WE Innovate: PhillyiHub strengthens Philadelphia’s economy and neighborhood

Denise Williams found her courage negotiating with CEOs at the age of fourteen while working for her family’s staffing business. As the eldest child raised by her Cambodian mother, she learned how to run a business and to be a part of a community, from her parents, whose lives focused on strengthening their local community of Cambodian and other Asian immigrants. They were very involved in the lives and future of their neighbors.

In 2009 she took that courage and ventured out on her own. She integrated the Cambodian family style into Madison Birch Staffing Agency, whose strength is her commitment to building healthy communities.

Incubation space for immigrant entrepreneurs fuels innovation

In 2016, Denise was welcomed into a new space for immigrant entrepreneurs to gather and grow together in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of northwest Philadelphia.  The Philadelphia Immigrant Innovation Hub (PhillyiHub) provides aspiring immigrant entrepreneurs and established small business owners, like Denise, with the tools and expertise they need to grow.

Denise entered the PhillyiHub to grow her business, but as she learned she also uncovered a gap in her community: many elders in need of health care services are unable to access those benefits because of language and literacy barriers. With her Vietnamese and Cambodian language skills, and the support of the PhillyiHub and connections made through it, Denise launched her second business, WelSpring Home Care, to support Philly’s aging Asian community. She sets it apart by treating every client like family.

How the PhillyiHub works

Mt. Airy is a diverse neighborhood but it has not experienced much growth of its immigrant communities relative to other Philly neighborhoods like Northeast and South Philadelphia.  These neighborhoods benefit from the economic and social contributions of immigrants – which can be seen in things like small business and population growth – and strengthen Philadelphia’s position as a city that recognizes welcoming and inclusion as vital, and valuable, to the city’s future.  In the Philadelphia metro, immigrant entrepreneurs are a huge asset: there are more than 40,000 of them and they are responsible for an astounding 96 percent of small business growth since 2000.

Knowing these numbers, Mt. Airy USA, a non-profit organization committed to preserving, empowering and advancing the vibrancy and diversity of the Mt. Airy neighborhood, saw the opportunity to show its welcoming side while marketing the neighborhood and drawing in entrepreneurs and new businesses. Through a unique three-way partnership with Welcoming Economies Global Network member The Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians and local micro-lending institution Finanta, a plan for an immigrant entrepreneur incubation space was born. The partnership’s goal was to create a holistic environment for businesses and entrepreneurs to grow with wrap around services including space, training and resources, and access to capital.

The team secured a grant from the Knight Cities Challenge, which allowed for the renovation of an abandoned post office to house the Hub and to sustain the program for the first year and half.  The incubation space has graduated three cohorts including entrepreneurs with a wide range of businesses, from import and export companies to fashion and magazines, home health care to catering. The cohorts begin their training as a group, then move into more specialized guidance based on industry.