We work at all levels to support manufacturers. DVIRC's Regional Initiatives team spearheads our efforts to stay informed about issues and trends, work on programs related to these issues and keeps you, and decision makers within government, informed. From research programs, legislative communication campaigns, and intermediation and coordination of efforts with other economic development organizations, through aggressive proposal development for resources, to nationally-recognized workforce development and education efforts, the DVIRC works harder for manufacturers in the Philadelphia region than any other organization. This section of our website will give you just a brief overview of what else we do, as well as provide a few resources for finding information such as elected officials and current government programs related to manufacturing.

Regional Initiatives

The DVIRC has one of the strongest and most influential Regional Initiatives teams in the country supporting Philadelphia regional manufacturers. This team is responsible for tremendous 'behind the scenes' work that goes on every day at local, state and national levels to identify and deliver resources that focus on the issues that affect manufacturing in Pennsylvania in general and in Greater Philadelphia in particular.

Through focused work over the past several years, our Regional Initiatives team has evolved as a workforce and economic development intermediary. And because of our integrity in working with many economic development, educational, and workforce development organizations, we are able to act as trusted advisors and conduits for information and resources across traditional boundaries. We identify common goals and then drive towards results.

Regional Initiatives' efforts fall into three main areas:

Regional Economic Development Leadership

Historically, much of our Regional Initiatives work focused on bringing together the many different economic development, workforce development, and business-related organizations to simply communicate and to identify common areas of opportunity. This included relationships with our county-based Economic/Industrial Development partners, IRC and MEP partners, local chambers, workforce investment boards, and academic institutions. Technology-focused partners such as the Ben Franklin Technology Partners have become key allies. Some of the programs we've worked on include:

  • Team Pennsylvania and the Business Calling Program (now the Business Retention & Expansion Program)
  • The Strategy 21 regional economic competitiveness partnership
  • The Commonwealth's Stay Invent the Future initiative
  • World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia

The DVIRC continues to manage our region's portion of the statewide Business Retention & Expansion Program sponsored by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Identifying and Gaining Resources for Regional Initiatives

The DVIRC has taken a leadership role in developing proposals to bring resources to our region that support solutions to our manufacturing issues. From 1990 to 2002, with the support and cooperation of the Strategy 21 partners, DVIRC helped to leverage over $20 million in additional state and federal funding into Southeastern Pennsylvania for a wide variety of workforce and economic development activities.

Currently, we are working directly with many organizations, including:

  • The U.S. Department of Commerce
  • U.S. Department of Labor
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
  • The Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board
  • The regional Nanotechnology Institute, or NTI

For a more in-depth briefing of our work in these areas, click here.

Legislative and Government Communications

Another key area of support provided to manufacturers includes our efforts to communicate to local, state and federal legislative and other government departments on manufacturing issues and trends. We work closely with regional and national manufacturing groups such as the National Association of Manufacturers, Association for Manufacturing Excellence and the National Council for Advanced Manufacturing to communicate issues, sponsor letter-writing campaigns at all levels for our manufacturers on critical issues, and to engage elected officials on the issues facing businesses in their districts.

The DVIRC is also very active during 'Hill Day'. Every year in March, we visit Capital Hill along with some of our manufacturers to present critical issues and get 'face time' with our Senators and Congressmen, Committee Chairpersons, and key sub-committee members to raise the voice of manufacturing and to be sure your 'voice' is heard.

The following sites might be of use:

The Pennsylvania General Assembly - http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm

The U. S. House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/

The U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/

Capitol Advantage's Congress.org - to find your elected officials - http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/