Chamber members had an opportunity to learn about the many varieties and flavors of coffee, the various ways the coffee beans can be roasted, as well as gain some insight into the coffee supply chain at the final Business After Hours of 2017, which was hosted by Bason Coffee Roasting last Wednesday, Nov. 29 at its roasting, production and retail facility in downtown Danville. Attendees also had an opportunity to hear about owner Brad Bason’s efforts to help Rwandan farmers develop their local community through growing coffee, all while enjoying hors d’oeuvres from the Chamber’s newest member, That Kitchen Witch, as well as beer, wine, tea, and of course, coffee, and networking and taking in the pleasant aroma of the various types of coffee that is roasted daily in the building. Several attendees also elected to purchase some coffee while they were there, and those interested in sampling any one of the several types of coffee offered at Bason Coffee Roasting are encouraged to stop by during their holiday shopping, as Bason Coffee makes a great stocking stuffer. Business After Hours provide regular opportunities to build business relationships while learning about the services offered by other Chamber members. The next Business After Hours will be held at the Bloomsburg Area YMCA, located at 30 East 7th St., Bloomsburg, on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
More than 400 businesses and organizations belong to the Chamber to receive benefits and support efforts to strengthen their businesses and our region. Increased membership allows us to offer additional programs and benefits, have a stronger voice in advocacy and be involved in more activities and initiatives in our communities. The Chamber welcomes its newest member, That Kitchen Witch (T.K. Witch for short) to help us fulfill our mission.
T.K. Witch is a full-service, off-premise catering company that can handle everything from casual backyard barbecues to formal wedding dinners and everything in between. It also recently launched a new at-home delivery service, similar to larger, mass-produced home food delivery businesses, but on a local level, which allow it to offer fully-cooked ingredients, unlike larger, national food delivery companies. T.K. Witch caters weddings, corporate events, backyard parties, and also offers bartending and beverage services and private chef/dinner party services. Earlier this year, it moved into a new commercial kitchen located at the old Lewisburg High School at 815 Market St. (corner of Routes 15 & 45) in Lewisburg. T.K. Witch can be reached at 570-259-5179, by email, or visit its website.
Congressman Lou Barletta speaks to members of the Columbia Montour Chamber at a breakfast in October.
The average person in Pennsylvania will save over $2,000 annually on their taxes with the passage of a tax reform plan being ironed out between the House and the Senate, according to Congressman Lou Barletta. When Barletta spoke to Chamber members in October, he pledged that any tax reform plan would have to benefit the middle class. Following the passage of a House plan in mid-November, the Senate plan passed along party lines in the early morning of Saturday, Dec. 2. The bill now goes to a conference committee to work out the differences between the plans with a goal of having a final version to President Trump by Christmas.
Here is a full article on the passage of the Senate bill and the path forward from the Harrisburg Patriot News.
From ChamberChoice
Employers are continually being reminded that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still intact and remains the law of the land. Final 2017 forms and instructions for reporting information to the IRS to assist with the enforcement of the individual and employer mandates under the ACA have been released by the IRS. This release serves as another reminder that employers should continue to comply with the ACA based on current guidance.
As a summary, Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 6056 requires applicable large employer members to report to the IRS about offers of, and enrollment in, health coverage for their full-time employees. The 1095-C form assists the IRS in determining an ALE’s compliance with the employer mandate and the eligibility of employees for the premium tax credit.
Under IRC section 6055 employers and insurers providing minimum essential coverage (MEC) are subject to reporting requirements which assist the IRS with enforcement of the individual mandate.
Reporting Deadline
The deadline for furnishing the reports to employees/covered individuals is Jan. 31, 2018. The transmitting of information to the IRS is Feb. 28, 2018 for those filing paper copies of the reports. Electronic filers (those filing 250 or more forms, or electing to file electronically) must meet the reporting deadline by April 2, 2018, since the regular filing date of March 31 falls on a Saturday. These are the deadlines regardless of whether an employer’s plan is a fiscal or calendar plan year.
Minimal Form Changes
The 2017 final forms and instructions show minimal modifications and include the following:
• As transition relief is no longer available for ALEs in 2017, relief reference has been removed from Form 1094-C.
• Provided a safe harbor for de minimis errors when reporting the amount of an employee’s required contribution. If the amount reported is off by $100 or less, a corrected 1095-C is not required to avoid penalties, if the employer qualifies for use of the safe harbor.
• Noted that for 2017 reporting the “Plan Start Month” on Form 1095-C remains optional.
• Confirmed that a Series 2 code is not available for reporting an employee’s non-enrollment in health care coverage or waiving offered coverage on line 16 of Form 1095-C.
• Noted that there is no “good-faith compliance relief” in the instructions and provided the 2017 adjusted penalty amounts unless a waiver for reasonable cause is granted.
• Reminded that paper returns must be provided in landscape format.
