Small Businesses: Investing in Camden's People and Communities

Very interesting story and as a small business in Camden, we are very grateful for those “large and prominent” firms who are bringing vitality back this great City.

Cooper's Ferry Reports:

With so many large and prominent employers moving to Camden, it’s sometimes easy to lose track of the fact that small business development in the city has been booming, too. Thanks to help from initiatives like the Committed to Camden Committee, which links the city’s small businesses with larger businesses to create business-to-business opportunities, small businesses across the city are flourishing.

Just ask Ibrahim Branham, a long-time Camden resident and proud owner of IJB Electrical Contractor, LLC. Branham, raised in Cramer Hill and Lanning Square, started his own business after attending Rutgers University-Camden and then pursuing a career in the Trades. He became a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and worked for other local businesses like Joseph Jingoli & Son before ultimately making the decision to create his own company.

Seven years and six employees later, Branham’s company is thriving and working on major projects like the waterfront’s $245 million Camden Tower. Branham is giving back to his community, as well, collaborating with local organizations like Jingoli’s Live Classroom program and the Boys & Girls Club of Camden County to teach area youth useful trade skills. One of their more recent projects is transforming an empty shipping container into a usable, self-contained command center, complete with solar panels, air-conditioning, heating, electrical, water, telecommunications equipment, and workstations. Once completed, the container will be transported to the Camden Tower project site where it will be used as a jobsite office for IJB Electrical.

Together with Camden’s larger employers, entrepreneurs like Branham are investing in more than just their companies – they are investing in Camden’s residents and communities, helping to make Camden a better place to live, work, and play.