In The Kn o w
The Weekly Newsletter of The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce   



Friday, August 9, 2019
This Week's Featured Video

Why Are Wages Low in the Growing Job Market?
An Overview of a Labor Market Constrained by the Past and Future

The economy has added jobs for a record 106 months, but wages aren't growing at the same pace. There are several reasons for this, ranging from automation to unions to noncompete clauses. In this week's video, Wall Street Journal markets reporter Akane Otani details how these factors are stifling compensation rates.
October 16th Set For
2019 Annual Meeting & Dinner

"ANYTHING ON WHEELS"

The theme for this year's Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner will be "Anything On Wheels" with many local businesses already on board to make sure it's an evening of interesting and enjoyable information and displays. From limousines and ambulances to the latest models of automobiles from our local dealers, guests will get to browse through a fun and eye-opening display in addition to enjoying a wonderful meal and award presentation ceremony.

And as of today, the nominations are open for our annual awards which include:

New or Emerging Business of the Year
Young Professional of the Year
Ambassador of the Year
Business of the Year
Lifetime Achievement

We've made it easier than ever before to submit a nomination too. Just click the button below to be taken to the brief online form. You'll also be able to view the criteria for each award. The chamber staff and event committee will gather the necessary information and do the rest.

This year’s event will take place on Wednesday, October 16th, at  St. Florian Hall Event Center in Wintersville. Make this the year that you nominate a business or business person who you think is deserving of credit for their hard work and accomplishments. You may nominate yourself or your own business, a co-worker, supervisor, business owner or manager or any employee of a Chamber member firm or organization. There are also a limited number of sponsorships available for this event. Contact the chamber offices for more information.
Join us for a very special ribbon cutting and grand opening at the newly expanded Iacovissi Nails, Cosmetics & Aesthetic s Salon on Tuesday, August 20th at 4 p.m. Iacovissi specializes in facials, microdermabrasion, dermplaning, gel manicures, acrylic nails and pedicures. Kelli Sarlo and Jodi Ferguson, both lifelong Ohio Valley residents, are the owners of this beautiful, peaceful salon. Kelli has been a licenses nail technician since 1993 and in 2018, obtained her esthetician license. Jodi has been a business owner since 1996 and has been an active community volunteer as well. Iacovissi's hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They are located at 346 South Hollywood Blvd., adjacent to Scaffidi's. Phone 740.314.5834 for information or to schedule an appointment.
Modern Marketing 101:
16 Social Media Updates for Marketers in 2019…
So Far

As this article from Marketing Land observes, "Social media is a living organism." Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Google +, and most of the other popular social media platforms have undergone major changes this year. Find out more by following the link above.

From last week: With all of the fads and trends threatening to monopolize the attention of an organization's marketing team, the driving force behind your strategy still needs to be the customer. Stacey Ackerman over at MarTech Today examines this principle in detail.

If you missed or want to re-read any of our previous Modern Marketing 101 installments, click here . We encourage you to print, save, share, and add these articles and resources to your business or organization's social media marketing manual.
AUGUST COFFEE & CONNECTIONS

The Chamber's most popular monthly speed networking event.

Coffee & Connections
When: Wednesday, August 14th, 2019
Time: 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Where: Margaret's Cafe ,
805 North 5th Street, Toronto
Admission: $15 per person.
To RSVP, click here .

Please join us for Coffee & Connections, a casual and fun monthly networking event.
COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVE

What : Chamber/Red Cross Summer Blood
Drive
When : Friday, August 16th
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: YWCA
320 N. 4th Street, Steubenville
Register: By calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or click here .
Member Morsels
Remember to visit individual member websites by clicking on the business name or logo.

Feature your business or organization's news or events in "Member Morsels" by completing a quick online form. Click below.
Around the State. Around the Country.
Up-to-Date Information from the Ohio and United States Chamber of Commerce
Workers' Compensation Budget Set to Become Law Without Any Negative Impact on Business

The Workers’ Compensation budget (HB 80) has been finalized, and it contains no provisions that would have had a detrimental impact on employers. This outcome did not always seem likely, but the Ohio Chamber and our allies in the business community rallied together to stop the harmful provisions in their tracks.

These harmful policy changes included employers losing the ability to object to final settlement agreements, the virtual prohibition on sick leave offset policies that prevent the overpayment of benefits and new procedures for misclassification complaints that would have permitted any individual to file a grievance against an employer.

In addition to these notable provisions, HB 80 had included coverage for a mental diagnosis without any accompanying physical harm by allowing first responders to seek workers’ compensation benefits for PTSD. That coverage would have upended over one hundred years of workers’ compensation law which has always required a physical injury before coverage is triggered and would have created the risk of workers’ compensation covering other mental only injuries by other types of employees in the future.
 
Read the article in it s entirety by clicking here .
New Tariff on Chinese Imports Could be a Nightmare for American Businesses, Consumers

President Trump recently announced, via Twitter, that the U.S. will implement a 10% tariff on an additional $300 billion worth of Chinese imports. This latest round of tariff hikes comes on top of the 25% tariffs on approximately $250 billion of imported Chinese products already in place – effectively placing a tariff on all goods imported from China. Further escalating trade tensions, the president went on to label China a currency manipulator after Beijing said it would halt purchases of American farm products and allow its currency to weaken.

