"There is no higher calling, there is no better way to serve your fellow Philadelphians and people in the region, than to consider coming into public service," Nutter said, seeking to take advantage of the momentum and enthusiasm generated by his margin of victory in Tuesday's election, the largest since 1931.

"I want the best and brightest to join me in this new administration."

His pitch was directed at a room packed with some of the region's most senior business leaders, and, at least for the moment, Nutter seemed to have persuaded many to get involved.

"We've already volunteered," said William Sautter, president and chief executive of Elliott-Lewis Corp., a Northeast Philadelphia construction-management firm. "I told him I would be glad to give him some young people and old people to help in the administration, including me. This is a new beginning."

Chip Marshall, chairman and chief executive of the Temple University Health System, called Nutter's invitation "a great opportunity for our executives to experience something different. It's not corporate charity."

And though Nutter is a Democrat, his request was well received by heavy-hitter GOP players as well.

"I think there will be people who step forward and want to help," said businessman Manny Stamatakis, a finance cochair of Republican Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid.

But how they can help wasn't clear. Business leaders said that until Nutter makes plain how his administration will be structured, it's difficult to see how they might fit in.

"There's a variety of ways business people can help. It depends on the ways the Nutter administration pursues it," said Mark Schweiker, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Nicholas DeBenedictis, chairman and chief executive of Aqua America, led a similar business-support program for Mayor Ed Rendell in 1991. For much of Rendell's first year, about two dozen executives acted as free consultants for the city, taking on tasks as mundane as reviewing its vehicle fleet and checking the heating bills of city buildings.

There were some drawbacks.

"It is a great experience for young professionals. But it's a little bit of a risk," DeBenedictis said, because smaller companies cannot afford to hold positions open while employees serve the city.

Nutter made his appeal during a postelection breakfast for 400 at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue hotel.

He was greeted like a rock star as he arrived shortly before 9. Speakers blared "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers and the crowd cheered as Nutter made his way to the front of the room.

Al Taubenberger, Nutter's outmatched GOP opponent, was among those who introduced the mayor-elect, saying Nutter has the capacity to be "one of the finest mayors this city has ever seen."

In his opening remarks, Zack Stalberg, president of the government watchdog group the Committee of Seventy, alluded to the pent-up curiosity that several business leaders said they shared about Nutter's next moves - such as his picks for chief of staff and police commissioner - and when he would announce them.

"We're also here to find out what the heck he's been thinking about these last few months," Stalberg said.

The first hint of that could come this morning. Nutter has an 11 a.m. news conference scheduled, and his campaign yesterday promised a major announcement.

But there were few surprises in the 20-minute speech that Nutter delivered yesterday. His tone was more mellow than in many of his recent public addresses, but he warmed up as he turned to the issue of public service.

"We are looking for the best and brightest people that we can find to turn this government around . . . whether it's an executive loan program for experienced executives or also the rising stars in your company," Nutter told the audience.

"We need your help and support to show us some of the things you do in your companies to drive value, to enhance shareholder value, to drive revenue up, cut costs, and make your bottom line work."

The campaign began accepting job applications on Nutter's Web site (www.Nutter2007.com) yesterday.

Nutter said he understood "that public service may not be for everyone for the long haul," but even a year or a year and a half can make a difference, he said.

"We have an opportunity here to make Philadelphia the greatest turnaround story of any city in the last 50 years," Nutter said. "But I need your help and support to make that happen."

Nutter likened his plea to President John F. Kennedy's call for public service in the 1960s. "No government is better than the people who compose it," he said.

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