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This Edition of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Newsletter was Printed & Finished on a

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Annual Luncheon FeaturesKeynote Speaker Merril Hoge

The Schuylkill Chamber’s 99th Annual Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 2017 at the Seasons Restaurant at Mountain Valley Golf Course, 1021 Brockton Mountain Drive, Barnesville. The keynote speaker is former NFL player, ESPN Analyst and Cancer Survivor Merril Hoge.

Ever since Merril was eight-years-old, he dreamed of being a professional football player. Growing up in a small town in Idaho, the goal seemed unrealis-tic. But, in 1987, Merril made his childhood dream a reality when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played until 1993. Along with Franco Harris, he is one of only two Steelers players to rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back playoff games. He was the Steelers Iron Man of the Year two years in a row (1989 and 1990) and was named to the All-Madden team in 1989. In 1993, Mer-ril went to the Chicago Bears as a free agent, where he played for one year until he was forced to retire early due to post-concussion syndrome. At the time of his retirement, Mer-ril had the longest consecutive playing streak in the NFL.

Merril joined ESPN in 1995 as a football analyst and sideline reporter, where he quick-ly distinguished himself through his in-depth knowledge of the game and his strong rela-tionships with the coaches and players in the National Football League. He has since served as a host and analyst for a wide variety of ESPN programs on television, radio and the Internet, including ESPN’s SportsCenter and NFL Live; Friday Football and Fantasy Insid-er on ESPN News; The NFL on ESPN Radio; and alongside Ron Jaworski on the highly acclaimed State Farm NFL Matchup, which is

the only show that uses coaches’ tape to pro-vide an inside look at the game. Merril is also a regular contributor to ESPN.com and to ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Foot-ball and Super Bowl and NFL Draft coverage.

In 2003, the habits and mindset that Merril formulated throughout his childhood and car-ried into adulthood, helped him Find A Way

to overcome the ultimate chal-lenge – cancer. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on February 14, Merril took on che-motherapy with the same tenacity that got him to the NFL and beat it. Through the difficult moments, Merril found inspiration through his daughter Kori, then nine, who upon hearing the news, whis-pered, “Dad, find a way.” On July 2, 2003, Merril was cancer-free.

For all of his life accomplishments as an ath-lete and businessman, Merril’s biggest impact can be felt within his family and community. A long-time Board Chairman of the Highmark Caring Foundation and Caring Place centers, which provide a place for grieving children, adolescents and their families to cope with the loss of a parent or loved one, Merril’s vision is to help all children know their value and im-portance, helping them to grow up healthy and whole. For the last 12 years, alongside Pitts-burgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, Merril has hosted the Hoge Ward Celebrity Golf Clas-sic for Children to raise funds and awareness for the programs of the Highmark Caring Founda-tion.

The luncheon begins promptly at 11:30 a.m. at Mountain Valley. Cost is $50 for Chamber members, $100 for Future members or $575 for a corporate table of 8. Reservations are required for this event. Make your reservation by calling the Schuylkill Chamber at 570-622-1942/800-755-1942 or email vmihoda@schuylkillchamber.com. ℑ

Merril Hoge

Picture your ad here!Call Vanessa at 570-622-1942 for information on advertising

in this space

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 2 Page 15

Lehigh Valley Health Net-work Rehabilitation Center – Schuylkill, formerly Schuylkill Rehabilitation Center, will be hosting a free community lecture, “Vestib-ular Rehabilitation” on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Ronald Ferrara, PT, MS, Physical Therapist, will present information about this exercise-based program designed to help resolve balance and vertigo issues. Reservations would be appre-ciated, but are not required. 570-621-9500. ℑ

Pottsville Area Physical Therapy, A Service of Good Shep-herd Rehabilitation Hospital, is holding a wellness event for the public on April 5 from 3 to 6 p.m. The site is located at 2655 Woodglen Road, Pottsville, and is one of more than 60 facilities in nine Pennsyl-vania counties operated by Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network. It is Good Shepherd’s first location in Schuylkill County.

