Regional Leaders Launch New Partnership to Drive Economic Growth and Mobility in Southeastern PA
Partnership Releases Regional Growth Strategy and Announces Seed Investments Powering Effort
RADNOR, PA (May 5, 2026) — Regional leaders today launched an ambitious collaborative effort to grow quality jobs and strengthen economic competitiveness in Southeastern Pennsylvania with the formation of the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership.
The Partnership is a new business-led, cross-sector entity created to drive more robust economic growth and expand opportunity for regional residents. The Partnership launched alongside the release of a regional growth strategy developed by economic and workforce development leaders from all five Southeastern Pennsylvania counties – Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia – to help guide shared priorities, investments, and action.
“This partnership marks a truly exciting and important step forward for our region,” said Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership Executive Director Claire Marrazzo Greenwood. “Southeastern Pennsylvania has always had the assets to compete. This effort represents a level of collaboration, focus, and commitment to spur growth unlike anything we have ever had in this region.”
The Partnership is coming together to address two core challenges facing the region – sluggish job growth and declining economic mobility. Its initial programmatic efforts will focus on expanding capacity to execute core economic development functions like business expansion and attraction, regional marketing, research, and international engagement; focusing shared action around cluster-building in high-opportunity industries; and connecting talent to employer demand.
“This is a new way of doing business,” said Montgomery County Commerce Director Stephen Forster. “Since I joined Montgomery County over two years ago, we have been committed to a regional effort and growing cooperation. Together, we’ve built the Partnership through a truly collaborative approach, and now we’re bringing Southeastern Pennsylvania into a new era of job growth and opportunity.”
The Partnership emerged from a sustained collaborative effort catalyzed by The Pew Charitable Trusts and supported by the Brookings Institution to develop a shared, data-driven approach to improve growth and mobility outcomes in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Over the past two years, local and regional economic and workforce development leaders have convened as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Economic Collaborative for an intensive planning and strategy development process leading up to today’s announcements.
“Pew is pleased to have built a solid foundation for this effort and proud to be a partner in making it happen,” said Pew senior vice president Donna Frisby-Greenwood. “Increasing access to upward economic
mobility is critical to our work in Greater Philadelphia. By developing and advancing a shared regional strategy, we can grow middle-wage jobs so more people have the opportunity to thrive.”
The regional growth strategy builds upon an in-depth evaluation of the region’s economy – its strengths, challenges, and opportunities – released by the Brookings Institution last year, as well as extensive stakeholder engagement to identify targeted tactics for growth. The strategy prioritizes early, coordinated action in three opportunity industries selected for their overall job growth potential as well as their ability to create family-sustaining jobs at scale, particularly those that are accessible without four-year degrees. These industries are enterprise digital solutions, precision manufacturing in industrial technologies, and biomedical engineering and production. The regional growth strategy is available here.
“The partnership and data-driven strategy mark a fundamental shift in how Greater Philadelphia advances economic growth and opportunity, raising the region’s execution to match the proven practices of the nation’s most successful peers,” said Brookings Institution Nonresident Senior Fellow Marek Gootman.
The Partnership has secured $5.4 million in seed funds to date from corporate and philanthropic investors for its first three years to build durable collaborative infrastructure for regional growth. Founding investors include Wawa, Essential Utilities, Jefferson, Independence Blue Cross, Cencora, and The Pew Charitable Trusts, and early planning support came from Comcast and the Philadelphia Foundation. The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia will play a significant role in ensuring business community leadership and in fueling the Partnership, contributing staff support and $4 million in annual activity currently allocated to its economic competitiveness programs.
“Wawa is proud to be among the founding investors in this crucial effort,” said Wawa CEO Chris Gheysens. “This is a once in a generation chance to reshape how our region competes and build an economy that works for everyone. The Partnership gives the business community the structure and accountability to finally match our region's potential — and we're ready to step up, invest, and lead.”
The Partnership and the growth strategy have an explicit focus on increasing the supply of quality jobs that offer family-sustaining wages and career pathways and on aligning employer demand with educational and workforce systems. By scaling job creation and improving access, the Partnership will ensure that economic growth translates into real opportunity and upward mobility for more residents.
“Growth alone isn’t enough,” said Philadelphia Works President & CEO Patrick Clancy. “But when we pair growth with investments connecting people to opportunity and give them the supports that they need to thrive, our region can finally realize its potential to create an economy that works for everyone.”
ABOUT THE GREATER PHILADELPHIA GROWTH PARTNERSHIP:
The Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership is a new regional cross-sector, business-led effort to grow quality jobs and strengthen economic competitiveness in Southeastern Pennsylvania. It brings together business, civic, philanthropic, and public sector leaders from Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties to drive stronger economic growth and expand opportunity for regional residents. For more info, visit www.greaterPHLgrowth.com.
Area economic and workforce development organizations involved with the Partnership include Bucks County Industrial Development Authority, Bucks County Workforce and Economic Development Department, Chester County Economic Development Council, Chester County Workforce Development Board, Delaware County Economic Development Corp., Delaware County Workforce Development Board, Montgomery County Commerce Department, Montgomery County Workforce Development Board, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department, PIDC, Philadelphia Works, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, and Visit Philadelphia.
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