The final forms and instructions can be found at the following links:
Final 2017 1095-C Form
Final 2017 1094-C Form
Final instructions for both forms
Final 2017 Form 1094-B
Final 2017 Form 1095-B
Final instructions for both forms
Employers should familiarize themselves with the final forms as they being to plan for any 2017 reporting requirements. If using a vendor to assist with the forms, conversations should be conducted to see if any system requirements have changed and any responsibilities the employer may have for gathering and clarifying information. If an employer anticipates not being able to meet its requirement to provide the forms to full-time employees by Jan. 31, then it should consider filing for an extension which is not automatically granted.
In early 2018, Penn College will begin training to support apprenticeship programs in Mechatronics and CNC Machining with funding available from the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corporation (CPWDC) to offset the cost to companies.
To learn more, please attend one of the upcoming curriculum planning meetings on Dec. 11 at:
Penn College’s Workforce Development & Continuing Education (WDCE) Office
1127 West Fourth Street
Williamsport, PA
Mechatronics: 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
CNC Machining: 1:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
To RSVP or for questions, please contact John Paul via email.
See this flyer for more information.
November took the Leadership Central Penn class to the Central Columbia School District’s office for an education round table with superintendents Harry Mathias (Central Columbia), Dr. Donald Wheeler (Bloomsburg), Cynthia Jenkins (Millville) and Director of Curriculum for Berwick, Bob Croop, Jr. The educational leaders had four questions on the agenda, but it became apparently quickly that the LCP class was going the hijack the morning as it continuously challenged the panel on topics ranging from educational innovations, “new’ math, technology in the classroom, property taxes, family school life balance, and the ever changing challenges of teaching the next generation. The panel held its own, and the passion they use every day to meet these challenges and more as they educate our young people was evident.
The class was treated to lunch with a wonderful menu of fresh baked yeast rolls, hot soup and perfectly dressed salad prepared by students from Columbia Montour Area Vocational Technical School. Lunch was delivered and executed under the guidance of Joseph Edmondson, director of food preparation education at CMVT.
After lunch the class welcomed two more guests, Dr. Kim Bolig of Bloomsburg University’s STEM Education Center, and Diana Verbeck, executive director of the Danville Child Development Center. The class saw Powerpoints about the wonderful empowering education being done for young girls and boys, through STEEM Magnet programs at BU. STEM jobs are in great demand and growing in our economy, and this program is meeting the challenges of engaging and exciting young people about the possibilities in these future careers.
As we look to the future, we learned that we need to start planning for that as early as six weeks of age — yes you read that right, six weeks, according to a presentation by Verbeck. Research in neurodevelopment shows that early brain stimulation correlates to success later in life, and it has been widely debated, but the passion of Verbeck and others in the early childhood education field was very evident throughout the presentation. They believe in development through play and tactile education, and the earlier the better. Offering these opportunities to all families regardless of socioeconomic status is imperative and has been echoed by industry leaders and government officials.
One can’t call it a day at Central Columbia without taking a walk on the Career Pathway. Students at this high school have a rare and unique educational experience to begin their career education in ninth grade. You want to be an Engineer; you start on the college prep Engineering, Manufacturing, and Industrial Technology pathway. Four other pathways exist:
- Human Services
- Arts and Communications,
- Business, Finance, Marketing, and Information Technology
- Agri-Science, Science and Health
Students must pick one to focus on as well as a secondary pathway to study. This allows students to get a variety of experiences before making life altering career and college choices. The program is unlike any that any member of the class had experienced before, and it almost made some want to go back to high school.
Leadership Central Penn is sponsored by Bloomsburg University, Kawneer, SEKISUI SPI and USG.
More than 400 businesses and organizations belong to the Chamber to receive benefits and support efforts to strengthen their businesses and our region. Increased membership allows us to offer additional programs and benefits, have a stronger voice in advocacy and be involved in more activities and initiatives in our communities. The Chamber welcomes its newest member, the Law Offices of Lutz & Petty, LLC, to help us fulfill our mission.
Located in Berwick at 916 W. Front St., Lutz & Petty specializes in the following areas: criminal law, elder law & asset protection, nursing home/medicaid planning, estate planning & estate law, administration, family law, personal injury and real estate and lawyer for drug crimes near Boston. Their mission is to provide the highest quality legal services to their neighbors in northeastern and central Pennsylvania. Attorneys Nicholas Lutz and Travis Petty are both lifelong residents of the Berwick area and are dedicated to using their skills to make the community a better place. Lutz & Petty can be reached at 570-218-4888, through email/email, or on their website.
Member News
- The Weis Center for the Performing Arts has added a free show featuring Lenny Kaye, acclaimed guitarist for the Patti Smith Group, to its schedule for Monday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.
