Governor Josh Shapiro visited the Alan Horwitz “Sixth Man” Center in North Philadelphia on Friday, September 25, 2026, and announced a fresh $500,000 state grant for a planned $50 million expansion that would turn the youth basketball facility into a hub for career training and economic mobility. The new building, called The Generator, is designed to help thousands of young adults in Philadelphia and the surrounding region build lasting careers, according to a press release tied to the announcement.
The grant, drawn from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, brings the Commonwealth's total investment in Philadelphia Youth Basketball to $15.3 million, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Generator is planned as a 40,000-square-foot building constructed immediately adjacent to the existing Sixth Man Center at 4250 Wissahickon Avenue, with groundbreaking scheduled for fall 2027, as reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Once complete, the combined site would form a unified 140,000-square-foot youth development campus.
According to a press release announcing the project, first reported locally by PHL17, Philadelphia Youth Basketball describes the full effort as “The Generator of Career Development & Economic Opportunity,” designed to close access gaps to careers in the skilled trades, construction, technology, healthcare, and entrepreneurship. The nonprofit says the project builds on the youth development and economic mobility pipeline established through its Kinder-to-Career framework, which is already delivered at the Sixth Man Center and throughout the city. Together, the two buildings are meant to serve as centerpieces of a single campus supporting young people from childhood through career entry, per the release.
From Youth Courts to Job Training Floors
From Youth Courts to Job Training Floors Where the original Sixth Man Center focused on kids and teens through basketball, classes, and youth programming, The Generator shifts its attention to young adults ages 18 to 29 who are not enrolled in school or connected to steady work. The organization projects that roughly 600 young adults will participate in certificate workforce programs annually once the facility opens, per the Inquirer's reporting. That population, sometimes described by researchers as “disconnected youth,” is significant in Philadelphia: academic and federal labor data cited by the Inquirer indicate that roughly 16% to 21% of young Black adults in urban areas like Philadelphia fall into that category, neither in school nor in the labor force.
Philadelphia Youth Basketball says it plans to bridge that gap between disconnected young adults and existing workforce systems by combining long-term relationships, wraparound support, and employer-connected training. The organization's stated aim is to improve job readiness, placement, retention, and wage growth for participants, with a particular focus on people of color from lower-income families and communities, according to the release. The Generator is meant to concentrate on industries facing significant labor shortages, pairing hands-on instruction with the kind of support services that often determine whether someone can hold down a job.
Wraparound Services and Employer Partners
Programmatic offerings inside The Generator are expected to include specialized hands-on technical instruction, a small business accelerator, clinical health and mental health services, career coaching, job placement, driver's education, healthy meals, and financial literacy training, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Major institutional and corporate partners already committed to the project include Temple University, Jefferson Health, Hanwha Philly Shipyard, and the Eastern Atlantic States Carpenters Technical Center, spanning healthcare, shipbuilding, higher education, and union skilled trades, as identified by Glenside Local.
Funding Gap and Fundraising Ahead
Philadelphia Youth Basketball raised 20% of the project's costs during a quiet fundraiser, according to the press release covered by PHL17, leaving the nonprofit to secure the remaining funds before it can complete the $50 million project. The Generator is planned to open in early 2029. It remains to be seen how quickly the organization can close that funding gap, and how effectively its eventual trade certifications will translate into union apprenticeships and private-sector hires through partners like Jefferson Health and Hanwha Philly Shipyard.
The expansion builds on a facility with a substantial track record already. The original $36 million, 100,000-square-foot Sixth Man Center opened in 2024 inside a converted former chair-making factory, following a $5 million founding gift from 76ers superfan Alan Horwitz in 2021 and an $8.5 million state grant, according to the Chestnut Hill Local. The center houses seven basketball courts and drew more than 94,000 visitors over a 90-day stretch last summer, per the same account. Hoodline previously covered its 2024 ribbon-cutting, when Mayor Cherelle Parker attended the opening.
Leadership and Statewide Context
Philadelphia Youth Basketball was co-founded in 2015 by President and CEO Kenny Holdsman, who previously led Legacy Youth Tennis and Education, along with Vice President of Basketball Operations Eric Worley. The organization operated out of partner gyms across the city for nearly a decade before opening its permanent Nicetown hub, the Chestnut Hill Local reported.
Friday's announcement also fit into a broader statewide push on workforce development. Pennsylvania has registered 278 new apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs and enrolled over 30,000 apprentices and pre-apprentices in registered programs statewide under Governor Shapiro's administration, according to the Commonwealth. State officials frame that investment in pre-apprenticeships as directly supporting the kind of non-traditional trade pathways The Generator is designed to offer once its doors open.