Several free health screenings will be offered, including vestibu-lar and balance screenings, blood pressure screenings, stroke risk assessment and carpal tunnel screen-ings. There also will be tours of the recently-renovated facility, free refreshments, door prizes and an opportunity to meet the staff. ℑ

The Schuylkill United Way is pleased to welcome Allie Andrews to the team as the Director of Com-munity Relations. In this role, Allie will be developing marketing and communication strategies to en-hance our social media platform and

Member News

Member News continues on page 4

of the agribusiness they might be either one

✓ Kevin Sunday, PA Chamber of Business & Industry---Govern-ment regulations and advocacy to assist agribusiness with same---including EPA, conservation, water, etc. and the importance of addressing “overreaching author-ity” of regulatory bodies.

The goal, to inform the agribusi-ness community of the programs that are available to them through the Schuylkill Chamber, was achieved. Robert Carl, Jr., President & CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber, moderated the Chamber presentation. Approximate-ly 100 agribusiness participants were present.

100th Anniversary - 3-21-17The 100th Anniversary Gala will be

held on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at the Schuylkill Country Club.

A History Subcommittee is forming. A chair for the committee is needed. The committee shared some history experts to invite to the first meeting.

The first History Subcommittee meeting was suggested to be resched-uled to bolster attendance. The meeting is scheduled for March 30, 2017 at 10 A.M. at the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

The committee discussed the budget for the General events and the Gala and the fees that might be charged for the history research component of celebra-tion.

Ideas for general events included gifts for all members (an 8”x10” print), gift baskets donated by member com-panies at all 2018 events. Samples of baskets will be available to give businesses ideas. The value of the give-aways will range between $35 and $50. Gift certificates or other items could be donated in lieu of a basket. An email inviting businesses to donate baskets will be sent in October, 2017. The Chamber will get an official count of all 2018 events that a basket giveaway is needed. Mixers are excluded from

the count.The Deja Groove Band was selected

for the 100th Anniversary Gala.The next General Planning Meeting

is April 27, 2017 at 3:00 P.M. at the Chamber.

Young Entrepreneurs Academy The Young Entrepreneurs Academy

Committee had a busy month of March. Student classes and business plan de-velopment continued. There will be 14 different businesses coming from this Class of 2017.

Elevator Pitches were heard by men-tors on March 7, 2017. The Investor Panel judges held a planning session at the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce on March 15, 2017.

The YEA! Schuylkill Investor Panel Event was held on March 22, 2017 at Penn State Schuylkill in the Health and Wellness Building. The business plan and social cause presentations were outstanding. ‘Lemental Creations, an organic health and beauty product busi-ness, improving day to day lives and the community, by Linz Griffin, was selected Saunders Scholar winner and will compete in May in Rochester, NY. Linz was awarded $1,500 in Investor Panel money.

The Investor Panel distributed ap-proximately $8,000 in seed money to the 14 business/social endeavor entre-preneurs.

Nominating - 3-6-17 The Nominating Committee met to

consider nominated candidates for the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee is again chaired by James Bohorad, Esq.

After serious deliberation, 24 nom-inees were approved to be placed on the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Election Ballot, to seek a two-year Board of Directors term for 2017-2019. The random ballot placement selection was blindly drawn and the ballots were prepared for the election process. The Election Ballot was mailed to all mem-bers (1 ballot/each member organiza-

tion).Ballots are due back to the Schuylkill

Chamber offices by the deadline of March 31, 2017. The Nominating Com-mittee will meet in April 2017, to count the election results and announce the successful candidates to the Chamber membership.

Budget Committee - The Budget Committee is chaired this year by Ed Keyworth, 2nd Vice Chair of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

The first Budget Committee was held on March 3, 2017. Meetings will be held approximately every two weeks until a draft 2017-2018 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Budget is presented in first draft to the Chamber Board of Directors at their May, 2017 Board Meeting. A final budget will be approved at the June, 2017 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Board of Direc-tors meeting.

Awards - The Awards Committee began meeting in March 2017, fol-lowing the Award nomination process. The Schuylkill Chamber received 25 nominations, in five award categories including Business Woman of the Year, Business Man of the Year, For Profit Business of the Year, Non Profit Business of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year.

