During ribbon cutting festivities to introduce Comcast’s Executive Briefing Center to public officials who serve Naperville, DuPage County and Illinois as well as the local business community, the global media and technology company today announced initiatives designed to advance the service it provides to Business Class customers nationally and in the Chicago area. With a pair of enormous scissors in hand, Mayor A. George Pradel’s aim was to cut the extra-wide blue ribbon.  Going forward, Comcast’s aim is to give more businesses access to high-speed data, cloud-based hosted voice, and other new services, and drive economic growth here.

The Executive Business Center, located in the Tellabs Corporate Center, gives Comcast the ability to demonstrate its suite of Business Class products and services, part of a larger facility the company opened last year that also houses customer support services, including a Customer Monitoring Center, as well as service, sales and administrative functions.

Local jobs created & focus on local contractors

Currently, the facility has about 230 employees and plans are underway to hire an additional 170 in 2013 for a total of 400—with room to grow.

In addition, all contractors used to develop and build the space – ranging from the architect to designers – were locally based. These two factors—job creation and supporting local contractors— are what caught PN’s attention from the get-go.

“The Executive Business Center is part of a significant investment Comcast is making nationally and in the Chicago area in our Business Class products and services,” said Jay Dirkmaat, Greater Chicago Region vice president of Comcast Business Services. “Comcast Business Class provides businesses some of the fastest Internet service available, Ethernet, and a full portfolio of video and voice offerings. Creating this facility demonstrates our commitment to providing best-in-class support for our customers and reflects the strong growth we’ve experienced in Business Services.”

Comcast to expand fiber network in key Chicago area business corridors

Comcast also announced an expansion of its fiber network in three key Chicago area business hubs, the Chicago Loop, including the Willis Tower and other iconic buildings; the I-90 corridor from Rosemont/O’Hare International Airport to Schaumburg; and the I-88 corridor in Chicago’s western suburbs, from Oak Brook to Aurora.

Overall, this proactive infrastructure investment will give an additional 1,600 businesses access to Comcast Business Class Ethernet services, as well as a host of voice, video and value-added cloud services. This investment is in response to strong demand for Comcast’s Business Class offerings and is in line with broader community efforts to expand the region’s telecommunications and information technology infrastructure.

In written remarks, Governor Pat Quinn added that “proactive investments in our technology infrastructure will help Illinois businesses compete in today’s economy and in the future, as well as create good jobs and attract new companies that require access to high-speed, high-capacity data networks.”

DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin said, “I am pleased that Comcast has chosen to locate its new facility in DuPage County. Through its investment in a fiber network, our local businesses will have access to state-of-the-art technologies that will help them succeed. “

Mayor A. George Pradel welcomed employees from Comcast to “join the family” in Naperville where economic growth is good.

“With an educated workforce, convenient location, and array of services, Naperville is a great place to do business,” said Pradel. “We are proud that Comcast chose Naperville as the location for its Executive Briefing Center, and we welcome its 400 employees.”

 About Comcast Business Services

Bill Stemper, President of Comcast Business Services, was on hand to lend his voice to the ceremony, noting everyone in attendance would see a “different side of Comcast.”  As he praised the community and the available talent right here in Naperville to grow Comcast’s workforce, Stemper said he was “excited to show something off when you’d want all your friends to join you.”

Comcast Business Services, a unit of Comcast Cable, provides advanced communication solutions to help organizations of all sizes meet their business objectives. Through a modern, advanced network that is backed by 24/7 technical support, Comcast delivers Business Class Internet, TV and Voice services for cost-effective, simplified communications management.

Launched in 2011, the Comcast Business Class Ethernet suite offers high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Metro Ethernet services with the capacity to deliver cloud computing, software-as-a-service, business continuity/disaster recovery and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Comcast Metro Ethernet services are significantly faster than standard T1 lines and other legacy technologies, providing scalable bandwidth from 1 Mbps up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) in more than 20 major US markets.

Stemper also recognized the easy accessibility to Naperville from all over the U.S.  Naperville’s Executive Briefing Center will be a place for business owners seeking innovative solutions to visit and learn how to grow business.  He said he expected “to replace carpet often” in the center, the fastest growing part of Comcast.

“I thought Comcast’s new use of the space was very cool,” said local business owner Ray Kinney. “It was great to see re-purposing of part of the building that will bring many jobs to Naperville, a building still with a very important presence for Tellabs.”

Did you know about Comcast Cable? Comcast Cable is the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company.

For more information, visit www.comcastcorporation.com.

Comcast’s Greater Chicago Region has nearly 7,000 employees in 169 facilities in the Metropolitan market, serving more than 2 million customers in central and northern Illinois, including the Chicago area, northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan.