With limited resources, we conducted “mother-in-law� research at these churches to understand the needs of the business owner as well as the consumer who would support them. We learned that:

• Black, brown and disenfranchised businesses were not prepared for the social media and digital/mobile evolution
• The revitalization of neighborhood shopping districts circulating dollars within the communities they serve is extremely important To address their needs and to be more inclusive of all communities, we built two platforms to support small business success:
• ShopPhilly1st.com is a digital directory of all Philadelphia businesses and for shoppers to know where to go if they are looking for a Black, Woman, LGBTQ, Latinx or Veteran owned business. Consumers said they see tremendous value in having all that information in one place to support communities they care about.
• Commerce University a small business content repository designed to help businesses at all stages of formation

iSWOP, the parent company of ShopPhilly1st.com and Commerce University, can best be described by its’ motto, “Supporting Community Commerce�.