Chamber News & Updates - 18 October 2021

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news & updates

18 October 2021

"People often say that motivation doesn’t last.

Well, neither does bathing - that’s why we recommend it daily.”

- Zig Ziglar

Biden vaccine mandate could be finalized this week

Advocacy News

As early as this week, the Biden Administration could finalize the requirement that companies must ensure full vaccination status or weekly COVID-19 testing for workers.

On Tuesday, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) provided to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a draft proposal of the Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) necessary to implement the vaccination and testing requirements. How long the ETS will remain at OIRA is unknown, but it is fully expected to be cleared quickly, allowing the ETS to be finalized in short order. Once published in the Federal Register, the requirements outlined in the ETS are automatically implemented and open for public comment.

Under the OSHA statute, the ETS will remain in place for six months. OSHA can then replace it with a permanent standard reflecting any received comments during the comment period or discontinue the standard. OSHA already issued an ETS in June of this year, covering workplaces in the healthcare industry and requiring certain practices to protect employees from COVID-19 exposure. That ETS is set to expire in late December.

Questions remain over how the requirement will be enforced, considering the expected legal challenges and other details. Employers and employees are still questioning how much time they will be allotted to prepare for implementation of the requirements.

As an ETS can be extended through a permanent standard, it also remains unclear as to how long businesses will be required to maintain full compliance. The recent Executive Order requiring full vaccination status of nearly all federal contractors went into effect on Sept. 24 with a Dec. 8 deadline.

Advocacy | News | Information | Events

EEOC Guidance for Employers Vaccine Policies

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has updated its guidance on workplace COVID-19 vaccine policies. The agency’s original guidance, issued in December 2020, addressed COVID-19 vaccine mandates, discussing COVID-19 diagnosis or vaccination status with employees, and handling reasonable accommodation requests from employees.

The EEOC’s updated guidance clarifies whether employers can

Best HR practices for nonprofits

When you manage a nonprofit, spending money is always an issue. After all, your company is funded by grants and donations, many of which have strings attached. It’s your obligation to keep the organization lean and the overhead low. However, the bigger a company gets, the more money it can save by having a centralized department that manages payroll and staffing. It’s also a good way to keep employees happy, thereby reducing turnover. So what should you consider as you decide how to add human resources services to your organization?

10 Steps to launch your own e-commerce stores

According to the Jungle Scout’s 2021 State of the Amazon Seller, 21% of Amazon sellers plan to “launch their own e-commerce store.” If you’re already an Amazon seller, you can join this 21%, diversify your business, and make more money. But how do you do that? This is the question we want to answer in this article. Before we present the steps you can follow to launch your e-commerce store, let’s start by looking at some of the benefits of launching your own online store.

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Rep. Puri - Coffee Hour

Sponsored by your Chamber, Next Home Evolution, and Genisys CU, we will have a legislative update from State Rep Puri! Come out to the new library, grab some snacks, and learn what is going on in Lansing. Light snacks and refreshments will be served.

Monday October 25th

Belleville Area District Library

6pm - 7pm

Winterfest News | Info | Sponsors

A Winterfest tradition ... remember, proceeds to go support one of our nonprofit members, the Van Buren Schools Education Foundation.

A 40 foot x 50 foot x 15 foot tall snow maze will be FREE from Saturday 10am - 9pm and Sunday 11am 4pm

A 30 foot x 50 foot Ice Rink will be FREE to the public from 10am - 9pm on Saturday and 11am - 4pm on Sunday

An expanded fireworks show will kick off approximately at 7:15pm following the lighted parade

Chamber Member Home Destroyed in Fire - GO FUND ME

One of our own has been hit by a tragedy. A fire has caused severe damage to their home, and will be displaced for up to 6 months. Please do what you can by going to the Go Fund Me site. This has been set up by the Kiwanis Group where she was a very active member.

Go to Go Fund Me

Thanks to our Corporate Members