| Upcoming Events | |
China Trip Informational Meeting
Thursday, March 10
5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital Education Center Click here for more info
Business After Hours at
Northwest Savings Bank
Thursday, March 17
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Click here for more info
Raystown Lake Region
Home & Garden Show
March 25, 26, 27, 2011
Peebles Plaza, Huntingdon
www.raystownhomeshow.com
Coffee Connection
Huntingdon County Emergency Management Agency will present
"Crisis Communication and Hazardous Material Reporting Compliance"
Wednesday, April 6
7:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Huntingdon Country Club
Click here for more info
Business Connection
Thursday, May 5, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital
Education Center
Annual Membership Luncheon Friday, August 12
11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Westminster Woods
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Energy Programs Saving Members Money
9% (residential); 14% (commercial) | | |
You recently received information about the residential program and the new rates from Penelec effective January 1, 2011. It is more important than ever to take advantage of the ChamberChoice Energy program.
Effective March 1, 2011, Penelec residential rates increased to 7.68 cents/kwh for generation and transmission (from the 7.03 cents/kwh effective as of January 1, 2011). Penelec estimates that the residential rates will increase to approximately 7.85 cents/kwh for the June to August period. Chamber member employees and residential businesses can lock in 6.99 cents/kwh for generation and transmission costs for the remainder of 2011, thus getting budget certainty and locking in a rate that is roughly 9% lower than the current residential rates from Penelec.
Enrolling is easy! In just a few minutes your employees (or residential business) can lock in the residential offer of 6.99 cents/kwh with no disruption to their billing process and/or delivery of power to their home(s)! The ChamberChoice Residential Energy program is a great way to bring value to your employees without touching your bottom line. Please take a few minutes to share the following information in red.
Through the Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce and their partners, ChamberChoice and OnDemand, an exclusive residential offer is available to our employees. As a resident, you have the opportunity to lock in a rate of 6.99 cents/kwh for the remainder of 2011. Locking in your residential rate will provide budget certainty while avoiding the new 90 day fluctuating rates from Penelec.
Enrolling is easy! In just a few minutes you can lock in your new residential offer with no disruption to your existing billing process and/or delivery of power to your home(s). Simply click here.
In addition, commercial rates increased from 7.24 cents/kwh for generation and transmission to 8.215 cents/kwh effective March 1, 2011. For members who have signed into the guaranteed savings for commercial meters, the discount percentage off the utility will increase from 5% to 14%. For any members who have not switched their commercial meter, you can switch immediately and save 14% for the next 90 days and will continue to receive a guaranteed savings through May 2012. Please call OnDemand at 1-866-699-9968 to understand the latest options for your commercial meter. |
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China Trip -Reservations Now Being Taken | |
Interest in the November 3-11 China Trip is building in Blair and Huntingdon Counties. Don't miss your chance to participate in this unique adventure.
The Huntingdon County and the Blair County Chambers of Commerce have partnered to offer a China Adventure at a very special rate. The trip will begin with a flight directly from JFK International Airport to China and includes bus transportation to JFK, round trip air transportation, 4 and 5 star hotels, three meals each day and sightseeing. A deluxe tour bus, fluent English-speaking tour guides and entrance fees are included. Sights include the Great Wall, Tian An Men Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Lingering Garden, Yu Garden, Lingyin Temple, a boat cruise on the West Lake, and a visit to the Bund. Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou will be visited. Travelers will also have the opportunity to attend a business meeting with Chinese government officials and business people.
Reservations are now being taken. Contact ymartin@huntingdonchamber.com for more information and for a registration form. Available seats are on a first come first served basis and are not confirmed until forms are completed and the $200 deposit is received.
A trip informational session is being held March 10 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the JC Blair Memorial Hospital Education Center. There is no cost to attend the information session. Click here to register.
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| Successful Winter Blues | | |
The Inn at Edgewater Acres wins the "Taste of Huntingdon County" at the February 20, 2011 Winter Blues. Event attendees voted for their favorite taste among the participating food services:
Doan's Bones Barbecue
Dominos Pizza
Hoss's Steak & Sea House
J. C. Blair Food and Nutrition Services
The Huntingdon Country Club
The Inn at Edgewater Acres
Memories Sports Bar & Grill
Memories at the Lake
Mimi's Restaurant & Martini Bar
Snappy Chef Catering
Standing Stone Coffee Company
The prize was a cutting board created by Huntingdon County Career & Technology students with engraved recognition as the 2011 recipient. The Inn at Edgewater Acres will also receive the opportunity to be featured on a WTAJ Keystone Kitchen segment.
