Guest Comment: Olympic-Ready Philadelphia

August 16, 2012

Jack Ferguson & Steve Wray, Philadelphia Business Journal

As the 2012 Summer Olympics come to a close in London, we couldn't help but to imagine that scene in Philadelphia. Why? Because every four years another city in the world hosts the Summer Games and Philadelphia should be on the list.

While there are differing opinions on the return on investment in hosting an Olympic Games, there is no doubt in our minds that London's image was enhanced by hosting the Games. Every TV shot, tweet, international tourist, and logo placement helped to leave London engrained in our minds this summer. Now imagine if all of those placements, all that buzz, read Philadelphia.

It is estimated the 2012 Games in London will stimulate nearly $10 billion through 2015. Add in the priceless exposure from 20,000 media covering the Olympics, new housing options, 18,000 new jobs, and an enhanced transportation network, and the ROI becomes much clearer. Hosting a future Olympics could be a great opportunity to show the world what Greater Philadelphia stands for. The place where freedom and democracy were born and still thrive, where our people and places are accessible and friendly, where the greatest art collections in the world are on display, where the best universities are shaping the world's emerging leaders, and where our continuing spirit of innovation is incubating technology, food, science and fashion.

So if the USOC decides to bid on another Summer Olympic Games (the next one open is 2024), Philadelphia should be ready, willing and able to host the Games. That means preparing now; meeting with State and City officials, business leaders, sports teams, neighborhood groups and citizens, and NBC's parent company Comcast to set a vision for making this a reality; because it IS possible. But we shouldn't have to wait for the USOC to do what it takes to make this a world-class, Olympics-ready region. In fact, we can build our readiness for an Olympics now, as part of long-term planning and strategies currently underway, whether we ever get the Games or not. The reality is that we are already in a global competition for investment, businesses, visitors, conventions and talent. For us to win that competition, we need to focus on a few basics that will benefit all of us on a daily basis.

Right now, there are leaders around our region doing what we would need to do to get the Olympics. They are working every day to enhance our local infrastructure (public transit, airport expansion, neighborhood services and hotel development) to make sure that it helps us connect both to the world and around the corner. Others are working night and day to improve our schools and ensure that our children and existing workers have the skills and opportunities to succeed. And we have an emerging start-up scene that when combined with our existing businesses is making Philadelphia an increasingly attractive place to live, invest and grow. Connect all of this with our well-known strengths in higher education and life sciences, and Greater Philadelphia has the potential to be a gold-medal region. As our Olympians showed, with hard work, training and dedication to winning, anything is possible. We believe the same is true for our region.

We need our own Olympian effort to build civic pride and create a global image that makes Philadelphia Olympics-ready. This region can accelerate and come out on top. We can stick the landing, inspire the next generation, win the Gold for locals, and the hearts of the world. It's time to get to work.

Jack Ferguson is president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Steve Wray is executive director of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia.