City Opens Help Center Guiding Businesses On Pope's Visit
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - The Nutter Administration has opened up its call-in center for business operators who are perplexed about the Papal visit -- particularly how they can stay open that weekend.
It's called the Papal Visit Business Resource Center, a room inside a city government high-rise in which Commerce Department staffers are fielding phone calls from businesses perplexed about the Papal restrictions and how they can stay open.
Commerce Director Alan Greenberger says in the first few hours, the lines were ringing:
"They're asking about how their employees are likely to get to work. I think they want some reassurance about exactly what's happening, when it's happening, so they'll have clarity about how to make their business plans."
Greenberger says last week's announcement of very specific traffic restrictions is helping the business owners plan and helps them ask more specific questions:
"They're smart people. They're starting to think what their plans ought to look like. And I think as they develop their plans, that's when they'll get into more detailed questions. So I fully expect that there will be a steady flow of questions as people understand more specifically what they ought to be asking."
It's not just staff that the business owners are concerned about – it's also deliveries. Greenberger says some food services have already come up with inventive ideas:
"People are thinking about it in the right way. They're approaching it in the right way. And I wouldn't be surprised if some food operations also alter the mix of things that they provide that puts them in a better position of being able to run their storage out longer."
The center will remain open Monday to Friday, 9-5, through the Pope's visit. You can reach them by email at business@phila.gov, or by phone at 215-683-2100.
"The ultimate goal of the center," says Greenberger, "is to give people the opportunity to talk to someone person-to-person and get back to them if there are still unanswered questions, and have people feel as if there's someone who can help them."