In turn, China has retaliated by slapping tariffs on about $110 billion of U.S. exports. The result of the escalating trade war? Higher costs for American businesses and consumers on commonly used products and materials, sapping the vitality of the U.S. economy and threatening to make the benefits of tax and regulatory reform a distant memory. 

The objective of reaching a more fair trading relationship with China makes enormous sense. However, the cost of tariffs almost always falls to American businesses and families.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking  here .
  The Library Link
 Great Books About Business With Just A Click

Your link to success begins at the library. Each week in "In The Know," 
  you to a business book or magazine that will inspire, teach, inform, or elevate you, professionally and personally. This week's book is:

The Upstarts
by Brad Stone

The Upstarts: How Uber, Airbnb, and the Killer Companies of the New Silicon Valley Are Changing the World offers a look deep inside the new Silicon Valley, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Everything Store .

Ten years ago, the idea of getting into a stranger's car, or a walking into a stranger's home, would have seemed bizarre and dangerous, but today it's as common as ordering a book online. Uber and Airbnb have ushered in a new era: redefining neighborhoods, challenging the way governments regulate business, and changing the way we travel.

In the spirit of iconic Silicon Valley renegades like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, another generation of entrepreneurs is using technology to upend convention and disrupt entire industries. These are the upstarts, idiosyncratic founders with limitless drive and an abundance of self-confidence. Led by such visionaries as Travis Kalanick of Uber and Brian Chesky of Airbnb, they are rewriting the rules of business and often sidestepping serious ethical and legal obstacles in the process.

The Upstarts is the definitive story of two new titans of business and a dawning age of tenacity, conflict, and wealth. In Brad Stone's riveting account of the most radical companies of the new Silicon Valley, we discover how it all happened and what it took to change the world.

View this book by clicking here .
Today in History

- August 9, 1969 -

From History.com: On this day in 1969, members of Charles Manson’s cult killed five people in movie director Roman Polanski’s Beverly Hills, California, home, including Polanski’s pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate. Less than two days later, the group killed again, murdering supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in their home. The savage crimes shocked the nation and turned Charles Manson into a criminal icon.

Manson was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1934 to an unwed 16-year-old mother. He spent much of his childhood in juvenile reformatories and his early adulthood in prison. After his release in 1967, Manson moved to California and used his unlikely magnetism to attract a group of hippies and set up a commune, where drugs and orgies were common, on the outskirts of Los Angeles.

Manson preached his own blend of eccentric religious teachings to his acolytes, who called themselves his “Family.” He told them a race war between blacks and whites was imminent and would result in great power for the Family. Manson said they should instigate the war by killing rich white people and trying to make it look like the work of blacks.

Roman Polanski ( Rosemary’s Baby , Chinatown , The Pianist ), was not the cult leader’s intended target. Manson, an aspiring musician, chose the Polanski house because he had once unsuccessfully tried to get a recording deal from a producer who used to live there. Polanski was out of town at the time of the murders, but his wife and her friends, including coffee heiress Abigail Folger, were shot or stabbed to death. Manson stayed out of the Polanski house on the night of the crime and didn’t take part in the LaBianca killings either. However, he would later be charged with murder on the grounds he had influenced his followers and masterminded the crimes.

After initially eluding police suspicion, Manson was arrested only after one of his followers, already in jail on a different charge, started bragging about what had happened. Manson’s subsequent trial became a national spectacle, in which he exhibited bizarre and violent behavior. In 1971, he was convicted and given the death penalty; however, that sentence became life behind bars when the California Supreme Court overturned the death penalty in 1972.

Manson has been the subject of numerous movies and books, including the best-seller Helter Skelter (the title is a reference to a Beatles’ song of the same name, through which Manson believed the group was sending secret messages to start a race war). Manson died in prison in 2017.

For more events that took place on August 9th,
please click here .
- $696.70 -

Average planned spending per household for back-to-school shoppers, which is the highest ever recorded by the National Retail Federation.

Source: NRF

Photo by Andrei Firtich from FreeImages .
Questions about Oil & Gas?
These non-profit organizations are here to help you stay up-to-date on the oil and gas industry
in Jefferson County:

Get The Information You Need - The Chamber Staff Is Here To Help
Janet McLaughlin
Investor Relations Coordinator

Janet will assist you with utilizing your membership benefits, answering questions about member programming or how to promote your business through the Chamber.
Tricia Maple-Damewood
President

Contact Tricia with suggestions, input or feedback on member programming, how to get involved on a committee or special project or with questions or information about anything related to the Chamber.
Cassie Balvin
Administrative & Accounting Assistant

Cassie will assist you with event registrations, updating your membership information, questions about your dues or event invoices and any other Chamber programming questions you may have.

Contact Us
The Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce
630 Market Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
Phone: 740.282.6226
Fax:  740.282.6285