Congratulations to the Inn at Edgewater Acres!
Participating Non-Profits Raise a total of $1, 343.00 by selling raffle tickets for a 42 inch flat screen TV from Park Furniture and Appliances. The Rotary Club of Huntingdon sold the most tickets to benefit Polio Plus and as the winning non-profit will receive a $100 prize from the Chamber to add to the cause.
Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Huntingdon! |
| Planning Commission Dinner & Awards Presentation | | |
Come celebrate this year's Community Improvement Award recipients and review the accomplishments of the Huntingdon County Planning Commission. The Planning Commission's Annual Meeting and Dinner will be held March 23, 2011 at the Huntingdon Country Club. A reception and cash bar will be held at 6:00 PM with dinner at 6:30 PM and the Annual Meeting at 7:30 PM.
This year's program will consist of a presentation of the HCPC Annual Report and the 2010 Community Improvement Awards. Awards will be presented in five categories this year: Residential, Commercial, Public/Non-profit, Special Merit and the newly created Revitalization category. The Community Improvement Awards are co-sponsored by the Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce with financial sponsorship by Kish Bank.
Dinner will consist of Caesar salad, rolls and butter, seasoned sirloin, penne pasta Alfredo, oven roasted potatoes, sugar snap peas, gourmet mixed veggies, assorted desserts and beverage.
Please respond with your reservation by March 11, 2011 to HCPC at 643-5091. |
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Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau Tourism Summit | | |
The Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau invites you to attend a breakfast meeting on March 24, 2011 beginning at 8 a.m.
Our PA tourism industry is a coalition of museums, wineries, golf courses, accommodations, restaurants, attractions and many other tourism partners' largely made up of small businesses. The State Tourism Office, county and regional-based destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and regional marketing partners work with more than 100,000 local tourism and hospitality businesses to attract leisure and business travelers to Pennsylvania.
As the official tourism promotion agency for Huntingdon County the Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau (HCVB) engages in designing and developing strategic marketing initiatives that will result in increased visitation to Huntingdon County and the Raystown Lake Region of The Alleghenies.
Rob Fulton, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus will deliver the keynote address on March 24: "The state of tourism in the state: a report from Harrisburg." Mr. Fulton's discussion will include:
- Brief state tourism facts/trends
- The future of PA tourism, from a PACVB perspective
- Insider information from Harrisburg, as it relates to PA Tourism
- Comments on the change in administration and impact on our local operations, budget and mission to support tourism in Huntingdon County and the Raystown Lake Region
Following the keynote address:
- Networking time during break
- Huntingdon County Visitors Bureau membership roundtable discussion including elected officials and representatives from
The Alleghenies - HCVB PR and marketing initiatives
Click here to register for the HCVB event
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| Emergency Management Meth Lab Training | | |
Emergency Responders, Parents, Churches, Schools, Community Leaders, Business Owners and Concerned Citizens are invited to a free "Methamphetamine User and Clandestine Lab Awareness" session on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Neff Lecture Hall, von Liebig Science Center, Juniata College, 1700 Moore Street, Huntingdon PA.
Are you concerned about Methamphetamine Labs in the surrounding area?
Would you recognize if a methamphetamine lab moved into your neighborhood?
Do you know how to identify and report suspicious behavior associated with drug and alcohol use and abuse, as well as narco-terror activities?
This course will provide the information to help you PROTECT yourself and YOUR neighborhood. The presentation will be by Retired Sergeant Phillip Harchack, Station Commander, Pennsylvania State Police Con-ED: (PADOH) .5 Med/Trauma, 1.5 Other
The Community Education Seminar is sponsored by the Huntingdon County Emergency Management/ Local Emergency Planning Committee and Juniata College Public Safety.
Call 814-643-6613 to register by 3/25/11 or for more information. |
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Four Million Small Businesses Could Qualify for a
New Tax Credit
Is your business one of them? | | |
The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit Started in 2010
The Affordable Care Act, the new federal health care reform law, provides tax credits to help cover the cost of health insurance. Small businesses will be one of the first groups to benefit.
This year, the law's new small business tax break will offer small employers who pay at least half of the health insurance premium for employees a tax credit equal to up to 35% of the cost of coverage.
Here are the facts:
· Millions of businesses qualify. The tax credit is generally for small businesses with less than 25 full-time equivalent employees who earn up to an average of $50,000 per year.