A complete vetting of all nominees and their references is currently under-way. The members of the Awards Com-mittee work diligently over the next month. The identities of those serving on the Awards Committee, remains confidential.

The 2017 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Award winners will be an-nounced at the 99th Schuylkill Cham-ber of Commerce Annual Luncheon to be held on May 4, 2017. A special Awards Breakfast will be hosted by the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, on June 14, 2017, to honor all of the award winners. ℑ

website outreach at the Schuylkill United Way. She will work on pro-moting community outreach through new and existing programming to help increase the presence of the Schuylkill United Way along with our partner agencies.

Allie is a lifelong native of Schuylkill County. She comes to the Schuylkill United Way with five years of experience in Human

Resources and a B.S. in Business Administration from Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus. Most recently, Allie worked as a Human Resources Generalist at Empire Education Group in Pottsville. She is also an active board member as a So-cial Media Coordinator for the Penn State Alumni Association Schuylkill Chapter. Previously, Allie has been a Relay for Life Volunteer and for the past five years has volunteered to help with fundraising for the Mela-noma International Foundation.

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 14 Page 3

Schuylkill Chamber Communicator

PublisherSchuylkill Chamber of Commerce

Union Station1 Progress Circle, Suite 201

Pottsville, PA 17901Phone: 570.622.1942

800.755.1942Fax: 570.622.1638

www.schuylkillchamber.com

Robert S. Carl, Jr.President and CEO

rcarl@schuylkillchamber.com

Monica M. WalbornExecutive Vice President

mwalborn@schuylkillchamber.com

Vanessa M. MihodaCommunications Director

vmihoda@schuylkillchamber.com

Susan WilliamsMember Engagement Director

swilliams@schuylkillchamber.com

Editorial and Advertising OfficeSchuylkill Chamber of Commerce

1 Progress Circle, Suite 201Pottsville, PA 17901

Schuylkill Chamber Communicatoris published by

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce. Copyright 2017.

Submissions for editorial review should be sent to the Chamber Office.

The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

Neither the publisher nor any individual associated with any branch of production,

nor the advertisers will be held liable for typographical misprints

contained herein.

2017, all rights reserved by Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

them.The committee is exploring the pos-

sibility of doing a session on everyday office tips, from press release, com-munication, social media, leadership, time management and organization tips. Cheryl Cresswell noted that her daughter, Tiffany, would be home from college for the August event and would be a wonderful presenter on these types of topics. The committee requested Cheryl to reach out to her and advise the committee.

The committee would like to see sessions on QuickBooks and Excel. The staff noted that Excel is in the process of being scheduled and we will pass on the need for QuickBooks (in a 4 to 8 hour “hands on” class) to the Education Committee. Other sessions under consideration are Understanding How to Communicate Your Non-Profits Story – a guide to developing strategic storytelling competency.

Schuylkill Women in Business - 3-16-17

The mission of SWIB is to create an environment where women inspire women to achieve success in business through education, networking and building relationships.

Committees continued from page 13

Schuylkill Chamber’s HR Helpline offers fast, personal help from real live HR professionals!

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Need help validating an HR decision? Want a quick answer about FMLA, ADA or leaves of absence?

Need fast help regarding employee discipline, terminations or employee relations?Have you got questions about drug testing or harassment?

One quick call puts you in touch with an HR professional who will get you the help you need.

This initial complimentary service is provided by East Coast Risk Management, a subsidiary of The Seltzer Group.

The objectives of the committee are to create events that provide program-ming that is both engaging and enticing for area businesswomen.

Upcoming Schuylkill Women in Business Luncheons: March 22, 2017, Presenting Yourself Professionally, The Importance of an Updated Resume; April 27, 2017, Panel Discussion on Networking 101 / Becoming Comfort-able with Networking; May 24, 2017 Speed Networking.

The Christmas party was discussed. Locations and format were discussed and the group agreed to have it at the Schuylkill Country Club. The commit-tee will invite Gabriel Youth Choir for entertainment. A sponsor is needed. The committee suggested a gift exchange and donating an item for a food bank.

A recap of the February Luncheon: The Socializer One was held. 42 attend-ed, Social Media is a trending topic. Sam-Son Productions was present and covered the event for “Let The People Know” program.

