Each Friday, we’ll bring you a round-up of positive news about how Chamber members are making a difference in our community during the COVID-19 crisis.
AT&T
Beyond keeping communities connected during the Stay-at-Home orders, AT&T has offered a 20% bonus to their front-line employees as a thank you for their commitment to serving customers – and three months of free wireless service for frontline nurses and physicians nationwide on the FirstNet® network as a thank you for serving our communities. The company has been highlighting its employees who are going above and beyond to help their communities, including a local AT&T employee who used a 3D printer to manufacture a few boxes worth of facial shields for the health care workers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Brandywine Realty Trust
The COVID-19 crisis has impacted all industries, putting a halt on business and construction. Brandywine Realty Trust is working to ensure small and minority-owned construction businesses can weather the storm by providing a $350,000 grant to the Enterprise Center to launch the Grow Philadelphia Small Business COVID-19 Resilience Fund. The fund is designed to relieve these businesses struggling during the crisis by providing low-interest loans with flexible payment terms. Additionally, Brandywine has launched a companywide “Brandywine COVID-19 Fund,” which currently has over $20,000 in individual employee donations. The company has matched each contribution, and begun making distributions to individuals within Brandywine’s extended third-party family who are struggling with furloughs or lay-offs as a result of the global health crisis. The fund is also being used to serve 4,600 meals in West Philadelphia over the next two weeks, at the Mount Vernon Manor Association, Centennial Parkside CDC, Chosen 300 and the Ronald McDonald house.
CSL Behring
Around the world, scientists and organizations are working tirelessly to create a vaccine or treatment for the novel coronavirus. Here in our own region, CSL Behring has joined forces with other leading plasma companies to do their part in the development of a hyperimmune treatment by forming the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance. The Alliance is working to accelerate the development and delivery of a potential plasma-derived therapy for treating those with serious complications from COVID-19. Anyone willing to donate their plasma to help in the development of this treatment can go to www.COVIG-19PlasmaAlliance.com to find a plasma donation center near them. Additionally, CSL Behring partnered with SAB Biotherapeutics to combat the pandemic with the rapid development of SAB-185, a COVID-19 therapeutic candidate on track for clinical evaluation by early summer. This therapeutic candidate is a novel immunotherapy targeting COVID-19 delivering natural human polyclonal antibodies targeted specifically to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It is being developed and produced without the need for human blood plasma donations from recovered COVID-19 patients.
Navigate
The Chamber’s efforts to connect local manufacturers and health care providers to address the urgent and ongoing need for PPE could not have successfully launched without the pro-bono help of Navigate. By using surveys created by Navigate, we were able to conduct interviews with procurement managers at health care systems throughout our region to determine their needs. Navigate, along with the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, have been connecting with manufacturers in the region that can provide these essential supplies. The quick response and expertise provided by Navigate helped us make these essential connections and partnerships.
Interested in sharing your story? Contact your member engagement representative to let us know what your organization is doing to make a difference in our community.
