University City District, a nonprofit group in Philadelphia, has built partnerships with anchor institutions, small businesses, and residents to create opportunity, strengthened economic vitality, and improved the quality of life. Matt Bergheiser, president of the University City District, will speak at the Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Trenton Economic Development Series event alongside Trenton mayor Reed Gusciora on Friday, July 12, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Trenton Country Club. Tickets are $35. For more information, visit www.princetonmercerchamber.org.
The University City District serves a 2.5-square-mile area of Philadelphia. Since 2009, Bergheiser, as president, has led collaborations to undertake $9 million in public space and civic infrastructure investments; launch the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, a workforce intermediary that has generated $35 million in wages for formerly long-term unemployed Philadelphians; create Project Rehab to renovate 120 formerly abandoned housing units; and start Green City Works, a landscaping social venture that employs neighborhood residents with substantial barriers to employment to maintain 1.5 million square feet of green space.
Prior to joining University City District Bergheiser was executive director of the Trenton Downtown Association from 2002 to 2006. There, he partnered on efforts to enhance the commercial vitality of Trenton, including the creation of the Patriots Week history festival and the seeding of new downtown retail and artist studio space.
