State of the Region

Please join the Regional Business Community, Elected Officials, and Economic Development Executives from northern Delaware, southern New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania for the Third Annual State of the Region on Tuesday, May 22, at Drexelbrook. 

The 2007 State of the Region event will highlight themes related to the region’s institutions of higher education and include a panel discussion to explore the power of technology transfer to stimulate economic growth.

Featured speaker Douglas R. Conant, President & CEO of Campbell Soup Company, will discuss the company's reinvestment and commitment to Camden and southern New Jersey and its efforts to increase the Greater Philadelphia region's global competitiveness.

Select Greater Philadelphia will release its second Regional Report, a comprehensive base case analysis of Greater Philadelphia's 11-county region.  The report will include segment studies on information technology and education sectors and will update the benchmark comparisons to other leading and national competitor regions.

State of the Region is the culminating event of the Chamber’s County Breakfast Series, sponsored by Wachovia, which were held in counties throughout Greater Philadelphia to focus on the positive economic growth impact of the region’s institutions of higher education.

Building a culture of collaboration between the region’s colleges and universities and the business community is critical to the sustainability of our region.  Greater Philadelphia's 88 colleges and universities are an excellent resource for qualified employees and interns, exceptional professional development and continuing employee education, extraordinary research and innovation, and are themselves some of the region's largest employers and purchasers.

Many of the County Breakfasts this year have addressed the effect of globalization on Greater Philadelphia’s business climate.  Developing and retaining talented individuals who will generate new ideas and innovative technologies is vital to strengthening our region’s competitiveness within major markets, both nationally and internationally.  Our colleges and universities are an ideal incubator for this innovation and workforce development.  

Establishing a reciprocal relationship and an open dialogue between businesses and higher education institutions is important so that these two sectors can work together to improve our region.  If education officials better understand the needs of regional employers, they can develop curriculum, training programs, and experiential opportunities that will provide students with the skills necessary to more seamlessly transition from the classroom to the workforce. 

Panelists at State of the Region 2007 are Richard E. Caruso, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, Integra LifeSciences Corporation; Katherine Chou, Executive Director, Office of Technology Transfer, Thomas Jefferson University; Christopher A. Coons, New Castle County Executive; and P. Sherrill Neff, Managing Partner, Quaker BioVentures.  The moderator is Tara L. Weiner, Managing Partner, Greater Philadelphia, Deloitte. 

The event is presented in partnership with New Castle County Chamber of Commerce, Select Greater Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, and Wachovia. It is co-sponsored by Acme, Deloitte, Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Princeton Communications Group, Trinity Capital Advisors, US Airways, and Berry and Homer.

To register for State of the Region, click here. For more information, contact Lisa Paglaiccetti at lisap@greaterphilachamber.com or 215-790-3766.