The City of Philadelphia issued the following press release yesterday, March 24, 2011:
During a reception hosted by Mayor Michael A. Nutter to honor GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for its leadership in the community, GSK’s CEO Andrew Witty surprised Mayor Nutter as well as attending business and civic leaders by pledging a $5 million grant for youth development. Witty made the announcement with GSK’s North American leadership including Deidre Connelly, the President of GSK North American Pharmaceuticals, and Dan Phelan, Senior Advisor to the CEO. Witty described the $5 million pledge as an instrument to encourage and inspire young people to excel in the 21st century workforce. The City of Philadelphia will work with GSK to determine how the funding will be allocated.
“I couldn’t have been more surprised and delighted with GSK’s pledge of $5 million for the youth of Philadelphia. The generosity and ongoing commitment of GSK to Philadelphia, is greatly appreciated,” said Mayor Nutter. “This funding will be used for the development of our young people, to help them reach their goals and drive the economy forward.” “GSK has prospered in the Philadelphia region for 181 years because of the talented employee base,” said Andrew Witty, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline. “We are delighted to pledge $5 million to the city and non-profits to inspire the next generation of leaders.”
The gift will be in addition to the philanthropic programs that GSK already has in place to drive sustainable changes in healthcare in the community. Over the past ten years, GSK has contributed more than $15 million to Philadelphia non-profit organizations.
In February 2011, Mayor Nutter announced “Jobs Week”, a series of jobs-related economic opportunity events throughout the city to announce the development or expansion of businesses in Philadelphia. As one of the premier announcements that week, Mayor Nutter and GSK announced that the pharmaceutical company will move their Philadelphia operations to The Navy Yard Corporate Center starting in the fourth quarter of 2012. GSK signed a 15.5 year lease for the $81 million, LEED platinum certified building that will be developed by Liberty Property Trust and Synterra Partners. It will be designed as an inspiring, collaborative work space. The relocation will preserve 1,300 jobs in Philadelphia.
The reception was held in collaboration with the British-American Business Council (BABC), the largest transatlantic business network and a program of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and Select Greater Philadelphia, an economic development marketing organization and affiliate of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information go to us.gsk.com, follow us on twitter.com/GSKUS or visit our blog (http://www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.com/blog/ohttp:/www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.com/blog/).
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