Agribusiness - The Agribusiness Committee will next meet on March 28, 2017. The original meeting date of March 14, 2017 was delayed because of the snow storm.

The purpose of the Agribusiness

Committee is to help promote agricul-tural education among the general pub-lic and to help agricultural businesses in the county thrive. Brainstorming has begun to boost committee attendance. It was decided that the committee will meet on a quarterly basis starting in 2017 (March, June, September, De-cember) on the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 1 P.M. The thought of slotting speakers for the second half hour of the quarterly meetings for providing valuable information to the attendees was discussed. It was also noted that the Schuylkill County Grown Program Facebook page is being updat-ed on a regular basis.

The Schuylkill Chamber participated at the Schuylkill County Ag Day event (a day dedicated to Ag education and awareness) which was held at Penn State Schuylkill on March 9, 2017. The Chamber secured speakers in the Chamber program/service areas for:

✓ Jessica Dean, Power Kunkle Benefits Consulting---Healthcare procurement and employee hu-man resource consulting; Health Care Reform

✓ Cheryl Hefft, OnDemand Energy Solutions---Electricity procure-ment---both commercial and resi-dential---as depending on the size

Get YOUR information out to your fellow Chamber members!

The Member to Member e-mail is a dedicated e-mail blast for your organization that e-mails on Monday afternoon. Call Vanessa for details on availability and pricing.

Cost is $150 for first e-mail blast and $100 for each additional blast with the same content, Ad/graphic and text must be supplied.

PA State Legislators featured at

April Breakfast

The April Networking Before Nine Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, 2017 begin-ning at 7:45 a.m. at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain, 201 S. 26th St., Pottsville. The breakfast is being sponsored by The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

Slated to attend are:

✓ Senator David Ar-gall, 29th Senatorial District of Pennsyl-vania

✓ Representative Neal P. Goodman, 123rd Legislative District

✓ Representative Jerry Knowles, 124th Legislative District

✓ Representative Mike Tobash, 125th Legislative District

The Government Affairs Commit-tee and Chairman John Powers have crafted an open forum discussion that will pose questions to all of the legislators for their feedback. Ques-tions posed will be from the commit-tee as well as those submitted by the those in attendance at the event.

The Government Affairs Commit-tee meets monthly for an hour on the

1st Thursday of the month at noon at Providence Place Senior Living. New mem-bers are welcome!

The cost to attend is $20 for Chamber members and $25 for future members. For more information, or to make your reservation, register online at www.schuylkillchamber.com, contact the Schuylkill

Chamber at 570.622.1942/ 800.755.1942 or email your reser-vation to vmihoda@schuylkillcham-ber.com. Advance reservations are requested. ℑ

P

Rep. Neal Goodman, Senator Dave Argall; Rep. Mike Tobash & Rep. Jerry Knowles participate in a previous Coffee Talk

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 4 Page 13

tanning or 14 months of membership for the price of 12 months. They will also provide a free consultation with a personal trainer along with an exclusive 10% off any training package with their offer.

Schuylkill Leadership began on March 7, 2017 and there are 20 partici-pants in this year’s class.

The Annual Luncheon and options for keynote speakers were discussed.

The Chamber continues to work on the events surrounding the 100th An-niversary celebration. There are two sub-committees of the main plan-ning committee. Upcoming meetings include; General Meeting (3/20/17), Gala Meeting (3/21/17) and the History Committee (3/30/17). All meetings will be held at the Chamber. In conjunction with the Anniversary celebration, the Chamber will issue an Anniversary Edition of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Community Guide and a monopoly-like board game named, Schuylkill-Opoly 100th Anniversary Edition.

Due to an increase in the number of tiered events, the Chamber is propos-ing to reduce the number of breakfast events and the number of 5th Wednes-day Mix and Mingle mixers. Because of the limited number of breakfast events moving forward, all topics will be vetted by the Member Services Committee. Sponsorship fees are also being evaluated and a slight increase may be issued.

After further discussion, the commit-tee feels that the Member Appreciation Mixer and the Walk for Progress cannot be combined and need to remain as separate events.

