February 2020

News + Updates

In This Issue February Spotlight Planning and Design Expertise Featured Project Highlight The State of North Broad 2020 Upcoming Events Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce City Council Reception Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Legislative Reception News from the Lab Thoughtnomics 2020 Q1 edition For all ESI News + Insights click or tap here. Economic Insights for Planning and Urban Design The economic lens Econsult Solutions focuses on land use planning and design runs the gamut from comprehensive planning to transportation impact analysis. We have worked on strategic economic development plans, redevelopment scenario evaluations, public and land use policy analyses, infrastructure investment alternatives, and more. Review our full suite of services in this sector.

Highlights

The State of North Broad 2020 ESI proud to have assisted The North Broad Renaissance with completing The State of North Broad 2020. The report details the demographics, assets, and development trends in this important and dynamic area of Philadelphia. #ThinkBroad

Team Pennsylvania Economic Competitiveness Analysis Released ESI developed The Pennsylvania Economic Competitiveness Dashboard for Team Pennsylvania, which takes a look at the commonwealth's performance in five separate categories: Economy, Talent, Place, Governance, and Quality of Life.

Advancing Pennsylvania's Entrepreneurial and Innovation Economy In partnership with Fourth Economy Consulting, ESI performed the analysis and stakeholder engagement process to evaluate how Pennsylvania compares with other states in entrepreneurship and innovation. Read the full report.

Welcoming ANBOUND to the United States! Ms. Yi Wang, Head of Global Development for ANBOUND, visited ESI's office the week of Jan. 27 to discuss future US-China plans for ESI and ANBOUND. Senior Advisor Networking On Jan. 24, ESI hosted a Senior Advisor Breakfast for networking and a presentation of the ESI ThoughtLab thought leadership research initiative Building a Hyperconnected City.

Building a Hyperconnected City Presentation in Philadelphia ESI and the  Penn Institute for Urban Research  held an interactive half-day session on the impact of smart city solutions on Jan. 30. ESI President Richard Voith welcomed Honorable Martin O'Malley, former Mayor of Baltimore, and former Governor of Maryland who spoke about the smart city initiatives he implemented during his tenure. ESI Vice President Daniel Miles provided an overview of Building a Hyperconnected City, exploring how cities are using technology to generate return on investment. A Q&A session followed, moderated by PennIUR's Eugenie Birch with distinguished experts including: Richard Voith, President & Principal, ESI Daniel Miles, Vice President & Associate Principal, ESI Eugenie L. Birch, Co-Director, Penn IUR William Baver, VP Smart World Team, NTT DATA Ana B. Moreno, Director, Tomorrow.City Martin O'Malley, Former Mayor of Baltimore and Former Governor of Maryland Piyush Pandey, Managing Director, Cyber Risk Services, Deloitte Joseph Viscuso, Senior VP and Director of Strategic Growth, Pennoni

Upcoming Events and Sponsorships

Attending PHL Diversity Business Opportunity Luncheon Feb 24

Proud Sponsor Preservation Zoning Reform Seminar Feb 27

Proud Sponsor City Council Reception Mar 26

Staff and Senior Advisor Updates

Hilary Jay is now the Director of Education for Society for Experiential Graphic Design, congratulations!

Lee Huang has been named to the University Place Advisory Board.

Dan Connelly gave a webinar presentation on Multi-Year Financial Planning for the PA Municipal League, Jan. 28.

We welcome Julia Flanagan, Analyst to the ESI Team! Julia recently graduated from Temple University with a BA in Math Economics.

Soon to be announced by Community Design Collaborative (but we're too beaming happy to hold back) Gina Lavery will be recognized with a Best Supporting Actor Award for her work with The Graves-MEE Mercy Douglass Community Wellness Center's Programming and Feasibility Study. Well done!

Lily Ho's work on a Community Design Collaborative in-process design grant has been acknowledged as "invaluable" and we look forward to the project results. We appreciate her contributions to the community, and are pleased to have her talents on our team.

Peter Angelides will be a panelist on Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's seminar: Preservation Zoning Reform, Feb 27.

David Boonin's " Curing the Analytical Bias-Replacing Discount Rate NPV with IRR Analysis" was published in the Jan 2020 edition of Public Utilities Fortnightly.

Michael Golden retired from the Jenkintown, PA Borough Council after five terms. His accomplishments include: spearheading economic development; establishing a non-profit for the historic Hiway Theatre, raising $1.3M for restoration; founding a multi-municipal taskforce to address cooperative initiatives; bond refinancing for $100K+ in tax payer savings; and more, all the while fighting for the rights of residents to be integral to the process.

Bernard Markstein has contributed current economic analyses and forecasts of the construction industry to AIA, Recycling Today, Associated Building and Contractors, AZ Big Media, NH Business Review, Construction & Demolition Recycling, and The American Surveyor. All-in-all, slow continued growth is anticipated.

News from the Lab

Thoughtnomics Thoughnomics 2020 Q1 hit inboxes last week. 2020 Q1 features Building a Hyperconnected City, Driving Cybersecurity Performance, Driving ROI Through AI, and ESI ThoughtLab's thought leadership work for Cognizant, The End of the Beginning: A Report on Digital Transformation. Are you on the mailing list: Click here to subscribe. Click here to read Thoughtnomics 2020 Q1.

U.S. - China Research

Long-Term Mechanism Should be the Primary Object of US-China Trade Negotiations From our Beijing-based think tank partners, ANBOUND: "The establishment of a long-term mechanism should be the primary goal of China's future trade negotiations with the U.S." Learn more.

Present Value

Santiago of Tomorrow: Lessons for Emerging Markets by the ESI ThoughtLab Team

The Project Owner's Challenge: Meeting Participation and Inclusion Goals by Angela Dowd-Burton

Kista Science City, Stockholm: Engaging With The Public To Test New Ideas by Lindsay Durkalec

Looking at a Less Frequently Explored Philadelphia Neighborhood: The Far Northeast by Gina Lavery

Client Spotlight

ESI's report with Temple University Fox School of Business on PA Agriculture: A Look at the Economic Impact and Future Trends was featured in Farm and Daily.

A belated congratulations to North Broad Renaissance Executive Director Shalimar Thomas for being recognized as a 2019 Power 100 by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Project HOME has teamed with AmeriHealth Caritas and Independence Blue Cross to improve life expectancy and reduce infant mortality in North Philadelphia with a newly created program "Keystone Connections to Wellness". Philadelphia Business Journal reports the details.

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