CHAMBER NEWS
September 2019
|
|
A Message from the Ohio Chamber
Business As Usual – Not Hardly
By Andrew E. Doehrel, President & CEO
This issue of Ohio Matters is arriving later in your mailboxes than we would have liked it to because we were waiting on the state’s biennial budget to be finalized. By law, Ohio’s budget has to be signed by the governor by June 30. As you know, that didn’t happen and a temporary extension of 17 days was put into place.
To say that the first half of the Ohio legislative session has been business as usual would be flat wrong, as issues came up that we never would have expected from our elected officials. There seemed to be no clear agreement on a number of top business issues.
It started with the Transportation Budget (HB 62) early this year. While the Ohio Chamber of Commerce understood the need for additional funding to assist in paying for the construction, maintenance and repair of our state’s roadways, we expected any new tax burden to be shared equally. Unfortunately, the final version of the HB 62 puts the burden disproportionately on Ohio businesses with the diesel tax increase nearly double the gas tax increase.
While Gov. DeWine had proposed a general fund budget with no new taxes, when the budget came out of the House, it contained an unexpected $528 million a year tax increase on small businesses. This would have been done by eliminating the business income deduction (BID) which was adopted by the legislature just a few years earlier. The House’s version of the budget would have reduced the amount of business income a pass-through business would have been able to deduct from $250,000 to $100,000, while also eliminating the flat 3% tax rate on any remaining business income. Thanks to an all out advocacy effort by our members which included several of them coming to Columbus to testify in the Senate Finance Committee, as well as calls and letters to members of the House and Senate, we were able to largely preserve the BID and avoid a tax increase. This is a significant victory for small businesses.
While the state budget was being debated, the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation budget was also in the works. What should have been an easy piece of legislation turned into a budget with a variety of harmful policy measures which would have been detrimental to employers. Again, Ohio Chamber members and allies in the business community pulled together to make sure the final version did not negatively impact business.
The first part of this legislative session is a great example of why you need the Ohio Chamber of Commerce – even though it looked like it should have been business as usual, it wasn’t. Every year we vet hundreds of pieces of legislation and proposed regulations to review their impact on business. We are the ones looking out for businesses – large and small – aggressively championing free enterprise, economic competitiveness and growth for the benefit of all Ohioans. For us that’s our business as usual.
|
|
|
CHAMBER TO HOLD OFFICE HOURS IN CRESTLINE
|
|
The Galion-Crestline Chamber of Commerce will begin holding office hours in September on the second and fourth Fridays of the month from 9:00 am till 12:00 pm at the chamber office in the Crestline Advocate building at 312 N. Seltzer St.
Appointments can be made by calling 419-468-7737 or interested parties can walk in. You can also make an appointment for another time that would be more convenient for you just by calling.
We are doing this to reach out to the Crestline Business Community to see if our benefits would be of assistance to you.
Last year alone, we saved our members over $700,000 through our affinity programs on our Electric & Natural Gas program with Alternative Energy Source, Workers Compensation Discounts through CareWorks Consultant’s Inc., and our Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Chamber Healthcare Program and you could be part of these savings also.
We hope to see you at the chamber office in Crestline soon.
Joe Kleinknecht
President/CEO
|
|
NEW CHAMBER MEMBERS
Kyle Solomon, (handyman services) Galion, 419-961-7012
Galion Shampooch
, (dog grooming, pet grooming & pet services), Sarah Campbell, Galion, 419-775-6035
|
|
The Chamber held a ribbon cutting August 21st at Cochran & Associates' new location - 136 Harding Way East. They have done a wonderful job renovating the exterior and interior of this building. They are a great addition to the Uptowne Business District!
|
|
|
|
|
The Chamber held a ribbon cutting August 22nd at
Galion Shampooch,
905 Portland Way North to welcome them to the Galion business community! Great addition and a wonderful service for our furry friends!
|
|
The Chamber held a ribbon cutting August 28th at
The Rusty Horseshoe
, 741 Portland Way South. Welcome to the Galion Business community! The restaurant looks wonderful inside and out - Congratulations!
|
|
|
Stay up to date with upcoming Chamber events!
Click on the event below to be taken to our events page on our website for specific event details and more information as it becomes available.
|
|
United Bank
:
Jennifer Kuns, Asst. Vice President, Sr. Retail Lender and manager of the Galion and Crestline offices, recently graduated from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin. She also obtained an Executive Leadership Certificate from the Wisconsin School of Business. Pictured are Jennifer along with Don Stone, President. Great job Jennifer!!!
|
|
Fox Winery
:
Joins the "Wine & Ale Trail" that goes through the Mansfield Area. The addition of Fox Winery in Galion brings the total number of stops on this local trail to nine! They join a collection of partners whose passion for craft and connection to history bring people from near and far to sip and savor their way through the trail. Visit the blog post
HERE
for more details about these locations.
|
|
Avita Galion Hospital’s
maternity center has been recognized by the Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Department of Health for completing the
Ten Steps for Successful Breastfeeding
. This 5-star recognition is part of the
Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies
initiative to award hospitals for taking steps to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding in their organization.
For more information on Avita Health System, visit
avitahealth.org. For more information about
Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies
, please visit
ohiohospitals.org/ohiofirststeps
.
|
|
Galion United Lions Club:
was recently formed after about 20 people met with Lions Club International members through informational meetings. The new Galion United Lions Club plans to become involved with Lions Clubs International’s global initiatives of vision, diabetes, hunger relief, pediatric cancer and environment while also delving into local community needs. The club meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of every month at the First Lutheran Church, 127 South Columbus Street, Galion, and the public is invited to attend. For more information or to become involved with the Galion United Lions, please contact John Lizotte at 419-631-3927, GalionUnitedLions@gmail.com or find the group on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/galionunitedlionsclub
.
|
|
Do you have an anniversary, new associate or employee, sign, or business update? Contact Joe or Miranda at the Chamber Office, 419-468-7737 or email
mjones@galion-crestlinechamber.org
so we can add your business to the Member Spotlight in our next Newsletter.
|
|
Chamber Holds Shred It Day in Crestline
|
|
The Galion-Crestline Chamber, along with sponsors United Bank and Depot Deli, held a free community Shred It Day on Friday, August 23rd in Crestline at the Gazebo. This event was well attend by community members, with many people stopping to enjoy hot dogs, cookies and water courtesy of our sponsors. Donations were accepted, with a total of $250 collected, and given to Emmanuel's Bread. Thank you for your support!
|
|
QuickBooks Workshops
Basics, Intermediate and Online Version
Need to learn how to balance your accounts? Want to learn how to manage your personal and/or small business accounts? Or do you need to freshen up on some accounting skills for work? These workshops will offer you the information you need to better understand Accounting and how to use QuickBooks as a tool to service your needs.
Richland Area Chamber
55 North Mulberry Street,
Mansfield, OH 44902
Basics - Sept 10th - $20.00
Intermediate - Sept 12th - $20.00
Both workshops $35.00
Ashland County
West Holmes Career Center
1783 OH Rt 60
Ashland, Ohio 44805
Basics - Sept 17th - $20.00
Intermediate - Sept 19th - $20.00
Both workshops $35.00
Christ United Methodist Church - Basement Hall
130 E Walnut St
Galion, OH 44833
Basics - Sept 24th - $20.00
Intermediate - Sept 26th - $20.00
Both workshops $35.00
Richland Area Chamber
55 North Mulberry Street,
Mansfield, OH 44902
QB online version
- Oct 1st - $20.00
QB online part 2
– Oct 3rd - $20.00
Both workshops $35.00
The conference rooms have Wifi. Attendees can bring their laptop or tablet.
Each Workshop Limited to 15 participants.
Workshops are 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SPEAKER INFORMATION
Bondrian Virden, the owner of NRV Diversified Consulting Services, a small business which offers bookkeeping and computer software training. She has over 17 years of QuickBooks experience. Virden has a Business degree from the University of Akron, a 6-year active duty United States veteran, and the author of "Daily Words of Encouragement."
North Central Ohio SCORE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
