Photo by Chris McGuire.
Businesses in Back of the Yards and Bridgeport can now take advantage of faster internet speeds due to a fiber optic network expansion spanning the two Southwest Side neighborhoods.
Comcast announced the five mile fiber expansion at a breakfast held at Bridgeport Art Center Thursday, April 14. This new investment will give approximately 300 small and medium sized businesses located between 31st and 47th Streets, from Halsted Street to the east and Ashland Avenue to the west access to faster internet speeds and other Comcast Business services.
“In this case in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, we had a couple of customers that really had a strong interest in us coming into the area. It just made a lot of sense for us to make a strategic investment and build our fiber optic networks in Back of the Yards neighborhood,” Kenneth Greene, sr. director of market development for Comcast said.
The new fiber optic network infrastructure was built along all the easements right outside of businesses, Greene explained.
“It’s a much, much easier buildout to their respective business now because we’re probably 50 feet outside of their building in most cases,” he added.
Alex Olejniczak, executive vice president and general manager of Ashland Cold Storage was one of the first businesses to express interest in improved internet speed and cloud services in the area. His company was also one of the first to take advantage of the new services.
“Our business is very competitive, and we use a lot of web-based platforms and we need good IT support to be able to provide goods and services to our customers,” Olejniczak said. “What Comcast has done with this investment and the speed of getting this into my operation, has been phenomenal. We’ve seen major gains in speed, dependability and from a security standpoint too.”
Business owners and organizations in the community are expecting the new and improved internet and business services to help them compete with companies across Chicagoland and beyond.
“Up until today, we’ve been at a competitive disadvantage in that we didn’t have some of the things that were available in other areas of the city,” Craig Chico, president and CEO of the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council said. “And now, we will be able to compete with everyone in the city, the region and even the country, so we’re thrilled,” he added.
Several elected officials attended the breakfast, including Cook County Commissioner John P. Daley and Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th).
“It’s a very exciting announcement, especially because of the history that lies here in this area,” Thompson said. “The Stockyards and the Central Manufacturing District have always been leaders in innovation and technological advancements, whether it was the 19th century advancements of refrigeration and rail transport, the meatpacking assembly line or the 21st century developments of environmental sustainability, high speed internet- one thing has not changed, this area is competitive and it’s evolving.”
For more information contact Erin Waitz at the BYNC, ewaitz@bync.org or call 773-523- 4416.