[Update 1.26.10 2:12pm] It has been speculated that the next cities have been chosen, Boston and Austin. These are unconfirmed by Fast Company as of this update. We encourage Philadelphia's entrepreneurial community to continue sending comments and voicing Philadelphia's attributes.

Call to Organize for Philadelphia’s Entrepreneurs

Fast Company is releasing a 5-part series on great cities for start ups. So far, New York City, Boulder, and the latest, Seattle, have been published. That only leaves 2 spots and Philly should be one of them. Innovation Philadelphia asked Fast Company how Philly could get noticed because, well, it deserves to be. To get our great city included, send your thoughts and ideas on Why You Should Start a Company in... Philadelphia to ideas(at)fastcompany(dot)com.

Shine a spotlight on this incredible, budding, entrepreneurial city of ours. We are a changing city of innovative and global minds, unafraid to be entrepreneurs and are supportive of entrepreneurs. Contact Fast Company and tell them why you came to Philadelphia? Why did you start a business here? Why do you support Philly startups?

Read the first 3 in the series – NYC, Boulder, Seattle. Philadelphia is a great city to start a company. Forward those reasons to ideas(at)fastcompany(dot)com.

[Update 2.1.10] We were sent some of the letters Philadelphian's sent to Fast Company and would like to share.

From Entrepreneur's Entourage. A related blog post can be found here.

To whom it may concern,

Many think of Philadelphia as industrial, dated and a little on the maniacal side when it comes to sports fans; but in reality, our city has only been on the up and up with making our neighborhoods green and eco-friendly, providing accessible resources for small businesses to launch, and providing better services for our budding entrepreneurs.

Our top Universities excel in providing programs and opportunities for entrepreneurs and start up companies alike. The University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University both have entrepreneurial clinics and offer many services to our community out of their Small Business Development Center. Another great resource that my partner and I have been invited into is the entrepreneurial clinic at the University of Pennsylvania Legal Clinic. Each year graduating seniors work with companies in the area to help meet their legal needs pro bono. We were able to utilize the clinic to form our partnership agreement as well as help negotiate some business documents.

I came to Philadelphia 4 years ago when my job as a magazine publisher moved me here. As part of a large west coast media company I did not get very involved in my community and neighborhood within Philadelphia. But, when I left the magazine a year ago and decided to start my own company with a local friend, I was immediately embraced by the community and exposed to the limitless opportunities for networking, support, and social marketing. We couldn't imaging running our virtual company, Entrepreneur's Entourage, from anywhere else. We have been able to provide our clients with great services like web design, branding, internet marketing and project management by including so many of Philly's talented entrepreneurs and free-lance consultants on our team of professionals.

There are many more reasons why my partner and I have found great success with our new business as a result of being located in Philadelphia. I would be happy to answer any questions or provide you with more information to help Philly be recognized as a top city for start ups in your Shine section!

Sincerely,

Cheryl Amaya

VP Entrepreneur's Entourage

www.entrepreneursentourage.com

Twitter @EntrepEntourage

From Bressler Group.

To whom it may concern.

I am managing partner for a product design firm in Center City Philadelphia. And while the firm is not a startup, me and two other colleagues just completed negotiations to buy the firm from the long time owner. So we’ve decided to restart and grow our consulting firm here in Philly.

I’m personally a transplant from metro NY. And while Philly is not New York we enjoy a lot of the same benefits here in the northeast corridor. Quality of life is very good, access to the arts, mass transit, great and diverse restaurants and culture, ocean / shore access, etc. Plus here in Philly the cost of living and running a business is modest compared to NY, DC and Boston.

I’ve lived here now for nearly 20 years and have seen the city grow better every year. I own a home with my wife and have two kids. We live about 10 minutes by foot from my office. Most of our 19 employees walk, bike or take a short train ride to work. Like NY and Boston, it’s very convenient for employees to live where they work and mix business and pleasure in town.

And while there are still some annoying tax issues for businesses to contend with there seems to be a push to reduce things like city wage tax over time. The city has also opened a number of K zones to support business growth. And the political power structure is more progressive now than in the recent past.

And for entrepreneurial companies, there is a young and growing professional core. We have world class universities here in the city and more and more grads are choosing to stay and make it happen in Philly. And the more people open up shop here, even more of the best and brightest will stay.

Best Regards,

Mike Flanagan

Managing Partner

The Bressler Group

Bressler Group