The Philadelphia ASA thanks Dr. Mudambi for his fascinating presentation at their January 19, 2022 breakfast meeting on “Recent Trends in Globalization, Knowledge-based Intangibles, and Populism – Implications for Local Communities”

Ram Mudambi is the Frank M. Speakman Professor of Strategy at the Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA. Previously he served on the faculties of Case Western Reserve University, the University of Reading in England, and the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. He received his M.Sc. (Econ) from the London School of Economics and his Ph.D. from Cornell University. He is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business (AIB) and of the European International Business Academy (EIBA). He is a co-editor of the Global Strategy Journal and an Area Editor at the Journal of International Business Policy. He is also a consulting editor at the Journal of International Business Studies where he previously served as an Area Editor. 

Dr. Mudambi’s current research focuses on the geography of innovation particularly in the context of emerging economies. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research papers. His work has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Economic Geography, the Strategic Management Journal, and the Journal of International Business Studies among many others. His practitioner pieces have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, the Sloan Management Review, and the California Management Review. His media appearances include the New York Times, The Atlantic magazine, National Public Radio, and numerous local radio and TV programs. He recently co-authored a case study on La Colombe Coffee Roasters, one of Philadelphia’s most recent business success stories.

Dr. Mudambi writes fiction under the pen name R.M. Burgess and has published seven novels, with that latest just out in 2021. He is currently working on his eighth and ninth novels.

Philadelphia ASA Business Valuation Panel Discussion

At the November 17, 2021 General meeting, held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Plymouth Meeting at 6:30pm, the Philadelphia ASA was delighted to host three Philadelphia business appraisers for a panel discussion on current topics in Business Valuation. 

The panelists included Steven Juska, Sean O’Rielly and John Barton, all of whom have decades of experience performing business appraisals. The panelists spoke about pending government budgets and tax laws, trends in fair value accounting and business valuation in a post-Covid 19 pandemic world where divorces are not uncommon and there is a need for an equitable division of marital assets.

As is the case for many business appraisers, each of the panelist has a focus for the majority of their work. Juska focuses primarily on litigation, O’Rielly focuses on fair value and purchase price accounting and Barton focuses on valuations for estate tax purposes. All the panelists, however, branch out from their general focus areas depending on client needs. 

The panelists’ contact information is included in the links in their names noted following in case you are looking for a business appraisal or valuation of intangible assets and would like to reach out to them. 

Steven Juska, ASA – Managing Director, CBIZ

Sean O’Reilly, ASA – Valuation Partner, CFGI

John J. Barton, ASA – President, Brandywine Valuation Consultants, LLC

As always, the National ASA website is a great place to find an appraiser for any specialty or contact us with requests for recommendations.

The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers thanks Derrick Pitts for his interesting presentation. 

At the Spring May 26, 2021 General Meeting, Derrick Pitts spoke about current trends in Space Exploration and the race for Mars in an hour long virtual presentation. The Philadelphia ASA highly recommend that you check out the Franklin Institute for their ongoing programs.

Derrick H. Pitts is an American astronomer. He is Chief Astronomer and Planetarium Director for the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the president of the Philadelphia chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. He has made numerous television appearances, including shows such as The Colbert Report, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, and The Ed Show. Since 1991, he’s co-hosted a weekly radio discussion program called Skytalk on WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Pitts is a graduate of Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, PA), St. Lawrence University, (Canton, NY) and has received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from La Salle University (Philadelphia, PA) and University College of Mathematics and Science.

Derrick tells some of his story in this interview.

On April 26th, ASA testified before the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and The Homeless to address factors leading to the devaluation of homes in minority communities.

The testimony pointed out two key drivers of devaluation: The overreliance on the Sales Comparison approach and unconscious bias. While there is much work to be done to address devaluation, ASA spoke of hope through education and greater diversity within the appraisal profession to help establish long-term solutions.

A transcript of ASA’s testimony may be viewed here.

The hearing was broadcast live on local Philadelphia Channel 64. A recording of the hearing may be viewed here. ASA’s testimony appears at 1:24:50-1:32:00.

The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Metro Philadelphia Newsletter also ran editorial coverage of the hearing, including a quote by ASA.

Source: National ASA news links.

The Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers thanks Ken for being the guest speaker at our March 2021 General Meeting. 

Ken Weinstein Background and Bio

Ken Weinstein shared insight into his projects including real estate development revitalizing the area around Wayne Junction and his extensive business and civic track record.  Ken’s mission is to revitalize neighborhoods by renovating vacant, deteriorated properties along Philadelphia’s commercial corridors. He believes that you can do well by doing good.

Ken is an active entrepreneur and real estate developer in the Philadelphia area. He serves as President of Philly Office Retail, which has renovated and restored more than 300 vacant and deteriorated commercial and residential units in the Philadelphia region during the past 30 years. Philly Office Retail currently owns and manages more than 800,000 square feet of commercial and residential space in the Philadelphia region and has received six Preservation Alliance Awards for its adaptive reuse projects. 

Ken founded and operated Cresheim Cottage Cafe from 1996 until 2004, Trolley Car Diner, Deli and Ice Cream Shoppe in Mt. Airy from 2000 until 2019 and Trolley Car Cafe, serving breakfast, lunch and parties in East Falls since 2010. 

Previously, Ken served as Chief of Staff for Philadelphia City Councilwoman Happy Fernandez from 1991-1995 and currently serves as President of the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), as a Mayoral appointee, and Chair of the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District which he co-founded in 2007. Ken is Founder of the Trolley Car Teacher’s Fund, which contributes $25,000/year in grants to public school teachers and Trolley Car Table Tennis Club, the only full time table tennis club in the Philadelphia region. Ken was an Organizer/Board Member of Valley Green Bank for 8 years until it was sold to Univest Bank in January 2015. 

Ken regularly lectures on subjects ranging from real estate development to entrepreneurship to social impact investing and taught a graduate level class, entitled “Empowering Communities Through Real Estate Development,” at University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. In 2015, Ken founded Jumpstart Germantown, an award winning community development program that works to revitalize the Germantown section of Philadelphia, and surrounding communities, through training, mentoring, networking and providing financial resources to local aspiring developers. Now with seven Programs throughout the City of Philadelphia, Jumpstart has graduated more than 1,000 mentees from its training programs and made hundreds of loans to its participants. 

In 2004, Ken was awarded the Business Leader of the Year Award by West Mt. Airy Neighbors, in 2005 was given the Community Service Award by the Center City Proprietors Association, in 2006 was named one of Philadelphia’s 101 Connectors by Leadership Philadelphia, in 2009 received the Distinguished Leadership Award by Community College of Philadelphia, in 2010 received the My Block, My Business Award by the Empowerment Group, in 2011 was awarded the Edgar Baker Community Service Award by East Mt. Airy Neighbors, the 2012 Retailer of the Year Award by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and was honored by the Philadelphia Parks Alliance in 2013. In 2015, Ken received honors by the Waldorf School of Philadelphia, the Wissahickon Charter School and the Philadelphia Business Journal as “Do Gooder of the Year.” In 2018, Ken was honored by Mt. Airy USA and Historic Germantown as a community champion, by the Commonwealth Youth Choirs with its Founder’s Award, by SustainPHL with its Social Impact Award and by the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia with its ImpactPHL Award.