NORTH PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — OIC Philadelphia, a longtime vocational school on North Broad Street, is now a flagship Comcast Lift Zone after a $1 million investment from the company allowed it to massively upgrade its technological capabilities and its accompanying digital media and IT curriculum.
Sheila Ireland, president and CEO of OIC Philadelphia, said the investment goes a long way in bridging the digital divide in the city.
“This investment allows the folks that we serve here in North Philadelphia to have access to literacy, providing equity, digitally,” she said. “You cannot connect to family-sustaining wages, career ladder opportunities without that knowledge.”
Comcast Regional Senior Vice President Dan Bonelli said the new Lift Zone is more than a gathering space, it's a fully modernized learning and career development hub with free wifi access for local residents.
“Upgraded facilities that can offer more capacity for learning, new computers and enhanced audio and visual tools,” said Bonelli. “It's designed to meet people where they are and help them get to where they want to go.”
Since their creation, Comcast has opened more than 50 Lift Zones across Philadelphia and 1,250 nationwide.
Brett Perkins, senior vice president of external and government affairs at Comcast, said the zones are about more than just connectivity.
“They're spaces where people can gather to build skills, to pursue education, to realize opportunity, whether you're a student, a senior, a veteran, a job seeker,” he said.