Dear CIC Philadelphia Community,
Currently, in cities across the world, including our own, there is a continued cry for justice and equality in our nation. Especially, over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the horrific deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, and many other marginalized, black, and trans Americans. We’ve continued to see that for a large population of our country, the most mundane activities like running, eating, walking, sleeping, cannot be taken for granted.
The angering and frustrating piece of this history is that this is not something new, but continued systemic injustices many folks are continuing to face. Coupled with a pandemic, we see the divide deepen and the lack of access to opportunity and resources become even more scarce.
Our clients represent our communities. We support clients of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, gender identities, sexual identities, and other intersections of marginalized and underrepresented folks. These intersections of our identities at times cause fear, anger, sadness, rage, exhaustion, frustration, and all other equally tiring emotions to carry day to day just because of who one is in this world.
We believe that acknowledging these emotions is important. We need to leave space to have moments of discourse and dialogue and also moments of quietness, reflection, and mourning. Those of us who may not be directly affected by the continued systemic injustices of our country have the responsibility to educate ourselves, to listen, to share resources, opportunity, and power, to challenge assumptions and biases, to stand up when even a small microaggression is present.
CIC and BioLabs are special, and the feedback we continually get from each of you is that our space feels safe, welcoming, refreshing, and offers something different. Folks who never felt comfortable in a tech or science environment, feel welcome and appreciated in our space. This is a reflection of our teams, the clients who choose to be with us, and how we engage with the community at large in which we are a part of. This isn’t magic, it just doesn’t come to be. We all have to actively work to maintain this space, especially for the folks who’ve been historically underrepresented in these industries.
Over the next few days, weeks, and months, I welcome the opportunity to continue the dialogue. For us to find the time and space for ourselves to reflect. The CIC team plans to reach out to West Philadelphia community leaders to see how CIC can support our community through these challenging times, both emotionally and for the small black-owned businesses in West Philadelphia affected by COVID and events over the weekend. I hope that each of you feels comfortable sharing any additional ideas of support. I also acknowledge this is not the responsibility of our underrepresented staff or clients to solve these challenges and it is a collective responsibility of our staff, clients, and community to work together.
As we move towards wanting a sense of normalcy this Friday with the reopening of many businesses under the ‘Yellow Phase’ I want to acknowledge that there should not be a sense of normalcy in what was previously known. What was perceived normal has proven to not work for some, therefore, it should not be masked as working for all. What we can do, is continue to work together towards creating a better world, city, and community for all. Innovation constantly challenges the status quo. We are proud to serve a community of clients who are actively working to make the world a better place each day.
Below you will find the details for our reopening plan this week.
Philadelphia County will move to ‘Yellow Phase’ as defined by Governor Wolf on Friday, June 5th. We look forward to being able to welcome more clients back safely.
Following Governor Wolf’s plan to reopen businesses in phases, we are adhering to the Pennsylvania guidance for businesses document and the City of Philadelphia document for office workers. We encourage your company to review these documents and adhere to both state, City, and CDC guidelines. Please review our reopening guidelines before returning to the office, which includes social distancing requirements and updates to our services and events.
While our building was previously closed for all but life-sustaining business, a global committee of CIC leaders has worked on new protocols to keep our clients, staff, and community safer permanently. When you return to our space, you will find some of these already implemented, such as foot pulls, directional floor signage, nanoseptic handles, and nanoseptic touchpads for high-touch doors. You can expect to see additional operational systems implemented, such as low-touch kitchen modifications. In making all of these changes–particularly to our kitchens–we are committed to maintaining our commitment to sustainability.
New reopening requirements (CIC PHL document, here):
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Face coverings are required in all shared spaces, private workspaces, coworking, restrooms, and other public CIC and BioLabs shared spaces.
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All clients are required to self-check symptoms at home each morning. Clients are also encouraged to share this link with their guests in advance of their visit to enable self-checking at home. Visitors and clients who forget may do so in the lobbies. We are pausing all group visits.
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Conference rooms will have new limits on capacity, with a cap total occupancy of five individuals at a time for larger rooms.
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A 6-foot distance is required between simultaneously occupied desks. Clients may stagger employees’ return, use rotating schedules, or work with the relationship management team to lower their office density if desired.
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Coworking areas will be rearranged to accommodate proper distancing, with desks dedicated to just one user per day.
Service Highlights:
Concierge: Concierge services will be available from 8:30 am-5 pm via a virtual kiosk located on top of the Concierge desk. We ask guests to gel their hands with sanitizer and use the touch screen monitor to call our Concierge. CIC is requiring that everyone who enters the space is wearing a mask and that they complete the self-check form, including taking their temperature. A thermometer will be located next to the kiosk, as well as an iPad for guests to fill out the self check if they haven’t already. If possible, please pre-register to increase efficiency. Our Concierge may be reached at phillyconcierge@cic.com for questions.
Virtual Events: We hope our online resources have been helpful during this unprecedented time. You can continue to access our virtual events, CIC and building news, and the global CIC community on our online calendar. In addition, we have created a collection of helpful government and aid resources for small businesses and personal aid available at cic.com/covid19-aid. You can also connect with the Philadelphia community every week at Virtual Venture Cafe.
Office Space: Relationship managers will continue to help prepare return to office plans, making sure to maintain social distancing in spaces. If you have questions on expanding your office space, rearranging furniture, or what a shift schedule could look like for your team, feel free to reach out to philly@cic.com to discuss.
I hope you and your family have been able to stay safe and healthy during this time and look forward to welcoming you back to CIC. As you return to your normal work schedule, we ask your support in keeping our broader community safe. If you, a member of your team or a visitor to your company has been presumed positive or diagnosed with COVID-19 and have been in our building, please notify us immediately at COVID@cic.com to enable us to act expeditiously to protect others.
With warmest regards,
Sally J. Guzik, CIC Philadelphia General Manager
