Regionalism : In The News

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard improves work safety and saves millions through data tracking practices, according to Industry Week.

When it takes 10,000 labor tasks and 1.2 million labor hours to build one product, tracking costs is quite a task. Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, a leading U.S. commercial shipyard constructing vessels for customers including the U.S. Navy, employs 700 full-time and 500 contractors to build 2.8 ships per year. Managing such a large workforce requires complex tracking system.

Michel Boeckx, Chief Technology Officer at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, deftly used safety data he collected, via software company Kronos, in order to improve work practices. The company saw 41% fewer eye incidents over a year. These collective improvements enabled the company to reduce medical insurance by two million dollars.

Source: Industry Week
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The City of Philadelphia and SEPTA join together to address the connection between public health and public transportation, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and as reported in Flying Kite last week.

Don't see the link between transit and food? Philly does. The City of Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) have made it a top goal to target food deserts--neighborhoods where it is difficult to access fresh food--and public transportation is at the core of their effort.

Source: NRDC Smarter Cities
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The Washington Post goes hunting for the best of Philly's abundant crop of vegan treats.

So one Saturday last month, my vegan friends and I hit the streets of Philadelphia - where the Phillies claim the country's top-ranked vegetarian ballpark - intending to do no harm to animals, the environment and presumably our health. (At our first stop, Cafe Mocha, we did, however, sample vegan donuts and cookies, and a quick sugar high reminded me that "vegan" doesn't always equal "nutritious.")

We headed to the South Street district for lunch at Blackbird, a vegan pizzeria with a chalkboard menu, a drab interior and space heaters. Blackbird's owner, Mark Mebus, is a Philly native and former chef at Horizons, the upscale restaurant that put vegan dining on the map here. He opened the pizzeria last fall.

Source: Washington Post
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The West Coast gets vicarious thrills from random acts of kindness during the East Coast snowpocalypse (especially in Philly), reports the Los Angeles Times.

Between storms, a builder in Connecticut uses his skid loader to plow his neighbors' driveways. In Maryland, a good Samaritan hands out water and M&Ms to stranded drivers. The mayor of Philadelphia urges residents to "be kind" and help one another out--and they respond by doing just that.

Across the Northeast, full of large cities where people wear their brusqueness like a badge of honor, neighbors and even strangers are banding together to beat back what's shaping up to be one of the most brutal winters in years--and it appears to be contagious.

Original source: Los Angeles Times
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Chester County based biotech company Morphotek is halfway toward completion of a $40 million manufacturing pilot plant.

In April 2010 Morphotek broke ground to build a 60,000-square-foot manufacturing pilot plant for its drugs in clinical trials. The project is currently at the halfway point with completion expected in October.

The new pilot drug plant is a true Chester County project. It was designed by Arcus Design Group of Uwchlan and is being built by HCS Builders of West Whiteland.

Morphotek will use the new space to produce experimental cancer-fighting drugs used in early stage clinical trials.

Morphotek, which has 200 employees now, expects to add 30 to 50 more in 2012, Morphotek President Philip Sass said.

Source: The Mercury
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Bloomberg reports that demand for new equipment, more exports and gains in consumer spending are boosting sales at regional manufacturers, according to The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index.

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in January for a fourth month as orders grew the most since September 2004 and employment picked up.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index slipped to 19.3 from 20.8 last month. The gauge was forecast to hold at 20.8, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Readings greater than zero signal expansion in the area covering eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

Original source: Bloomberg
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The Courier Post gets in-depth on $5.8 million in federal grant money to fix roads and add bike paths in Camden, which we reported on in September (http://www.flyingkitemedia.com/features/bicyclephilly0928.aspx).

"As a part of the Camden greenway, this active transportation network basically started in Camden and its focus is improving pedestrian and bicycle access," said Jake Gordon, counsel for Cooper's Ferry Development Association, which helped write the grant. "This is one project but three corridors."

The money from the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant is planned to repave and add bike lanes and sidewalks to Pearl Street, which runs adjacent to the Benjamin Franklin Bridge; Martin Luther King Boulevard between the waterfront and North 5th Street; and parts of Pine Street east of the Interstate 676 overpass.

The improved bike paths will connect Camden to the rest of the county as well as Philadelphia, said John Boyle, research director for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.

Original source: Courier-Post
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Allan Frank, the city's first chief technology officer, announced he'll be leaving his post by Feb. 1, reports Technically Philly.

As recent as this month, Frank spoke at a government employees meet up group about his forthcoming plans for the city's IT direction. Frank will maintain some ties, serving as chair of the newly formed Mayor's Advisory Board on Technology, in which he will remain involved in these projects.

"In actuality, there is no perfect time to leave," Frank told Technically Philly. "I am confident in the new DOT leadership and talent I have attracted to continue the momentum."

Frank first joined city government in July 2008 as Mayor Nutter's Chief Information Officer. A year later, in July 2009, Frank was officially made the city's first Chief Technology Officer, consolidating IT from 33 city agencies.

Original source: Technically Philly
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Drexel University's Plasma Institute, the nation's larges such research center, is moving its laboratories to Camden's Waterfront Technology Center, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"We don't think of the [Pennsylvania-New Jersey] border as significant," said Mark Greenberg, Drexel's provost. "We're a region here."

