Kenny Holdsman, a 1985 graduate of Cheltenham High School and CEO of Philadelphia Youth Basketball (PYB), was recently featured in the Philadelphia Business Journal for launching a $50 million campaign to build a 40,000 sf workforce development center next to its base in North Philadelphia’s Nicetown neighborhood.

The project, dubbed The Generator of Career Development and Economic Opportunity, is adjacent to PYB’s Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center at 4250 Wissahickon Avenue, which Holdsman opened in 2024. The group plans to break ground on The Generator in fall 2027 with an anticipated opening in early 2029. 

PYB has raised 20% of the project’s total cost so far, and Temple University, Jefferson Health, Hanwha Philly Shipyard and Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Center have already committed to be partners.

Holdsman told the Journal that a a significant part of helping people build great lives “is economic opportunity and career development”.

“There has to be opportunities to gain employment with real headroom and a clear pathway to a career that yields family sustaining wages and health benefits so the individual and his or her family can be free from economic insecurity, food insecurity, housing insecurity,” Holdsman said.

PYB serves roughly 1,200 youths per year. In 2021, the organization caught the eye of Sixers superfan Alan Horwitz, who gifted the club $5 million to start fundraising.

For more on Philadelphia Youth Basketball, you can visit their Facebook page and website. For more on Holdsman, you can listen to his recent interview with Bryn Mawr Trust below:

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Renderings: Voith & Mactavish Architects | Photo: Lehigh University