By Francis Hilario

– Philadelphia has been named one of three finalists for the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The Democratic National Committee has narrowed down its list of potential cities for the 2016 convention to three: Philadelphia, New York and Columbus, Ohio. Phoenix and Birmingham, Ala. are now out of contention.

“We’re thrilled to move to the next step of the selection process to determine where Democrats will come together to nominate the 45th President of the United States,” Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC chairwoman, said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have such a diverse and vibrant group of cities interested in hosting this special event and we thank Phoenix and Birmingham for showcasing their special communities. We look forward to working with Columbus, New York, and Philadelphia as we go forward.”

The weeks for the convention that are under consideration are July 18, July 25 or Aug. 22. The committee is expected to make its final decision in the next few months.

Choosing a host city is based on a number of factors, including the city’s transportation, hotels and the facility holding the convention, experts said in interviews last month. Other factors include the city’s political leadership and financial resources.

“The kind of factors that are probably the most important in terms of valuation of cities are the obvious ones: Hotels, the facility to hold the event in [and] logistics,” Alan Kessler, former finance vice chair of the DNC said in an earlier interview with the Philadelphia Business Journal. “The single most important is financial guarantee.”

Our panel of experts — including Gov. Ed Rendell — handicapped each city’s chance for the big score recently. Check it out at: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/print-edition/2014/10/17/wooing-the-dnc-sizing-up-the-competition.html

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2014/11/24/philadelphia-one-of-three-finalists-for-2016-dnc.html