Sam Katz

Sam Katz is a lifelong Philadelphian who has experienced a diverse and unique career in public and project finance, venture capital, civic affairs, development, politics and now documentary filmmaking.In 1976 he joined Public Financial Management, Inc., a municipal financial advisory firm.  During his 20 years there, the firm grew from two to 200 employees with Sam serving as its Co-CEO.  While at PFM, he structured and arranged financing for major projects including the Orlando International Airport; the Los Angeles, Metro Washington and Atlanta rapid transit systems; major stadiums and arenas including the Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia), Camden Yards (in Baltimore), Coors Field (Denver) and others,  and assisted several fiscally distressed cities.  Sam led PFM for nearly two decades and helped the firm build a robust national public finance practice and reputation.During the Philadelphia's major fiscal crisis in 1991, Sam ran for Mayor commencing a long term quest to win that job.  In 1999, he lost the closest election in the city’s modern history.  Following that defeat, Sam was selected as the CEO of Greater Philadelphia First a business civic group focused on regional economic, education and other policy issues.  In 2003, he again ran for Mayor in a campaign that will long be remembered for the FBI's "bug", installed in the Mayor's office, and that ultimately swamped the campaign.  He also was a candidate in the Republican primary for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1994.In 2000, Sam created a venture capital fund, Wynnefield Private Equity Partners, which invested in Philadelphia area technology companies and was a co-founder of BioAdvance, the region's leading early stage investor in biotech.  He presently serves as Board Chair of BioAdvance. In February 2011, Governor Tom Corbett appointed Sam to the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, the State board overseeing the Philadelphia’s finances.  He currently serves as Board Chair.Over the past three years, Sam and his son, Philip, have been producing a documentary film series on the history of Philadelphia entitled, “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment”.  They have also produced films on the life of Bishop Richard Allen, the life of merchant-banker Stephen Girard and the founding of the Union League and are working on several other projects.Sam has recently joined USA250, Inc. a not-for-profit established to vision, plan, collaborate and develop a national celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, which will take place in 2026 and based in the Greater Philadelphia region.Sam and Connie Katz have been married for 40 years and raised their now four grown children in the West Mt. Airy section of the city.   They are both active leaders in organizations within the Greater Philadelphia Jewish Community including Germantown Jewish Centre, American Associates of Ben Gurion University, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and Barrack Hebrew Academy.Sam is a graduate of Central High School (226th graduating class, 1967), the Johns Hopkins University (BA, 1971) and the New School for Social Research (MA, 1974).