Please Note: If you, a member of your team, or a visitor to your company has been presumed positive or has been diagnosed with COVID-19, and has been to a CIC location, please notify us immediately at covid@cic.com.
COVID-19 CIC PHL Update: Non-essential business closure starting 5 pm, March 16th
HI CIC PHILADELPHIA CLIENTS,
We had hoped to have one more day to prepare for such an instance to share more concise information with our clients. Please know, we are working with property and building management to develop communication and the next steps for both office and lab tenants.
Lab clients will discuss essential access with Dr. Blees.
We recommend all CIC office tenants to remove laptops and other work supplies from the site today as the order as it stands is until March 27th.
Again, we will update once we have more information. Thank you for your continued support and cooperation. [See below note with updated information as of 6 pm on March 16, 2020]
Sincerely,
Sally J. Guzik
General Manager – CIC Philadelphia
COVID-19 CIC PHL Client Note: Essential business access needs only
Today we received news that the city has announced new restrictions on commercial activity. Following city government guidelines, we will be closing all nonessential business functions (not including lab research, CIC mail, and client emergency services) at CIC Philadelphia effective 5 pm this evening, per city guidelines. We understand this is late notice and office tenant keycards will work tomorrow, March 17th, to collect any belongings that you may need to work remotely.
For essential business access needs please contact philly@cic.com for office access and Dr. Melina Blees at melina@biolabs.io for lab access. Please look for a separate email from Melina this evening about any changes to standard lab procedures, but note that at this time, lab staff is considered essential services per the City of Philadelphia which we confirmed this afternoon.
Below you will find updates and procedures around operational services, site evacuation (if presumed positive COVID-19 case is found), financial implications, and client and business resources.
Concierge: CIC concierge services are postponed with the closing of essential business needs. If you are an office client, we ask that you cancel any scheduled meetings until the office is reopened and refrain from bringing guests onsite unless approved with essential business matters. If you are a lab client, please complete this guest form 3 days in advance of your guest’s arrival to coordinate with Dr. Blees. Please keep in mind your guest will need to contact you directly or contact the BioLabs team to be escorted into the building.
Packages: Please send personal packages to your home when possible for the time being. We will continue to provide essential mail service so long as the U.S. Postal Service is delivering packages. Accessing mail for office clients can be coordinated with helpmephilly@cic.com. Lab tenants, please continue to coordinate critical cold-storage deliveries and packages with the BioLabs team melina@biolabs.io
Kitchens: Our kitchens offering will be adjusted as follows: (a) all kitchens are closed, effective immediately (b) water is available in our kitchens (c) we are pausing the restocking of all refrigerated and pantry items until March 31, (d) our coffee machine will be unavailable at this time. Please plan accordingly if you need to come into the space. We hope to ramp back up once the situation is normalized.
Site Evacuation (presumptive positive COVID-19): In the event of a presumptive positive COVID-19 case on CIC floors or in our building, CIC and building management will communicate a process of evacuation, and provide details on your risk of exposure based on floors and zones that the case has been in contact with. In this case, specific floors will be closed down while floors undergo CDC required cleaning. We will be sure to communicate how long we are expected to be closed and which spaces it will apply to. Again, laboratory spaces will be managed differently; please look for details from the BioLabs team. Cleaning will be for the common and public spaces of our floors unless deemed necessary due to a presumptive positive case of COVID-19 where specific offices will also be cleaned. If your office space has any specific cleaning needs prior to a presumptive positive case, please contact helpmephilly@cic.com. Additional office cleaning will be provided at cost from our building service provider GDI.
Resources for Business Owners: The city and PIDC are currently working to launch a program to support Philadelphia businesses, help maintain payroll obligations, and preserve jobs impacted by the spread of COVID-19. The program will be a tiered program that aims to provide targeted support for small businesses. More details about the program, including how businesses can apply, will be announced in the coming days. Additionally, the Commerce Department’s Office of Business Services is available to answer questions businesses may have during this difficult time. They can be reached through the business services hotline (215-683-2100) and email (business@phila.gov).
Our CIC Philadelphia team is creating a resource map for small business owners and individuals and we encourage you to reach out to us at philly@cic.com if you have any additional resources for us to share in an organized way.
Events: Given the special threat of virus propagation posed by gatherings, all events, internal programming (office hours, massage), and gatherings have already been canceled through April 30. No one — including clients — will be able to host events at CIC Philadelphia throughout this time.
Online Events: Our events team is working with other CIC sites to implement programming and resources that clients can access while working remotely. The wellness team in Cambridge has organized virtual meditation and yoga classes starting this week. To find virtual sessions please check Slack and the client Portal. Please send ideas or suggestions to philly-events@cic.com
Lastly, In the words of Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” I encourage you to prepare for a few complicated weeks ahead and to lean on each other and lean on this community. We’ve seen the way you’ve supported one another in the last few weeks, and in isolating moments like these, we all need those connections even more.
Our business is a life-affirming one — we have the privilege of seeing some of the milestones, highlights, achievements, and successes you value most. We know that many of these critical pursuits — for your businesses as well as your families — are on hold now, but please know we are thinking of you, your teams, and your loved ones, and appreciate the role we get to play in your lives.
We hope you and your teams and families are staying healthy, and we’ll check in again a little later this week. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out at any time to me and our Covid response team (covid@cic.com).