Upcoming events include - Network-ing Before 9 Breakfast on April 12, 2017. The topic will be Coffee Talk with Legislators and the venue will be The Lodge at Sharp Mountain. The 5th Wednesday Mix & Mingle Mixer on March 29, 2017 is sponsored by LVHN Rehabilitation Center Schuylkill and will be at LVHN Rehabilitation Center Schuylkill. The SWIB luncheon will

be on March 22, 2017. The topic will be Presenting Yourself Professionally and the Sponsor is PA CareerLink at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain. Other Events include the YEA! Investor Panel on March 22, 2017 and the Business Executive Forum with PA Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Turzai, on April 4, 2017 at the Schuylkill Country Club.

Member Engagement (Ambassa-dor) - 3-21-17

The Executive Vice President opened the meeting with an overview and mis-sion of the Ambassador Program. There are two types of Ambassadors, member and event. The Ambassador Program is instrumental because it is important to engage new members during their first year of membership. This makes them feel welcome and knowledgeable of all of the benefits available to them. The Ambassador Committee meets quarter-ly

An Ambassador Orientation is sched-uled Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. at the Chamber. The program of-fers a “to do” list to help Ambassadors outreach to their new members. New member binders are given to Chamber Board members to deliver. The Ambas-sador follows up so there are two points of contact

Chamber staff will assign Ambassa-dors to new members and share the list with the committee via email.

The New Member Follow up Sheet was discussed. The deadline to submit the form may be changed to make it timelier for Ambassador of The Month selections.

Congratulations! Ambassadors of The Month were announced and certificates presented: December 2016 - Jamie Barton; January 2017 - Jeanne Porter; February 2017 - Mary Ann Flail.

A committee member said that New Member Orientation is an opportunity for both old and new members to be updated on all Chamber benefits. The next New Member Orientation is at 3:30 P.M. before the Chamber Business After 5:00 O’clock Mixer on April 19,

2017 at Mountain Valley.

Education - 3-16-17The Education Committee continues

to work on fleshing out offerings for the remainder of the Chamber’s pro-gram year. Coming up in March are: March 16 - Employee Performance and Termination with Jesarela Ravelo, Walmart Distribution Center, Shannon Brennan, McCann School of Business & Technology, and J.T. Herber, Wil-liamson, Friedberg & Jones; March 21- Improve your One-on-One Communi-cation Skills with Dean Bertsch; April 5 – Using Assessment Tools for Smart Hiring Decisions with Sharon Angelo, PA CareerLink, Deanna Hollister, Pow-er Kunkle Benefits Consulting, and An-gela Kelly, Mrs. T’s; April 11-Train the Trainer –Team Building with Annette Cremo. Currently scheduled for May 10 - Get Your Head Out of the “Cloud” Risks and Resources to protect your customers and small businesses with John Albertini, AIS Consulting, and John Campomizzi, The Seltzer Group.

The committee is working to sched-ule programming that has been sug-gested by both the Transportation and Non-Profit Committees.

Non-Profit - 3-20-17Upcoming Lunch & Learns were

discussed. The April 6 session will be sponsored by Child Development. The luncheon is a workshop on Defining Board Member Responsibility facilitat-ed by Ryan Bates, The Evans Network of Companies. Attendees are asked to bring their current board member responsibility document.

Remaining sessions for 2017 are scheduled for August 3, 2017 and No-vember 2, 2017. Topics were discussed including Time Banking and Effective Use of Social Media (including Hoot Suite).

Lehigh Valley Health Network has been asked to sponsor and present at a luncheon with Time Banking as the topic. We are waiting to hear from

Committees continue on page 14

Member News continued from page 2

Allie is excited to join the Schuylkill United Way team because of her passion for helping others. She truly enjoys working with people and looks forward to continuing to build relationships while working towards the goal of helping those in need within the communities of Schuylkill County. Through hard work and dedication, the Schuylkill United Way is making a difference everyday by connecting those in need with available resources. Allie is proud to contribute to such an outstanding and passionate organization. ℑ

Tompkins VIST Bank is announcing the launch of Lightning Loans, a fast turnaround program for the ease and convenience of small business customers.

