Our Greater Philadelphia region is home to many builders, designers, and craftsmen. We weren’t afraid to get our hands a little messy this week on Growing Greater Philadelphia. From teaching craftsman how to hone their skills, to the recycling and sorting of materials from construction projects, we take a look at how creativity and hands-on work blend together in exciting ways in our 11-county region.

What happens to all the jagged waste left at construction site? Jonathan Wybar explained to Executive Director Matt Cabrey of Select Greater Philadelphia, a council of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, about how his company Revolution Recovery employs a skilled team to sort, lift, press, shred all types of waste into a beautifully conducted muddy orchestra at their sites. Jonathan also described how they work with local artists to bring new life to an otherwise looked-over dumpster.

“At NextFab, traditional manufacturing disciplines meet digital technology to create the next generation of fabrication.” Eric Kaplan and Lisa DellaPorta gave Matt Cabrey, Executive Director of Select Greater Philadelphia, a council of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia an exclusive tour of their friendly makerspace at their South Philadelphia location. In addition, the team at NextFab explained how they provide a teaching environment to help workers grow their trade skills and how Nextfab acts as a collaborative incubator that helps all levels of makers craft creative designs.

“It’s business, not personal” is a philosophy that is often thought of when handling business transactions. This week on Growing Greater Philadelphia we bring you two incredibly successful business leaders that sharply veer from this notion and employ a personal approach when creating their company cultures. We tap into the human condition and reveal how great experiences result in great products and not the other way around.

Most of us in our Greater Philadelphia region can only survive the work week, thanks to the coffee at Saxbys; but there is so much to their company’s story. Nick Bayer explained to Executive Director Matt Cabrey of Select Greater Philadelphia, a council of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, about how he decided to focus on his employees’ and customers’ experiences rather than solely focus on their coffee products. Nick also described Saxbys’ unique program with local universities who have student CEOs managing their stores on campus.