Guitarist Lenny Kaye (photo by Dina Regine)
As musician, writer, and record producer, Kaye has been intimately involved with the creative impulse that marks the music. He has been a guitarist for poet-rocker Patti Smith since her band’s inception more than forty years ago, and has worked in the studio with such artists as Suzanne Vega, Jim Carroll, Soul Asylum, Allen Ginsberg, and Pussy Riot. He is the co-author of Waylon, the life story of Waylon Jennings; and his impressionistic study of the romantic singers of the 1930’s You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon, was published in 2004. His seminal and influential anthology of 60’s garage-rock, Nuggets, has long been regarded as defining a genre.
- Secret Agent 23 Skodoo will bring its unique kid-friendly hip-hop to the Weis Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m.
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
The performance is free and tickets are not required. More Fraggles than Wiggles, more Soul Train than Thomas the Train, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo is equal parts Dr. Seuss and Dr. Dre. This Grammy-winning artist combines the excitement of hip-hop with the magical world of childhood. With sophisticated instrumental funk and positive, witty wordplay, he has earned a loyal national following. His latest album, Infinity Plus One, took home the Grammy Award for Best Children’s Album of the Year.
- The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) will hold the third and final part of a three-part series on supply chain leadership and strategy on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at the NEPIRC Training Center, 75 Young St., Wilkes-Barre, from 8:30 a.m. – noon. The session is free, and is entitled “Competition is no Longer Between Companies – it is Between Supply Chains.”
- Dr. David Hamilton of Hamilton Dental Care and president of the The Jubilate Choir and Orchestra, is pleased to announce The Jubilate Choir and Orchestra’s Annual Christmas Concert, A Holy Night of Angels, will be on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. The choir and orchestra, under the direction of Dr. Alan J. Hack, is made up of community singers and instrumentalists along with Mrs. Kathy George accompanying on the piano. It invites all to join them at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 123 Market St., Bloomsburg for this exciting concert, a high point of the Christmas season celebration in our area!
- Co., a social and professional networking group that is run by the United Way of Columbia and Montour County, will hold its annual holiday party on Tuesday, Dec. 12, from 5:30-7 p.m. at Filet 18, 18 W. Main St., Bloomsburg. Come and join this group of area professionals for a fun night of socializing and networking. Co. was founded to give area residents the opportunity to take advantage of all the great things this area has to offer. This group is for everyone, which means any age, ability, or area of residence. It holds multiple events each month. For more information about Co., including future events, visit its Facebook page.
- It is the season of giving and the Ken Pollock Auto Group, is continuing its yearly tradition of collecting new or slightly used coats, in all sizes to benefit local families.
From now through Dec. 15, Ken Pollock Auto Group will be collecting coats that can be donated at any of its auto dealerships, including locally at Ken Pollock Ford Lincoln in Berwick. All coats collected in our area will be donated to the Columbia Child Development Program – Head Start for distribution to families in need. For more information, contact the Ken Pollock Auto Group at 570-655-4575.
From 
Here at the Chamber, we continue to hear from our member businesses and organizations about the challenges of finding the talent needed to compete and grow. The Chamber and Chamber Foundation are working to increase the awareness of local opportunities among students and their parents in helping to meet future needs. Many members have also told us that their organizations would welcome chances to engage with students to help them better understand the career opportunities available in the region.
We have been engaged with the Central PA Workforce Development Board (CPWDC), Career & Technical Education Administrators, PA CareerLink® staff, and other Chambers of Commerce to strategize the answer to the question: How might we get more students to see the value of pursuing a career in the skilled trades? One idea being pursued is the creation of an online career hub with a searchable database that helps match students with local employers offering career experiences, such as company tours, job shadowing, internships, and educator in the workplace tours.
The Columbia Montour Chamber and our Foundation are working with the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce, CPWDC and PA CareerLink® to collaboratively develop the platform, and we are seeking your input to make sure a site serving our area will be responsive to your needs. A brief survey has been developed to allow you to indicate what you would like to see in this career hub. We would appreciate it if you could let us know how this tool could be most beneficial to you and your business. To provide your input, please complete this survey by Wednesday, Dec. 6.
From PA Chamber of Business & Industry
The PA Chamber joined more than 100 other chambers of commerce nationwide earlier this month in signing on to a letter to Congress urging them to roll back regulations that were first implemented following the Great Recession and have since slowed lending and hurt economic opportunities for small business owners.
Specifically, the signatories support a bipartisan effort that was recently unveiled in the U.S. Senate that would offer relief to community and regional banks by reducing the threshold at which they are considered “risky.” This Main Street lending bill would greatly help small businesses and entrepreneurs secure the financing they need to invest, expand and create jobs. The U.S. Chamber is pushing for tailored bank rules and a properly calibrated regulatory system to help businesses grow.
“Since the financial crisis, community, mid-size, and regional banks have become regulated under an ineffective and inefficient ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach that does not consider an institution’s actual risk profile,” the letter stressed. “We believe Congress should develop common-sense reforms for community, mid-size, and regional banks, which would help empower Main Street businesses.”
To read more about the U.S. Chamber’s engagement on this issue and receive updates, visit here. The Columbia Montour Chamber has not yet taken a position on this issue.