Lightning Loans features a

streamlined online application pro-cess that allows customers to quickly apply for an affordable business loan and receive a decision in days or sooner. The online capability means borrowers can apply for a loan wher-ever they are, whenever they need it, without having to come into the bank.

President and CEO Scott Gruber

said the reason behind the program was the importance of small busi-nesses to the bank. “Small business owners are the backbone of the local economy and a key customer group,” he said. “With an improving econo-my, many are now looking to ex-pand, and we want to make the loan process faster and easier for them.”

Neena Miller, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, spearheaded the program for the bank, working with a team for more than a year to develop something that meets the needs of current and

future business borrowers. “This new program is for business owners of all ages, especially those who value its technology and speed,” Miller said. ℑ

David Meas, Reading, has been hired as Vice President of Develop-ment for Berks * Fire * Water Res-torations, Inc.SM. In his role, Meas is charged with cultivating and devel-oping relationships with a focus on commercial clientele. He will com-municate Berks * Fire * Water Res-torations, Inc.SM abilities to provide full scale and a wide range of disaster recovery services.

Prior to joining Berks * Fire * Water Restorations, Inc.SM David, along with

his wife Debbie, owned a full service salon, Hair On The Avenues, in Sink-ing Spring for more than 23 years. ℑ

Eleven teams, representing sev-en local school districts and totaling 160 high school juniors and seniors, descended upon the Pottsville Cam-pus of McCann School of Business & Technology for the 11th Annual McCann Madness High School Ca-reer Exploration Event. After a great day of competition, the Mahanoy Area Bears came out winners.

During this event, high school Member News continues on page 6

Why should I go to SCORE for mentoring or educational/workshops? SCORE Chapter members have “Been there . . . done that.” Check out

this snapshot of experiences that the professional membership has been or are currently working in as a profession.

✓Manufacturing Management

✓Aeronautics ✓Sales, Marketing, IT

Services ✓Public Relations ✓Product Development ✓Real Estate ✓Rental Services &

Leasing ✓Economics Consulting ✓Business Strategy, Profit

& Non-Profit ✓Business Finance &

Accounting ✓Veterans & Home Health

Care Services ✓Commercial Legal

Transactions ✓Educational Services ✓Computer Sciences

✓Banking & Financial Services

✓ Insurance ✓Government Contracting ✓Legal Services of

Non-Profits ✓College Admissions

Counseling ✓Media &

Communications ✓Purchasing & Logistics ✓Engineering Technical

Sales ✓Construction

Management ✓Human Resources

Management ✓Social Media ✓Accounting-Management

of Software ✓QuickBooks ✓Government Auditing

✓Graphic Design & Photography

✓Food Services Management

✓Environmental Services ✓ International Trade ✓Supply Chain

Management ✓Non-Profit Board of

Directors ✓City Government ✓Strategic Planning ✓Social Services Support ✓Emergency Services

Support ✓Law Enforcement

Planning ✓Youth Educational

Services ✓Entrepreneurial

Promotion & Support ✓Financial Auditing

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 12 Page 5

lot of congestion complaints.Ron Young, PennDOT, reported that

within a few months PennDOT would be rehabbing I-81 between Frackville and Mahanoy City exits as well as some other work from Frackville south-bound to rehab 7 bridges.

A Route 61 issue in Butler Township was discussed. A PennDOT has a crew scheduled to clean out the drainage area. There are two PPL access roads in the vicinity that is adding to the issue.

The contractor is scheduled to come back to the bridge going into Shenan-doah to pave the approach to the bridge. This should eliminate the bump.

The truck signs are up, with the exception of one, at Gordon Mountain Road. Gordon Borough is moving forward with signage for trucks and the Taylorsville Road work will go out this year.

There is a free motorcycle safety course coming up (list of upcoming classes available at www.pamsp.com).

The Liquid Fuels dollars are being released with a 5% increase.

Governor Wolf is working to raise awareness on several issues, including opioid addiction and human trafficking.

SEDCO requested that the Schuylkill County Maintenance Manager attend this meeting. It was noted that he has a conflict that does not allow him to attend.

Susan Smith passed an article on the use of automated vehicles for local gov-ernments for the committee’s reference.