By all accounts, New Jersey has welcomed Drexel's interest. For example, the Plasma Institute's labs on the entire fifth floor of the Waterfront Technology Center were built at no cost to Drexel, with $3.5 million coming from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and $1.5 million from the federal Economic Development Administration. The institute also received $158,355 toward its 10-year lease from the $175 million fund that came with the 2002 state takeover of Camden.

The institute was crowded out of its space at 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue in Philadelphia, according to its director, Alexander Fridman. But it also was attracted to working in the same building as the Applied Communications and Information Networking (ACIN) program, a business incubator Drexel started in Camden several years ago to develop technologies and products for military use.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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It's a little bit cool, a little bit weird, but the varied polling places of Greater Philadelphia inspired photographer Ryan Donnell to create Behind the Curtain: The Philadelphia Polling Project, reports Wired.

The idea to record these unusual polling stations cropped up in 2006 in conversations between Donnell and his wife, who is the City Hall Reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. They put the idea on ice for a couple of years while Donnell was getting out of the freelance game and building a commercial editorial photography business. When 2008 came around with its momentous sense of history, Donnell knew it was the right time.

"The Philadelphia Elections Board actually posts a list of all the polling stations and every place has a small description next to the address, such as 'Residence' or 'Storefront' or 'Water Department Laboratory,' says Donnell. "So I made a list of the weirdest sounding places, packed-up my Hassy, tripod and film in my car and basically just drove all over the city of Philadelphia for about 10 hours on Election Day. I've done that every election since November 2008."

Original source: Wired
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Richard Woodward, currently working on University City Science Center startup Vascular Magnetics, Inc., and a veteran of 16 other startups, has been named Rowan University's VenturePreneur in Residence, reports the Courier-Post.

Bringing in mentors with hands-on experience makes education more meaningful, says Niranjan Pati, dean of the Rohrer College of Business at Rowan.

"His (Woodward's) interaction will immensely benefit our students in terms of gaining practical insights to make great business plans even better."

Woodward holds a Ph.D. in molecular cell biology. His father worked for the phone company and his mother studied nursing while yearning to be a flight attendant.

Original source: The Courier-Post
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Havertown-based military history publisher Casemate expects its first mobile applications, courtesy of Philadelphia firm Ebooq, to be available in both the Apple App Store and Google's Android Market, reports Publisher's Weekly.

The creation of its own apps is an outgrowth of Casemate's digital strategy, which it began implementing at the beginning of 2010. Farnsworth said that when he decided to enter the e-book market, he wanted Casemate to do its own e-books, and he put together an in-house staff. During the recruiting process, Farnsworth heard about a Philadelphia startup (Casemate is based in nearby Havertown, Pa.) and, after doing his due diligence, decided not only to give his app business to the company but also to make an investment in the firm, called Ebooq. The first 10 apps will be low priced--probably $2.99  and will be a straight conversion of text, but Farnsworth said he expects to develop more sophisticated apps later in 2011.

While Farnsworth is exploring the best ways Casemate can grow its digital business, he has also started using one of publishing's oldest marketing techniques to sell its 4,000 print books--a mail-order catalog. The first edition of "The Warrior" went to 50,000 customers in May, and the second is planned for around Thanksgiving. Farnsworth said response to the first mailing was "not bad," but added he is hoping for improvement from the next one.

Original source: Publisher's Weekly
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The Washington Post caught up with suburban Philadelphia philanthropist Gene Epstein, who is promoting his $250,000 effort to donate $1,000 to charity for each unemployed person hired.

Epstein, who amassed a personal fortune through car sales and real estate investments, has set aside his money for the first 250 hires - and thinks thousands more jobs could be created if others took on his idea, too.

"It's an encouragement to businesses to not wait," said Epstein, who thinks the incentive may be just enough to get small businesses over the hump to make a hire in tough economic times. "This becomes like an incredible stimulus program."

The idea came to Epstein at his sprawling home in suburban Bucks County last month. He said he hopes his program will encourage businesses in the region and beyond to make hundreds of thousands of new hires they wouldn't have otherwise made.

Original source: Washington Post
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The Wall Street Journal breaks down the movie madness in Philadelphia, where the 19th annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicked off last week with a visit from Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky.

Festival organizers were clearly hoping to open the festival with a bang and overshadow the confusion over Philly's cinematic scene that sprouted two years ago. Originally, TLA Entertainment and the Philadelphia Film Society (PFS) sponsored the Festival. In late 2008, creative differences arose between PFS founder Ray Murray and PFS members. There were also arguments over how to approach fundraising.

According to Claire Kohler, the director of production of Philadelphia Cinema Alliance, when the "personality clashes" and differences became "pronounced," Murray and TLA formed the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance (PCA), a competing organization that would also produce its own film festival called CineFest. In short, PFS puts on the Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs in the fall, and PCA puts on CineFest, which took a break in 2010 but which will run in spring 2011.

Original source: Wall Street Journal
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A new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts indicates an encouraging trend of more people moving into Philadelphia since 1993, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer.

According to the Pew report, the number of people moving into the city has increased steadily, up from 31,837 in 1993 to 42,250 in 2008.

Overall, the number of people moving out of the city is growing less rapidly, increasing slightly from 47,291 in 1993 to 52,096 in 2008.

"I would say the trend is looking as if we may be seeing a reversal of long-term decline in city population," said David Elesh, sociologist and demography expert with the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project at Temple University.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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