A message from the Chamber’s President & CEO Rob Wonderling to our community.

Dear Friends,

Months ago, many of us assumed that the day after Labor Day was the unofficial start of “back to work” in addition to “back to school”. While many businesses are back in person, others have delayed in-person work.

If you’ve been downtown, you’ve probably seen signs promoting Ready.Set.Philly!, a collaborative initiative which includes the Chamber and a broad and diverse coalition of businesses and organizations focused on reopening and relaunching our economy, restoring our well-being, and reinvigorating the day and night time activity in downtown Philadelphia.

With the Delta variant in play, we are now working with businesses, the city, and other partners to determine the timing of return to office and plans for a hybrid approach. The goal remains to be able to help provide information and direction to encourage, support, and promote the safe return to Philadelphia for work and play.

Ready.Set.Philly! is continuing to provide tools and resources to guide businesses in safely bringing employees back to the office (even if that’s on a flexible schedule) and are helping employees and Philadelphia visitors feel more comfortable venturing back to the city. That includes providing safe commercial building re-entry best practices; sharing building system recommendations to help reduce the risk of exposure of COVID in indoor spaces; helping businesses think about adjusting their culture to new realities; and evolving the workplace to ensure employees’ wellbeing.

The shutdown was overnight, but the re-boot will be gradual. Progress will be measured incrementally in milestone moments and data – things like increases in office and hotel capacity, vaccination tallies, sales and commerce statistics, and traffic. The following are the results we plan to achieve:

  • Increase the average office building occupancy to 60% to 65% by December 2021.
  • Increase Center City monthly hotel occupancy to 65% by December 2021.
  • Increase SEPTA monthly ridership to 50% by the December 2021.
  • Increase foot traffic on the streets of Philadelphia to 85% of pre-pandemic levels by December 2021.

Progress will be monitored by partnering with Center City District, the City of Philadelphia, the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, University City District, SEPTA, and employers and building owners to report monthly data. We encourage you to regularly visit the Ready.Set.Philly! resources page for additional information and to stay informed.

Stay safe, connected, and healthy, and continue to let us know how we can help.

Rob

Rob Wonderling
President & CEO
The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia