Mission Statement:
"We are an organization that supports our business community. We provide resources for our members to stimulate their growth and make our business community a better place to conduct business"
Vision Statement:
"The Chamber is a recognizable and sought after resource for businesses in the New Berlin community"
|
Vaccine Mandate: The U.S. Chamber hosted a webinar to discuss the recently released Department of Labor’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) requiring businesses with at least 100 employees to ensure vaccination of their workers, or for those workers who are unvaccinated, masking policies and weekly testing. If you were unable to watch the webinar, we have provided a link below to a recording of the event. Additionally, we have also prepared a fact sheet prepared by U.S. Chamber staff, as well as a link to the Department of Labor’s FAQ. Links to each document can be found below. Please feel free to share all of this material with your members.
|
OSHA Publishes Emergency Rule on Vaccine & Testing Mandates for Large Employers
The Biden Administration recently released the details of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 vaccination and testing mandates for businesses with 100 or more employees.
By December 5, employers must be in compliance with all aspects of the ETS – such as ensuring their employees have completed the vaccination series (two doses of Moderna and Pfizer or one dose of Johnson & Johnson), providing paid-time for employees to get vaccinated and masking for unvaccinated workers. However, unvaccinated employees will have until January 4, 2022 before they need to be tested on a weekly basis and verify to their employer they received a negative test result.
The ETS will last for six months, but OSHA is also proposing the ETS as a permanent rule.
Below are some key aspects of the rule and additional information:
· This ETS applies to all employers of 100 or more employees at any time during the effective dates of the ETS.
· Employees who are exempted from the vaccine requirement, but are still counted towards the 100 workers total include remote workers, workers that are exclusively outdoors, and workers whose workplace does not have other individuals (coworkers or customers) present.
· The employer must provide workers up to four hours of paid time off to receive each vaccine dose, and paid sick leave for any side effects from each vaccine dose.
· Employees who are not fully vaccinated must be tested at least weekly and wear a face mask/covering, but the cost of the test is not required to be paid by the employer.
· Employers are required to keep records of the vaccination status of each employee, and the results of weekly COVID-19 tests for unvaccinated employees.
· Employers are prohibited from allowing an employee with a positive COVID-19 test into the workplace until the employee tests negative or completes quarantine per CDC guidelines. Employers are not required to pay employees during this isolation period.
The full Details along with Frequently asked questions can be found in the links below:
|
Need help? Get free business counseling.
Connect with a SCORE, Small Business Development Center, Women's Business Center or Veterans Business Outreach Center adviser today.
Wisconsin District
310 West Wisconsin Ave. Suite 580W
414-297-3941
|
Utilize the SBA
LEARNING CENTER
|
Start, pivot, or grow your small business with courses from SBA's Learning Center"
|
|
Business of the Year Nominations are Now Open |
Season's Greetings My Friends,
For the past eighteen months I've been developing, with the Board of Directors, ways to continue our chamber's growth, success, and effectiveness.
We have worked to ensure our financial house is in order. That our focus remains on providing service and value to our members. That we are a recognized resource to our members, helping them stimulate their growth, and making New Berlin a better place to conduct business. We have worked to secure a physical office space and community presence for the
next several years. We have also worked to maintain
consistent board leadership and involvement.
In short, we have taken multiple steps to provide stability and consistency to the organization, while increasing value to members and the greater community.
We believe we have positioned the chamber for long term success allowing us to continue our "62 year" history of supporting our business community.
I'm excited to report that in January the board will unveil some big changes coming in the new year. These changes will provide our members with a better member experience, greater communication and member outreach, and more available resources.
We have worked on this for a long time. I hope you will be as excited as I am for the future of the New Berlin Chamber of Commerce Visitors Bureau.
Until the big reveal, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy & Prosperous New Year!
Your's in service,
Ed Holpfer President CEO
|
Chamber Lawsuit Reaches State Supreme Court
Last December the New Berlin Chamber joined in a lawsuit with WMC and the Muskego Chamber VS Governor Evors to stop the public release of businesses reporting more than two cases of Covid-19. We joined in the case after hearing from multiple members that they opposed the release of this information.
The case is now before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court. Additional information can be found below under Wisconsin News. We will continue to bring updates as they become available.
|
Contact: Mayor’s Office Phone: 262-797-2441
New Berlin Activity & Recreation Center
Be a Part of the Excitement!
Sponsorship Opportunities Still Available
New Berlin WI – The City of New Berlin is now offering sponsorship opportunities to support the ongoing construction of the City’s new Activity and Recreation Center, while at the same time providing a wide reaching promotional opportunity for businesses.
Each year the New Berlin Recreation Department offers hundreds of programs, activities and community events. These range from summer day camp to ballroom dance, cooking to gymnastics and baton twirling to yoga - serving over 6,400 participants and over 10,000 special event attendees. In 2022, the City will be moving these programs to the new facility. The new center will include a dance studio, a teaching kitchen, an indoor playground, a gymnastics space, multi-purpose classrooms and more.
With the addition of this new Recreation Center the City is confident that it can help build and expose businesses that are within the New Berlin community and beyond, while supporting a healthy and active community. Sponsorship packages start at $2,000 and can include key opportunities, such as: naming rights, community event on-site participation, promotional media sources, program sponsorships, signage and more.
Anyone interested in finding out more can contact Melody at the Mayor's Office at 262-797-2441 or visit the City’s Recreation webpage for more information. “We look forward to our grand opening next Spring at which time all sponsors shall be invited to attend” stated Mayor Ament. “Come join us and be a part of the excitement!”
Thank you to the following sponsors who have already pledged their generous donations:
Day Camp Sponsor ($25,000)
New Berlin Plastics, Inc
Healthy Kitchen Sponsor ($20,000)
Horicon Bank
Dance Studio Sponsor ($10,000)
New Berlin Junior Woman’s Club
Gold Sponsors ($5,000)
Briohn Building Corporation
Horicon Bank
The Union House & Wheels Now (Jim Lindenberg)
raSmith
Shorewest Realtors
Tricor Insurance/WEA Trust
Wimmer Communities
Silver Sponsors ($2,000)
Benson Group, RE/MAX Realty 100
Buelow Vetter Buikema Olson & Vliet, LLC
Attorneys Mike & John Schober
Thielmann & Son Heating and Cooling
Other Friends
Walmart
Trees on the Move
Hippenmeyer, Reilly, Blum, Schmitzer, Fabian & English SC
|
Featured Stories:
The 2022 economy will be hotter and pricier than the Fed expected just three months ago
- New projections from the Fed show the 2022 economy featuring higher prices and faster hiring.
- Unemployment is now forecast to drop to 3.5% next year, down from the September forecast of 3.8%.
- The median inflation forecast for 2022, however, rose to 2.6% from 2.2%.
|
If Federal Reserve officials' latest forecasts are correct, the US economic recovery is going to run hot for a little while longer. Policymakers at the central bank published new projections for the national economy on Wednesday, updating how they see the recovery progressing over the next three years.
The last set of forecasts was published in September, meaning the Wednesday release is the first to incorporate the end of the Delta wave, the emergence of the Omicron variant, and inflation surging to its fastest year-over-year pace in nearly 40 years.
The updates all point to a faster — and more expensive — rebound over the next 12 months.
The median forecast for the unemployment rate in 2022 fell to 3.5% from 3.8%, according to the Wednesday report. The new estimate matches the record-low rates seen before the pandemic hit. The 2023 and 2024 rates were left unrevised at 3.5%
|
Jerome Powell smacks down the argument that paying workers more is fueling historic inflation
|
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appears during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Andrew Harnik/AP Photo |
- Strong wage growth hasn't played a big role in lifting inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
- Price and pay increases have boomed in recent months, raising fears of a 1970s-like inflation crisis.
- While soaring wages aren't a problem now, they could be problematic if they don't eventually slow, Powell said.
Conservative economists have repeatedly raised concerns in 2021 that surging wages will give way to even higher inflation. That simply hasn't been the case, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.
Two key ingredients of a new inflation crisis emerged in the fall. Inflation data out Friday showed prices soaring through November at the fastest one-year pace since 1982. Meanwhile, the Employment Cost Index showed wages soaring in the third quarter by the most since 2004.
The combination of red-hot inflation and massive raises sparked fears of a dreaded wage-price spiral. The phenomenon describes a 1970s-style cycle in which high inflation leads to larger pay hikes, which in turn fuel more spending and even higher inflation.
|
Wisconsin NEWS:
WMC Litigation Center Update: WMC Files Reply Brief in Wisconsin Supreme Court Case
On December 15, the WMC Litigation Center filed a reply brief on behalf of WMC and two local chambers in WMC v. Tony Evers. This case is currently in the Wisconsin Supreme Court. WMC filed this lawsuit to challenge the Evers Administration’s planned release of confidential medical records identifying many businesses who have had two or more employees test positive for COVID-19, regardless of where or how those employees contracted the virus.
Wisconsin COVID-19 cases take a dip
With a week to go before Christmas Eve, COVID-19 cases declined. On Thursday, the state reported 3,965 people tested positive for the virus, lowering the seven-day average to 3,558. Test positivity average also decreased to 11.6% for the last seven days. The U.S. CDC listed all of Wisconsin in the "high" category for virus transmission.
|
Business & Finance:
U.S. manufacturing production near three-year high in November
Production at U.S. factories increased to its highest level in nearly three years in November as output rose across the board, providing a powerful boost to economy as the year ends. The manufacturing output index climbed 0.7% last month to 100.6, the highest level since January 2019, the Federal Reserve said on Thursday. That followed a 1.4% rebound in October. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory production rising 0.7%. Output increased 4.6% compared to November 2020.
Central Banks around the World raise rates as Fed prepares move
Central banks across swaths of the globe are continuing to raise interest rates in an effort to tame inflation, largely dismissing for now the threat to economic growth posed by the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant. A rate rise announced by Russia’s central bank Friday was its seventh this year and brought the increase in its key interest rate to four-and-a-quarter percentage points since March.
|
That's all for this week. As always I appreciate your taking a few moments to stay up to date. Have a great week!
Ed Holpfer
|
|
Maximize your Membership Benefits
UPDATE YOUR
MEMBER PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE
Review the tutorials below to take full advantage of your membership benefits
How to - Training Videos & PDF’s
|
Another 5 Star Review
"Great people and great services offered to members. "Hot deals," easy member-to-member communication, and more. Highly recommended."
Nikolai Miskov Athletico Phtsical Therapy
Nikolai,
So glad you are enjoying your membership. Thanks for your support helping us to strengthen local business and the community :)
|
More 5 Star reviews!
Adding a review increases your visibility, by raising the reputation, and visibility of the Chamber's Website.
Add your review at the following link:
|
NEW REVIEW!
2021-06-17
"The New Berlin Chamber of Commerce is SO helpful in getting your business name and service out to the community. Why would you NOT want to support and be a part of your local Chamber? The benefits are wonderful!"
— Cindy Haupt
|
Shebesta Piano -John Shebesta
"I’m semi retired now but the New Berlin chamber of commerce has always been very helpful and easy to contact I wish I could plug-in more often"
|
"Great group of people that genuinely car about the business's and people in our community."
|
"Has been a great experience being a member of New Berlin Chamber of Commerce. Very helpful getting connected in the community and staying in the loop!
"
|
"The New Berlin Chamber of Commerce has made me feel very welcome as a new business in the community. They are very polite, professional and knowledgeable. Thank you"
|
"Didn't know the importance of being a chamber member till I joined, but wow is it critical, especially if you own a business in New Berlin!
I get a lot of value out of their timely, important updates but also from the chamber member community and meetings.
Strong connections with state and local representatives, local business leaders and the local community.
Everything you need to know and who you need to know are all here at the chamber!"
|
Burt Robertson
"When we moved our Business to New Berlin the Chamber was one of our first stops. They have not failed to deliver. For answer questions, helping us meet other business owners, opportunities to help us get exposure, the Chamber has been a huge help.
Even through Covid the chamber was constantly proving timely information and help to our business about regulations, rules, shutdowns and financial assistance opportunities for many places.
We are so happy to be members of the chamber and regularly recommend it to others... If you are a Business owner/manager you should learn more, it doesn't matter if you are a homebased direct sales business or a owner/CEO of a large factory or store... there is something for you at the chamber.
If you are new to the area and are looking for help getting around and find places to shop, eat, have fun... check out the community guide book the chamber has it is really nice.
These pictures are from when we had the opportunity to be the business of the week at the Farmers Market...
|
"They are a Great Chamber of Commerce that helps businesses in the community" ******.
Sherry Ament, Herculift
|
|
