The Department of Commerce, in partnership with City Council, is providing neighborhood businesses across Philadelphia with essential personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies to help them safely reopen and welcome customers back during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Neighborhood Business Personal Protective Equipment program is producing up to 10,000 starter kits with PPE supplies for neighborhood businesses around the city, with neighborhood-based organizations serving as the primary distributors of the kits. PPE kits include various items procured from local minority-, immigrant-, or women-owned businesses including:

  • Reusable Masks.
  • Hand sanitizer.
  • “Reopen with Care” floor decals that urge people to stay six feet apart in retail establishments.
  • Informational posters about safety precautions businesses and the public should take.
  • A tote bag for these items.

On August 1, the PPE kits were assembled and distributed to neighborhood groups and business associations, who will then deliver them to local small businesses. City Council arranged the funding for this important COVID-19 recovery effort. 

Inspiration for the project came from North Broad Renaissance’s “Reopened with Care” campaign, launched earlier this summer to help businesses on commercial corridors reopen safely when the Stay-at-Home Order was lifted. The goal of the campaign is not only to support businesses but also to help restore consumer confidence by letting people know that businesses are following recommended safety procedures to keep customers safe. The campaign served as the inspiration for the City’s overall plan for moving to the Green Phase—Reopening with Care—in an effort to promote a citywide message of safety and accountability for businesses.

The Neighborhood Business Personal Protective Equipment program is meant to produce starter kits for many local businesses, with the understanding that businesses will need to procure more of their own PPE supplies in the future. The City encourages businesses to buy supplies from local companies; the City worked with these local companies to procure the supplies in the PPE kits:

The organizations that have volunteered to distribute kits to their member or neighborhood businesses are listed below. While supplies are limited, if your association is interested in distributing PPE kits to small business owners, please email Business@phila.gov.

The following organizations have volunteered to distribute PPE kits to Philadelphia small businesses:

  • 9th Street Business Association
  • ACANA
  • AchieveAbility
  • Allegheny West Foundation
  • Beech Community Services
  • BOOST CDC
  • Business Association of West Parkside
  • Called to Serve CDC
  • Chestnut Hill Business Association
  • Councilman Jones Office
  • Diversified Community Services, Point Breeze Business Association
  • Dominican Chamber of Commerce
  • East Falls Development Corporation
  • East Passyunk Avenue BID
  • Esperanza
  • Finanta
  • Fishtown BID
  • Frankford CDC
  • Germantown United CDC
  • HACE
  • Haverford Avenue Business Association
  • Impact Services Corporation
  • Impact Services Corporation
  • JASTECH Development Services
  • LA21 Business Association
  • Lower North Philadelphia CDC
  • Manayunk Development Corporation
  • Mayfair CDC
  • N. 5th Street Project
  • New Kensington CDC
  • North Broad Street Renaissance
  • OARC
  • Old City District
  • Overbrook West Neighbors CDC
  • Oxford Circle CCDA
  • PEC-CDC
  • Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation
  • Philly Cuts – Barbershop Association
  • SEAMAAC
  • South Street Headhouse District
  • Spring Garden CDC
  • Tacony CDC
  • The Enterprise Center
  • Village of Arts and Humanities
  • Wayne Avenue Merchants Association
  • WPFSI – Salons

For further assistance regarding reopening your business, contact the Department of Commerce’s Business Services hotline at: