Tourism

International and national tourism have always been important aspects of the Philadelphia economy.  The City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Region has invested considerable efforts and funds in marketing a strong tourism and convention industry supported by a growing infrastructure of facilities, sights, and services. Despite recent national setbacks in the tourist industry, the Greater Philadelphia Region tourism seems to be maintaining steady expansion and growth. According to the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, the development of the City’s hospitality and tourism sector promises to be the most prominent generator of new jobs well into the next 20 years. Specific enterprises that the PIDC Philadelphia Regional Center would target include: the hotel industry, restaurants, hospitality services, and those related to the convention center expansion.

Trade

The International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, furnishes statistics for merchandise export sales by businesses located in 253 of the nation's Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). Philadelphia County is the predominant area comprising the Philadelphia, PA-NJ MSA (PMSA). According to the Department of Commerce, the PMSA is the thirteenth largest in the country and accounts for $9.3 billion of the nation's international exports in 1999. The PMSA exports to most countries and every geographic region in the world. Import and export sales of manufactured products, particularly foreign sales, would be targeted enterprises within the trade industry, in particular: chemical products, industrial machinery and computers, electric and electronic equipment.

Technology

Forefronting the high-tech industry has been and continues to be a strong component of Pennsylvania state legislature and spending, aimed at making the Commonwealth a leader in the high-tech industry nationally. Substantial attention is being paid to developing cooperative clusters of high-tech corporation and backing start-up companies around the major metropolitan regions, especially Philadelphia. The PIDC Philadelphia Regional Center hope to take advantage of these state-wide and/or privately-administered funding programs, especially by linking high-tech start up companies with these funds as well as the technology development incubators in the Greater Philadelphia Region. Information and Biotechnology have become particularly important sectors of the industry, such as laboratory work, specialized transportation and storage services, and testing pharmaceuticals would be targeted enterprises within this industry.

Higher Education

Expansion, construction, and development of housing, facilities, and research areas have become primary concerns for institutions of higher education, as have repair and maintenance to existing structures. As real estate remains finite for many colleges and universities, they turn towards innovative campus management programs to meet the demands of its faculty and students. With each new residence hall, student union, or research laboratory, staffing and providing all requisite services also becomes key. All 29 of Philadelphia's private institutions of higher education have planned and implemented programs to meet these demands, allocating million of dollars to these maintenance and construction projects. The PIDC Philadelphia Regional Center would aim to bid and invest in these projects as part of its investment strategy.

Transportation

Transportation—which is a vital component of the U.S. economy—moves people and goods, employs millions of people and consumes a large amount of resources and services produced by other sectors of the economy. Industry case studies have long demonstrated the relationship between transportation and the economy, and this is becoming increasingly clear as trade and service industries become more and more dependent on reliable and efficient transportation networks. Considerable development efforts have been devoted to repairing, maintaining, improving, and expanding the transportation infrastructure and transportation services of both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Greater Philadelphia region. Trucking and warehousing, which comprise the largest sector of the transportation industry, will be a primary target enterprise for the PIDC Philadelphia Regional Center . Other examples of key areas that the PIDC Philadelphia Regional Center will target are the development of the City's port facilities and retail sales within transportation centers—such as the Philadelphia International Airport Marketplace.

The Navy Yard

Covering more than 1,200 acres at the southern tip of Philadelphia, The Navy Yard, formerly a U.S. Naval Base, is being developed by PIDC as a mixed-use, master-planned business campus that will serve as the premier business location in the Delaware Valley. The potential for the site to attract new corporate and small business tenants, to offer custom office space, to revitalize the city and to spur related economic development in the region is the focus of the development plan for the site.