Chamber Of Commerce President For Greater Philadelphia Notes 2025 Progress

Philly Daily, where my Crime Beat column appears each week, reports that Chellie Cameron, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, sent out a letter celebrating the progress the chamber has made in 2025. 

You can read the piece via the below link or the following text: 

Chamber of Commerce President for Greater Philadelphia Notes 2025 Progress - Philly Daily

Dear Chamber Community,

This year, you saw your Chamber at work to make Greater 

Philadelphia a top global destination for business and a leader in inclusive growth. Together with our members, investors, and partners, we advanced initiatives that attract investment, strengthened talent pipelines, and advocated for policies that create a competitive business climate. As the year comes to a close, it’s time to celebrate the progress we’ve made and look forward to the opportunities for growth that lie ahead in 2026. 

We celebrated record activity in our business attraction and expansion work with over 250 companies considering Greater Philadelphia as a place to locate, expand or retain their business – proving our assertion that we can lead as a region that is connected, collaborative, and accessible to the world. We celebrated major investment announcements, including: 

·         Hanwha Philly Shipyard’s unveiling of a $5 billion infrastructure plan, creating transformative opportunities at the Navy Yard.

·         GSK’s new biologics flex factory, which will be built in Montgomery County, will produce medicines for respiratory disease and cancer. The company expects construction to begin in 2026.

·         And just this month, leading canned beverage manufacturer DrinkPAK announced plans to establish its first Pennsylvania manufacturing facility at The Bellwether District, bringing another 450 jobs to our region.

The Chamber was proud to play a key role in these business relocations and expansions. 

We’ve also prioritized workforce and talent initiatives that leverage one of our region’s greatest assets and opportunities – our people. This year, the Greater Philadelphia Talent Network connected 40+ employers with nearly 40 education and workforce institutions, focused on fair chance hiring and apprenticeships, creating inclusive pathways to opportunity. We launched Stay for Philly, a talent attraction and retention campaign in partnership with Visit Philadelphia, aimed at converting visitors into permanent residents. 

In 2025, we continued our work advocating on behalf of the business community to foster regional growth and create more economic opportunities for everyone. When SEPTA faced a funding crisis, we sounded the alarm and mobilized the business community to protect a system vital to our economy. Our advocacy helped to amplify this issue and secure commitments that keep our region moving. Next year, we’ll continue to convene regional leaders to keep public transportation funding solutions at the forefront.

We worked closely with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, and Chamber members including Target, Five Below, and the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association to address retail theft. Through careful collaboration, Philadelphia implemented a data-driven strategy that reduced retail theft by 13% since 2024. 
Other advocacy efforts and wins include supporting Pennsylvania’s Employer Childcare Contribution Credit, which eases the burden for working parents,  collaborating with Philadelphia City Council to refine and pass updates to the Fair Chance Hiring Law, a victory for employers, justice-impacted individuals, and our economy, advocating on behalf of our members for policies that promote a business friendly climate, and supporting efforts around the advocacy for NIH funding through coalition and Chamber based strategies. 

We were also proud to honor Greg Deavens as he completed his term as Chair of our Board of Directors and welcomed Chris Franklin as our new Board Chair. As Chair, Chris is focusing on the redevelopment of Market East as well as transportation, including the airports, public transit, and statewide transportation funding to keep our city and region moving. 

And there’s much more to come in the new year: FIFA World Cup matches, our nation’s semi-quincentennial celebrations, the William Penn Award honoring Jami McKeon this April, and in January, our annual State of the Economy event. For those that are interested in serving as a vendor for the events our region will host in 2026, our friends at ESM Productions have started a vendor contact directory which you can join here. 

Thank you for your partnership and leadership this year. Together, we are building a Greater Philadelphia that competes globally, grows inclusively, and delivers opportunity for all. Here’s to an extraordinary year ahead.

In Service,

Chellie

Chellie Cameron
President and Chief Executive Officer,
The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia