a unified voice.

The Task Force emerged with five aspirational goals towards not only helping Greater Philadelphia’s recovery from the pandemic, but as a means to differentiate the region for decades to come.

1. A new national model to learn, apprentice, and work in the jobs of the future
2. A place known for investing in and growing small, Black- and brown-owned businesses
3. A digital community with increased digital literacy, technology, and internet use 
4. The healthiest and most livable community in the Northeast
5. A top global cell and gene therapy hub

“The pandemic and the ongoing demand for social and economic reforms spurred our region’s business, civic, and government leaders to incredible levels collaboration to ensure the health of all Philadelphians, and commit to reimagining how we move our region forward,” said Chris Gheysens, President & CEO of Wawa, Inc. and Chair of the CEO Council. 

“The Taskforce leveraged our strengths; and this Dashboard will help inform the region’s work to build a stronger Greater Philadelphia,” he added. 

The Inclusive Growth Dashboard will be continually updated to provide the most up-to-date data on current conditions, and opportunities to compare current information to recent trends. To view the dashboard, click here.