"We're going through a honeymoon phase, but in short we've seen a guy in Mayor Nutter, who has jumped in and doing what he said he'd do. He's leading, he's very proactive, he's decisive when he needs to be," Robert Walters, executive managing director at CB Richard Ellis tells GlobeSt.com. "It's not rhetoric or the media. He's earning his high marks. It's really been a positive and refreshing five months for the mayor."
Nutter was sworn in this January. Since then, he has proposed disposing of the gross receipts portion of the business privilege tax within eight years, and he has also worked on reducing the net income portion of the business privilege tax. Nutter is a former investment manager who took pro-business stances on the Philadelphia City Council, where he argued for cuts in wage and business privilege taxes. He also changed the way city contracts worked by rallying against the "pay to play" culture.
"He's delivered a message that he's very interested in helping attract business and address issues that can help us stimulate even greater business activity--especially on the tax front. I think he's taken a strong and very proactive approach not only attracting business to the city, but certainly being sensitive and empathetic towards some of the issues we have and have had over the past few years," says Walters. "He's trying to help along with the business community and trying to help identify ways to stimulate our business economy and to grow it if at all possible."
Some of Nutter's other programs include a city internship program and tax breaks for businesses that hire ex-offenders. Walters says CBRE takes interns from local schools such as Pennsylvania, Saint Joe's and Villanova. Walters says he needs more information on the mayor's other programs.
"Clearly, whatever he can do for the business community obviously finds its way to the real estate community, of which CBRE is a significant player," says Walters. "Clearly Mayor Nutter plays a role behind the scenes and trying to articulate benefits of the Philadelphia and Downtown marketplace."Of the executives asked, 45% said the best way for Nutter to improve the business climate is by lowering taxes, 25% said attracting new businesses is most important, 16% want the quality of life improved, 7% said help out the work force and 6% want the transportation system smoothed out.
"The general business community gives him very good marks at this point. He's very visible in the business community and reached out to various groups and organizations," says Walters.
More than half of the executives questioned --60% said they believed their own companies will be doing better this time next year, while the remaining percentage said their companies will be doing worse in the future.
"Our numbers are off slightly, and that's primarily a result of the capital and debt markets that are severely constrained. Our business is in Philly Metro, which includes Delaware, southern New Jersey out to Harrisburg. Our business probably more than doubled in the last three to four years. So, numbers are off slightly compared the prior year, but that's measured against abnormal growth," says Walters. "We're carrying some extra weight around the track this year which is caused by external factors."
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