There is an amendment to the TIP being composed to add a bridge in Port Clinton. This is a $4 million dollar project. This bridge is the only access to the corporate offices of the railroad. The Board of Commissioners commit-ted Act 13 funds to the project. It was noted that adding this project to the TIP does not take funding from the projects already on the TIP.

Another project was approved and added to the TIP to replace a bridge in Mahanoy City on Market Street between 1st & 2nd Streets. This will be

DCED funded.The Act 13 dollars from Marcellus

Shale is roughly $200-230,000 per year and has two areas of funding that are in two separate accounts – one for bridges and one for recreational usage.

There is no news on the $5 registra-tion fee from the Schuylkill County Commissioners intended to assist in repairing County owned bridges and roads.

Chairman Tom Yashinsky has met with Senator Dave Argall regarding the trail system in Schuylkill County. Dave has agreed to come to a meeting of the committee to talk about the trails as well as State Police funding issues. It was noted that there is currently a study being done on the Gordon Nagle Trail section of the trail.

The State Police budget was also brought up at the Government Affairs Committee meeting and that committee is also monitoring this concern. The proposed $25 per person assessment proposed by Governor Wolf is also be-ing monitored. Chairman Tom Yashin-sky suggested a joint meeting between the Transportation and Government Af-fairs Committees with Senator Argall.

Bill Willard reported that the survey-ing is being completed for the runway extension at the Schuylkill County Airport. The airport is very busy with corporate traffic and the new hanger is now completely full.

Ron Young noted that the Pick Up PA cleanup is from April 18 through May 8. You may register on the Keep PA Beautiful website and receive free supplies for organizing a cleanup. The SKIP cleanup is April 6-9. Earth Day is also in April.

Bob Williams noted that work would begin in April on ADA ramps in the Orwigsburg Borough.

Matt Boyer recently attending a CO-STARS presentation and they would be willing to come in to do a presentation if requested. The committee will pass this to the Education Committee to set up a session. It was noted that the Pen-nDOT auction is coming up soon.

SEDCO noted that they have been receiving calls regarding the signage for truck traffic on the Gordon Moun-tain Road. There are rumors that some of the locals feel that the restriction does not apply to them. There will be a meeting of the Highridge Business Park tenants and the local municipalities as well as police will be invited to speak in order to educate on the truck ban.

Bill Hanley noted that the feeling is that the Transportation Funding will pass Congress, but the question is how to pay for it. Also, there is talk of ear-marks returning.

Member Services - 3-21-17J.T. Herber, Williamson, Friedberg &

Jones, LLC, was welcomed as a new committee member.

The Chamber currently has 840 members. There were 5 new members obtained in February and there are 5 new proposed members for March.

The Chamber staff continues to work toward their goal of obtaining 6 new members a month. The board also continues to work on their goals. The Chamber currently has 11 Visionary members, 17 Premiere members, 26 Executive members, 24 Partner mem-bers and 5 Business members.

There will be an Affiliate luncheon held at the Chamber on Friday, March 24, 2017 at 12:00 noon.

The Ambassador Committee will meet directly following the Member Services Committee meeting. The Chamber will continue to hold Am-bassador Committee meetings on a quarterly basis. The staff continues to outreach to the members for leads of ambassadors.

An update on the energy program noted that during member tiered meet-ings, the energy program is highlighted as a very important member benefit and referrals are continually being made between OnDemand Energy and our members.

There was one new Member2Mem-ber Discount presented. Anytime Fitness will offer three free months of

Committees continued from page 11

Weekend Update Sponsorships Available

Get your message out on one of the most popular emails

utilized by the Chamber membership.

Choose weekly - monthly - or quarterly options for sponsorship.

Call Vanessa at 570-622-1942for more information.

We congratulate the following Schuylkill Chamber members who are celebrating their

membership anniversary this month.

15 YearsRausch Creek Powersports, LP

Schuyl, Inc.

5 Years3 C’s Family Restaurant

A & C CateringAflac District Office

Anthracite Animal ClinicThe Arts Barn

Beer Mountain DistributorsBlind Ambitions

Brenda A. Jenkins, DDSBrennan Law Office

Comfort KeepersDewald & Lengle Hardware, Inc.

