Center City : In The News

How the Community College of Philadelphia opens door to four-yeear degrees

The New York Times Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The New York Times spotlights the Community College of Philadelphia's role as a pathway to more selective four-year institutions of higher learning.

Increasingly, the students here are making that jump. Dawn-Stacy Joyner, a former hospital cook, will also attend the University of Pennsylvania. Nine women graduating this spring have been accepted to Bryn Mawr. Larry Thi, who hopes to become a teacher, transferred to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Original source: The New York Times

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Inside NovaThermal Energy's bold move to warm a building with heat from sewage

Forbes Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Forbes dives into NovaThermal Energy's first project to warm a building using heat from sewage.

The building, the Southeast Water Pollution Control Facility in Philadelphia, will house the 1 million BTU/hour unit in its basement, where it will directly access and transfer heat from an adjacent sewage channel.

Original source: Forbes

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Center City-based eResearchTechnology purchased for $400M

Wall Street Journal Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Center City, Philadelphia-based eResearch Technology, a large provider of medical devices and services to biopharmaceutical and health-care organizations, was purchased by San Francisco-based private equity giant Genstar Capital for $400 million, reports the Wall Street Journal.

ERT Chief Executive Jeffrey Litwin said the deal, expected to close during the third quarter, will provide the company with acquisition capital to expand its offering and better serve its clinical research clients.

Original source: Wall Street Journal

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Introducing the Academy of Natural Sciences' museum exhibition and book

The New York Times Tuesday, April 03, 2012

The exhibition, which opened last weekend, takes visitors along with academy scientists as they search for new species and study humanity’s collective impact on the environment. The book embraces a larger agenda.

To wander through "A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science" is to absorb the 19th century's passion for botany and zoology; the 20th century's mania for exploration of distant, difficult or desolate places; and present-day preoccupations, particularly environmental issues like water quality.

Original source: Academy of Natural Sciences

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Betty's Speakeasy cupcake shop ditches cash register, card-swipe reader for iPad

PCWorld Monday, March 26, 2012

PC World writes about Betty's Speakeasy in Philadelphia's Graduate Hospital neighborhood, which is employing the new Square Register app for iPad to replace its traditional card-processing service.

“Right now we’re paying $69 a month in merchant services to swipe credit cards,” Snow said. “We won’t pay that with Square. [The new iPad] pays for itself very quickly.”

Such stories are behind the growing market for iPhone- and iPad-based card-swiping systems like those offered by Square. PayPal recently announced that it is launching its own card reader and app for iOS; it joins a sector that also includes big players like VeriFone’s Payware and Intuit’s GoPayment. (That list doesn’t even include Google Wallet, which is currently compatible with only the Nexus S 4G Android phone.)

Original source: PC World

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Wrap-Up: Feeling the Flower Show from near and far

WHYY, Forbes, Big Island Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Philadelphia Flower Show, which came to a close on Sunday, went Hawaiian this year, and judging by these reports from WHYY, Forbes and Big Island, Aloha is a five-letter word for breathtaking.

(from Forbes) The central thematic display this year is the "Orchid Wave," a semi-enclosed glass space in the shape of a wave with projections of 3-D fish, sea turtles, surfers, and other images that roll over the heads of visitors. Between the segments of constantly moving 3-D scenery are rows of what Flower Show officials say is the largest display of white orchids and anthuriums ever assembled. It has the feeling of being in an aquarium as it does a wave.

Original sources: WHYY, Forbes and Big Island

Center City looking good for retailers, with annual retail demand at $710.9M

Shopping Center Business Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Shopping Center Business takes a stroll through Center City Philadelphia, finding a bright spot for U.S. retailers via redevelopment and growing assets.

Meanwhile, Walnut Street -- Center City’s high street shopping district -- and its surrounding streets continue to pick up additional retailers who want to capture the city’s affluent residents (Philadelphia has the third largest CBD residential population following New York and Chicago). Center City District estimates that a business located on the 1400 block of Walnut Street can expect to see an average of greater than 2,000 people per hour. The Center City District estimates retail demand within one mile of City Hall is $710.9 million per year. Center City has a population of nearly 180,000, 73% of which have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Original source: Shopping Center Business
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OLIN in NY: Philly firm's design 'as dramatic as anything I'd ever seen,' says philanthropist

The New York Times Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Philadelphia landscape architecture and urban design firm OLIN has a history of wowing New York crowds with its work, and is now part of an ambitious plan to transform the city's Museum of Modern Art, reports The New York Times.

OLIN, the Philadelphia landscape architecture and urban design firm behind the renewals of Bryant Park and Columbus Circle, has planned the project and will serve as its lead designer. David H. Koch, a Met trustee and the philanthropist who in 2008 pledged $100 million to renovate the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center -- which was renamed for him -- is providing $60 million to finance it. But the plaza will not be named after him.

"It all began when I was invited to attend the restarting of the fountains on Lincoln Center’s plaza" in 2009, Mr. Koch said in a telephone interview. "When the water started shooting up and was so beautifully illuminated, it blew me away. That's when I suddenly got the idea that it would be great if the Met did something similar with their crummy fountains."

Original source: The New York Times
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NYT examines Philadelphia Media Network's move and digital signs' impact on Market East

The New York Times Tuesday, February 07, 2012

The New York Times looks at the Philadelphia Media Network's move to Market East and the sign ordinance that will effectively create a digital district in Center City.

