PHILADELPHIA – This morning, Philadelphia’s coalition for Amazon HQ2 released a short video highlighting the city’s highly educated and diverse regional workforce, abundant top-ranked universities, and dynamic technology sector. The video features Chief Talent Officer of Urban Outfitters, Matt Strode; CEO & co-founder of La Colombe, Todd Carmichael; CEO of Vanguard, Bill McNabb; and Executive Vice President of Wilco Electronic Systems, Brigitte Daniel.
“Our value-add is our diversity,” said Daniel. “We are a majority-minority city: every neighborhood, every person, every ethnicity, every experience, every journey adds to the value that we have as a city. That’s what’s going to make us unique; that’s what’s going to make Amazon know that they chose the right place to build their new global future.”
The Philadelphia region’s workforce is three million people strong. Philadelphia also leads the nation in its concentration of top-100 universities within a 150-mile radius, and more than 10 million people hold a bachelor’s degree or higher in that same region. Philadelphia-area colleges and universities graduate 90,000 students per year and rank sixth in the U.S. in STEM degrees awarded.
McNabb shared in his interview, “Very recently, Vanguard opened our new innovation studio. We looked at Silicon Valley, Brooklyn, and Cambridge. We chose University City because we were blown away by the level of talent. The amount of engineering talent is extraordinary.”
Philadelphia has the fastest-growing tech sector in proportion to total job growth of any major region outside of the Bay Area. The City ranks in the top 10 metro areas in terms of the number of technology jobs, including software and web developers. Companies fill engineering jobs faster in Philadelphia than any other major U.S. metro area. Philadelphia is also a destination for millennials. Philadelphia has the fastest growing millennial population share of any major city and has been ranked highest among U.S. cities for the most desirable qualities for millennials.
The “talent” video is the second video released this week, as part of a multi-day #PhillyDelivers campaign in the lead up to the official HQ2 proposal deadline on Thursday, October 19. Philadelphians can participate today by highlighting their talented co-workers on social media using #PhillyDelivers.
The “talent” video as well as yesterday’s “logistics” video was produced by Philadelphia firm, Leveler Media. Rakia Reynolds, founder of Skai Blue Media, oversaw the creative elements of Philadelphia’s bid for HQ2.