Department of Commerce Returns From  Trade and Investment Mission to Europe

PHILADELPHIA — A delegation led by Philadelphia Commerce DirectorHarold T. Epps recently returned from a multi-day trade and investment mission to Europe, with stops in Germany, France and Portugal. Members of the delegation began arriving in Germany on September 24 and the final day of the mission was September 30. The group took part in several meetings, tours and other activities each day, focusing on business attraction and best practices for workforce development. In addition to staff from the Department of Commerce, participants included Councilman Al Taubenberger and representatives from Select Greater Philadelphia, Citizen Diplomacy International, Global Philadelphia Association, the German-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia, the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Philadelphia, Peirce College, Temple University, and additional partners from the business community.

The first stop for the delegation was a briefing at Frankfurt’s City Hall with Mayor Feldman. The group learned about business opportunities in the region, discussed prospects for bilateral trade and investment, and received an overview of the country’s dual vocational system.

Members of the delegation made on-site visits to two manufactures who are considering moving to Philadelphia or expanding their existing operations in the region. They also held one-on-one appointments in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Berlin with eight other companies to discuss how the City can help them enter the Philadelphia market.

“Our first international mission far exceeded my expectations when it came to building relationships and learning from our counterparts in Europe,” said Commerce Director Harold T. Epps. “The companies we met with expressed that our presence there showed the City’s commitment to helping international businesses get set up in Philadelphia, and that is a sign we are on the right track. The interactions we had abroad reinforced our belief that Philly must continue to increase its visibility on the global stage. We want these businesses to see us as a resource and feel like our city is welcoming to companies looking to relocate or expand in the United States.”

The delegation visited The Factory, a Google-supported startup membership organization, to look at new models of fostering growth in this sector. They also met with Berlin Partners to brainstorm opportunities for collaboration between the tech and startup communities in Philadelphia and Berlin. A visit to Berlin-Adlershof Science & Technology Park, which houses over 1,000 companies, resulted in discussions about how the two cities can do more to create research partnerships with organizations such as Humboldt University.

During the final day of the mission, Commerce Chief of Staff Sylvie Gallier Howard traveled to France, where she met with the Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Pennsylvania has a longstanding relationship with the Region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and the Department of Commerce is hoping to further strengthen it by forming a more concrete partnership around business and student exchange. As a next step in formalizing a partnership between the region and Philadelphia, a prominent political representative will visit Philadelphia before the end of 2016. Gallier Howard also met with Lyon Biopole, an organization that supports life sciences companies and is a leader in France and Europe in its field, to present details of Philadelphia’s life sciences sector. The organization discussed a possible trade mission of French companies to Philadelphia in 2017.

Simultaneously, Commerce Director Harold T. Epps met with officials in Portugal, including the President of Sintra’s City Council, Basílio Horta, the Chairman of the Board of AICEP Portugal Global, Miguel Frasquilho and the General Secretary of AmCham Portugal, Graça Didier. The meeting aimed to evaluate the business and investment potential for Sintra in Philadelphia. As a result of conversations with Commerce Director Epps, one Portuguese business owner will be making a stop in Philadelphia in the near future to further explore the opportunities available here.

While in Germany, a major focus of the delegation centered on learning best practices from the country’s acclaimed workforce development model. Dual vocational training, which helps young people seamlessly transition between school and career, has been part of Germany’s culture for centuries. The apprenticeship programs lead to career paths in advanced manufacturing, construction, office management, medical personnel, cosmetology, culinary and more fields.

Members of the group spent time at Provadis Hochschule (Provadis School of International Management & Technology), where they learned about Provadis’ three-pronged method of coordinated training between vocational school, workplace experience and practical instruction within a student’s field of study. Provadis works with more than 100 companies and 22,000 students. Members of the workforce development contingent discussed the possibility of an exchange with Provadis, where students and businesses would come to the United States to engage with industry leaders and Philadelphia youth, sharing their apprenticeship experiences and how this pipeline provides a positive return on investment.

At Festo Vocational Training Academy, the delegation got to see training programs in action, conducted lab tours and participated in information exchanges with apprentices. The Department of Commerce and other members of the delegation plan to connect with Festo affiliates in the United States to engage them with local businesses and explore how apprenticeships can be utilized in Philadelphia. They also held a meeting with Project VETnet leaders at DIHK Service GmbH. Project VETnet partners with different countries to establish local expertise, connect partners, develop curricula and create new training courses in order to get more young people qualified to satisfy workforce needs in local economies. Preliminary conversations are taking place with DIHK representatives in the United States to bring a similar pilot to Philadelphia.

In addition to the main focuses of business attraction and workforce development, the other goals of the mission were to strengthen ties with Frankfurt, Philadelphia’s newest Sister City, and participate in the biannual conference of the Northwest European and North American Regional Secretariat of the Organization of World Heritage Cities. The theme for this year’s conference was “involving the community in world heritage.”

The mission of the Department of Commerce is to ensure that Philadelphia is a globally competitive city to which employers flock, entrepreneurs thrive and innovation abounds; to recruit and retain a diverse set of businesses; to foster economic opportunities for all Philadelphians in all neighborhoods; and to partner with workforce development programs and local businesses on talent development ensuring that all Philadelphians can find and retain living-wage jobs. For more information about the Department of Commerce, visit www.phila.gov/commerce.