Regional Leaders Unite Around Growth Strategy for Southeastern Pennsylvania

Leaders in Southeastern Pennsylvania have united around a plan to spark economic advancement in the region, with a priority on inclusive job growth.

The plan, detailed in “From Potential to Prosperity: A Strategic Agenda for Growth and Opportunity in Southeastern Pennsylvania,” a report recently published by the Brookings Institution, is a product of more than two years of cooperation between The Pew Charitable Trusts, Brookings, and key stakeholders in government, philanthropy, and the private sector. The plan outlines efforts to integrate economic and workforce development in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties and represents a turning point in how the five counties work together.

The Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership, a group of business, civic, and government leaders seeking to strengthen the region’s economic development capacity, will work to implement the report’s findings. With a goal of driving coordinated economic growth throughout the region and expanding opportunity at scale, the partnership aims to align initial efforts in three high-potential industries: enterprise digital solutions, precision manufacturing in industrial technologies, and biomedical engineering and production.

Brookings identified those “opportunity industries” in a market assessment released in July 2025, which included input from more than 90 stakeholders—business leaders, educators, investors, industry experts, and civic representatives—who gathered in roundtables, interviews, working meetings, and other convenings with Pew’s support. Detailed economic performance data showed that the three sectors offer a high concentration of good jobs, which Brookings defined as positions that provide family-sustaining wages, benefits, and advancement pathways that enable self-sufficiency, particularly for workers without four-year degrees.           

Research and engagement in peer regions informed the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership model, which combines what Brookings describes as “business-led governance and investment, dedicated execution capacity, transparency among economic development partners, and accountability through shared performance indicators.” These elements are essential for the partnership’s success and mirror regional economy-building efforts in other major metropolitan areas.

The report also features plans to bolster the competitiveness of Southeastern Pennsylvania. In recent decades, cluster building, a term that describes efforts to cultivate regional industries by leveraging the interconnectedness and proximity of related companies, has emerged as a prime way of creating and sustaining high-value markets across the United States. Brookings has identified five main categories of interventions that help regions to strengthen industry clusters: information and networks, talent development, research and commercialization, infrastructure and placemaking, and capital access.

Brookings found that the three Southeastern Pennsylvania opportunity industries stand to benefit from such cross-cutting interventions. Greater networks, for example, would help regional businesses to pursue common interests and address sector-specific challenges. Talent needs also are a priority for all three industries. Each industry has a range of workforce training and development needs, such as entry-level training or skill advancement for current workers.

The report also outlines needs and tactics that are unique to each opportunity industry. Highlights include:

• Enterprise digital solutions: Innovation and entrepreneurship are critical areas to expand. Tactics include creating incubators and accelerators for new and emerging firms, leveraging corporate partnerships to help existing firms to tackle more complex problems, and building a more cohesive identity for this subset of technology to signal the strength of its regional presence.
• Precision manufacturing: Capacity-building for small and midsize firms, many of which are family-owned, is a high priority. Tactics focus on building support for firms that might struggle to adopt new technologies or need help in developing succession plans.
• Biomedical engineering and production: Access to capital for early-stage firms supports business retention. Tactics aim to create “resident capital,” meaning regional private and public funding pools or networks to support seed companies and keep them in the region. 

The success of the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership requires sustained private sector leadership, along with ongoing investment from the public and philanthropic sectors, to help interrupt economic stagnation in the region and drive economic growth and mobility. Recent research from Opportunity Insights, a team of scholars and policy analysts based at Harvard University, found that the Philadelphia metro region ranks last among the 50 largest U.S. regions in upward mobility for low-income residents. Pew is committed to fostering the economic conditions required to produce more good jobs and support economic advancement in the region. With the Brookings report in hand, leaders have a playbook to pursue those goals, and the emerging partnership provides the structure to ensure commitment, accountability, and results.

Amanda Colón-Smith is an officer and Catie Wolfgang is a senior officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Philadelphia research and policy initiative.