Philadelphia Media Network will have two digital signs on Market Street and two on Ninth Street, and each sign will be about 14 feet wide and 45 feet long, said Joseph F. Coradino, the president of Preit Services and Preit-Rubin, the commercial development and management subsidiaries of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the company that owns both the Gallery and the old Strawbridge site.

The sign ordinance has limits. For example, it will allow digital signs to appear only on properties that have 100 feet or more of frontage on Market Street.

"This is not Times Square, where the goal is to basically cover buildings with signs," said Paul R. Levy, the president of the Center City District, a business improvement group and an early supporter of the ordinance. "Our goal here was to integrate the signs into the existing architecture."

Original source: The New York Times
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Five from Philly on Draft mag's 100 best beer bars

Draft Magazine Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Eulogy, Memphis Taproom, Monk's, Grey Lodge and Standard Tap made Draft Magazine's list of America's 100 best beer bars. They really love Monk's:

Monk's Café’s place in the upper echelon of watering holes is well-deserved. Its Beer Bible, which covers style guidelines, brewing 101 and an intoxicating list of more than 300 beers, acts as a visitor’s guide for patrons packed into the venue’s two intimate bars. The selection makes ordering tough; have a pint of the house brew Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Red and a pot of award-winning mussels while you sift through the list.

Original source: Draft Magazine
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Zibelman's Viridity Energy grows to 56 employees, $24M in VC

BusinessWeek Tuesday, January 24, 2012

BusinessWeek gets to know Audrey Zibelman, founder of Viridity Energy, the Philadelphia startup that is making software to help large facilities manage their energy.

Viridity installs software that works with a building’s energy systems to monitor and control heating and cooling, appliances, generators, and more. The software constantly checks the variables that affect how much a facility pays for energy. This includes the price of electricity, which for wholesale buyers like factories can change every few minutes. The software also takes into account weather forecasts, which could cause price spikes, and how much it costs a building to produce its own energy. Viridity then tweaks electricity use to minimize costs. At Drexel University in Philadelphia, a Viridity client, the software knows that certain rooms are better insulated than others. When electricity prices rise, it automatically reduces heat in the law library, where the books trap a lot of warmth. Drexel could make money during those hours by selling electricity from its diesel generators to the grid.

Original source: BusinessWeek
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StreamTV gives glasses-free Ultra-D 3DTV launch another shot at CES

engadget Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Last January we introduced you to StreamTV's glasses-free 3D technology and the Philly company is aiming to introduce it to the world at this week's 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show, reports engagdet.

We don't recall seeing Stream TV's Elocity 3T autostereoscopic 3D TV on shelves after our CES demo last year, but to be fair, we don't get out much. Not to worry however, as the company will be back at CES 2012, this time touting Ultra-D "next generation 3D without glasses display technology" that it claims will surpass all 3D experiences to date. Lofty claims, but it's also banking on its tech for realtime 2D-to-3D conversion of any video content, with plans for the brand to reach TVs, converter boxes, tablets, PCs and more. Check out the press release after the break to drink in more hype, we'll be in line to see what's real at its press conference January 9th.

Original source: Engadget
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OLIN's work on Lenfest Plaza creates more than a campus for PAFA

Dexigner, Metropolis Magazine Tuesday, December 20, 2011

The Lenfest Plaza designed by David A. Rubin of local firm OLIN created a true campus for the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, reports Metropolis Magazine and Dexigner:

(from Dexigner)
In creating an institutional plaza for public enjoyment, performance and exhibition within the dense historic and cultural district of Center City Philadelphia, Rubin has designed an environment that many people can now experience: the administration, faculty and students of the Academy; guests of the new restaurant to be situated within the plaza; museum goers and art lovers; Philadelphians, and visitors to the City. In order to accommodate all of these potential visitors within a former narrow streetscape a design that allowed for social gathering but is also reflective of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts' prominence within our nation's art history and the cultural corridor of Museum Mile was required.

Original source; Dexigner
Read the full story in Metropolis Magazine and in Dexigner.

Entrepreneur, Philly native has plan for more STEM opportunities in city schools

Technically Philly Monday, December 12, 2011

Technically Philly sits down with Dr. Chad Womack, a nanobiomolecular entrepreneur who is trying to increase opportunities in science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) for city children.

Womack’s America21 Project is focused on empowering urban centers and communities through STEM education and workforce development, high-growth entrepreneurship and access to capital. With his new venture, he’s still actively engaging the District around STEM priorities.

Original source: Technically Philly
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Moss Rehab, Penn lead large-scale study of sleeping aid's impact on consciousness disorders

The New York Times Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The New York Times follows a young man's journey from coma to consciousness as aided by Ambien, and how two Philadelphia institutions are uncovering why.

This year, scientists at Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute and at the University of Pennsylvania, both in the Philadelphia area, began the first large-scale clinical study of zolpidem as a treatment for disorders of consciousness. (Amantadine, a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease, and the anti-anxiety medication Ativan also show promise in increasing awareness in minimally conscious patients.) So far, the evidence suggests that less than 10 percent of brain-injured patients will experience the drug’s paradoxical effects, and that among those, only a few will respond as profoundly as Viljoen did. For families like the Coxes, such odds provide a tortured kind of hope. For doctors, they bring questions. Why does a sleeping pill induce awareness in some patients but not others? And what can these bizarre awakenings tell us about the brain’s ability to heal?

Original source: The New York Times
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