· Available Immediately. Enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, the credit was effective January 1, 2010. As a result, small businesses currently providing health care for their workers receive immediate help with their premium costs.
· Big Savings.
The credit is worth up to 35 percent of
a small business's premium costs in 2010 and in 2011 through 2013.
In 2014, this rate increases to 50 percent.
· Dental and Vision Coverage Qualify. Small businesses can receive the credit not only for traditional health insurance coverage but also for add-on dental, vision and other limited-scope coverage.
· Non-Profits Are Eligible. Tax-exempt organizations are eligible for a 25 percent tax credit in 2010 and in 2011 through 2013. In 2014, this rate increases to 35 percent.
Find out more. Visit www.IRS.gov and download the 1-page form.
Or consult your business accountant or tax advisor.
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Gov. Tom Corbett unveils 2011-12 General Fund budget | | | Tough choices vital to Pa.'s long-term prosperity
Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled his 2011-12 General Fund budget before a joint session of the General Assembly today. The $27.3 billion plan does not raise taxes and emphasizes four core principles: fiscal responsibility; free enterprise; limited and transparent government; and reform. Governor Corbett called for a number of program cuts and program consolidations to help cover an anticipated $4 billion budget gap, reducing spending to nearly the 2008-09 levels in the process.
Highlights of Corbett's budget proposal include:
- Continues phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise tax, which will be eliminated in 2014
- Increases by 38 percent the Research and Development tax credit
- Maintains job creation tax credit
-Keeps the film tax credit
-Streamlines programs within the Department of Community and Economic Development, investing in the following: Discovered in PA; PA First; Partnerships for Regional Economic Development Performance; Keystone Communities
- Maintains 10-year basic education funding growth rate of 2.8 percent, despite the loss of federal stimulus dollars
-Freezes teacher salaries for one year, saving $400 million
-Requires voter approval for property tax increases above the rate of inflation
-Supports economic furloughs in local school districts
-Reduces funding to higher education institutions, and transfers funding to a student-based system
-Combats taxpayer fraud, waste and abuse within the Department of Public Welfare, which will steer funding to those who need it most
In a press release, the PA Chamber said the governor's call to reduce government spending through various agency and program cuts, while difficult, will ultimately benefit the Commonwealth's taxpayers and economy in the long-run.
"As painful as some of these cuts might be in the short-term, we cannot lose sight of the harsh reality that government spending has eclipsed taxpayers' ability to pay," PA Chamber Vice President Gene Barr said, noting that in recent years, government spending has grown faster than the economy. (State spending and borrowing have increased 40 percent over the past eight years of the Rendell administration.)
"We can no longer continue down that path," Barr said. "The governor's budget proposal reflects the will of the voters, who sent a clear signal last fall that they want government to get its fiscal house in order."
Full text of the PA Chamber's press release is available here.
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Coalition Urges Lawmakers to Enact Commonsense Legal Reform | |
The PA Chamber and a coalition of 43 additional business, health-care, insurance and local government associations issued a joint memo to the General Assembly this week urging the enactment of commonsense legal reforms in Pennsylvania.
"Failure to act on commonsense lawsuit abuse reform has caused Pennsylvania to fall further behind other states," the coalition wrote in its letter to lawmakers. "It's time to change that by restoring balance, fairness and predictability to a system that lacks all three -- starting with a repeal of joint and several liability. Doing so will help stimulate economic growth and job creation in the Commonwealth."
A copy of the memo is available here.
A copy of the related press release is available here.
In addition to re-enactment of the Fair Share Act, the coalition is seeking reforms that would eliminate venue shopping in civil liability cases; offer protection for "innocent" sellers of products; establish reasonable time limits in which product liability suits can be brought; allow physicians to apologize for unforeseen medical circumstances without risk of arbitrary litigation; and require a plaintiff, in filing a medical liability action, to produce a medical expert report in support of the certificate of merit at the time of the filing of the complaint.
For more on the impact of lawsuit abuse on economic growth and job creation, click here to read a letter to the editor that appeared this week in the Harrisburg Patriot-News. The letter was written by former PA Chamber Board Chairman Kirk Liddell, president and CEO of Irex Corporation. The PA Chamber encourages members to write letters to their local newspapers in support of lawsuit abuse reform efforts. The Chamber would be glad to help provide content. Contact Sam Denisco at sdenisco@pachamber.org if you have a story to share or want to get more involved in the effort. |
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