Business is about making money— bottom-lines, profit margins, dollar signs. With budding commercial corridors developing along Girard and Frankford Avenues, Philadelphia Financial Credit Union (PFCU), New Kensington Community Development Corporation and the Fishtown Area Business Association (FABA) are looking for ways to add community cooperation and new information into the local business conversation.

On Wed., April 30 PFCU, NKCDC and FABA will host a Small Business Networking Event for community business owners at O3 World (1339 Frankford Ave., Suite 3) from 6PM-8PM. The event will feature the presentation of survey results that have been collected from more than 90 of the neighborhood’s small business owners.

“We had a pilot event with the Mount Airy Business Association where we wanted to understand what small business owners were experiencing in that community,” Karen Eavis, PFCU Communication Specialist, said. “Because this April is the one year anniversary of our Fishtown branch, we thought it would be a great time for us to work with the New Kensington Community Development Corporation and the Fishtown Area Business Association to bring that survey into this community.”

The hyperlocal survey was developed along with NKCDC and FABA so that each organization could get a feel for what local small business owners are experiencing in this economy— their feelings, challenges, successes and opinion. The ultimate goal is create an open discussion where PFCU, NKCDC and FABA can work with local businesses and see if better services can be provided to suit the specific needs of business owners in the area.

“We provide a lot of different kinds of support,” Joanna Winchester, Economic Development Specialist at NKCDC, said. “A lot of it is one-on-one advice and assistance, especially as folks look into expanding or starting a business.”

NKCDC also helps connect business owners with city services, explains different financing options, works with people on storefront improvement grants and helps others with fitting out or finding a new space. FABA, on the other hand, works to connect businesses with each other, with the community’s residents and with the city. This is done at bi-monthly membership mixers and different workshops.

Michael Driscoll, PFCU Vice President of Business Development, will present the survey results and open up the discussion. Once the presentation is over, light refreshments will be available and networking is encouraged.

“We’re looking to get diverse folks in here as well,” said Winchester. “We want the businesses that have been here for 60+ years and business that have just opened up.”

For Winchester, the staggering number of surveys that had been filled out proved testament to how active the area’s small businesses are and how lucky the neighborhood is to have dedicated business owners.

“All of this energy going on in the [Girard and Frankford] corridor is relatively new—it’s so exciting to see it happen in a way that is still keeping the small business owner at the forefront. Our mission is to always make sure they get support so it stays that way,” she said. “One of the advantages of this area is our history of making things— we have a lot of creativity with folks making a lot of great products. I think that across the board, business owners know that the more of that we can foster together, the more we create, the more business everybody gets.”