Ed’s USA Auto RentalsEisenhauer Nissan, Inc.

Framing Mad

5 Years (cont.)Francesco’s Restaurant

Fraser - AISFriendly’s - Revere Restaurant

Group, Inc.Gruber’s Excavating, Inc.

Hart FarmsHerbein & Company, Inc.

James C. Cook & Son Masonry, Inc.

Jersey Acres Farms & Stone Mountain Wine Cellars

Kim Chappell Insurance Agency, Inc.Leibold, Inc.

Lift, Inc.Losch Services, Inc.

The Maid’s Quarters Bed & Breakfast

McNulty Building Supply & Flooring

1 YearMatt DiRenzo

Eye Consultants of PAGiorgio’s Pizza RestaurantThe Heart Care Group, PC

Iberdrola RenewablesSchuylkill Haven Area

High SchoolWayne Henninger

Communications, LLCWPPA/T-102 Radio

Ygeia Naturals

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 6 Page 11

Corporate Environments605 E. Broad StreetBethlehem, PA 18018-6332Mr. Justin Smith Phone: 610-974-7990Fax: 610-974-7994jsmith@cefurn.comwww.cefurn.comCivil & Investigative Engineers

Mary Kay Cosmetics Independent Sales Director115 Mahantongo DrivePottsville, PA 17901Ms. Alyssa O’Neill Phone: 570-640-9012troy.alyssa@yahoo.comwww.marykay.com/alyssaoCosmetics/Beauty

Mortgage America950 East Main St.Suite 103Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972Ms. Rebekah Tolar Phone: 570-385-3837Fax: 570-385-3848www.mortgagebankamerica.comwww.mortgagebankamerica.comFinancial Services - Mortgage

Committee Updates

Government Affairs - 3-2-17 The meeting was called to order Vice

Chairman, Robert WilliamsThe legislative priorities for the 2017

Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs committee were highlighted. The priorities include: Responsible State Spending and Smart Government – Budget Reform; Affordable and Ac-cessible Healthcare; PA State Pension Reform; PA Property Tax Reform-thor-oughly vet proposed legislation and benchmark impact to members; PA Education Review and Reform; Trans-portation Infrastructure-Federal, State, County and Local.

The Chamber President & CEO asked if anyone had any questions on last month’s presentation by Dr. David Helsel, Blue Mountain School Dis-trict Superintendent, on the proposed property tax reform impact to the Blue Mountain School District. Although no questions were raised, it was noted that if all school districts oppose Senate Bill 76, they will be in for quite a fight. A representative from Senator Argall’s office said that the Senator is confi-dent that SB76 will make it out of the Senate this session; however, its fate in the House is unknown. One com-mittee member stated that tax payers need to become better educated on the issue – this will not be an elimination of taxes, rather a tax shift. Democrats have asked Governor Tom Wolf to call a special meeting, in which the Senate and House can further clarify legisla-tion to eliminate or reduce property taxes. The committee will continue to discuss the topic of PA Property Tax Reform at future meetings and decide if the Schuylkill Chamber will take a position on the issue. The Chamber will take a position if members are going to be negatively affected.

The PA budget proposal to assess $25 per resident fee to municipalities that

do not have local police coverage was discussed. Gov. Tom Wolf's proposal would generate $63 million from those predominantly rural municipalities to help fund the state police's $1.3 billion budget. Some of these municipalities are now looking to keep their money locally and will look to support neigh-boring towns with police forces, versus going to state police force. Most states have their police forces funded at a county level and have regionalized po-lice forces. Senator Argall, along with DCED, is doing a regional study to see if municipalities would be interested in a regionalized police force. The Cham-ber President & CEO will also outreach to County Commissioners to address the issue.

An update on PA Pension Reform was provided. This is still a priority for Rep. Tobash, however the bill has yet to be introduced.

Gov. Wolf proposed raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania from $7.25 to $12.00/hour. This would be the nation’s highest. The Governor is tying the proposal to his budget plan as a way to provide more tax revenue.

Some Republicans say a minimum wage increase could be acceptable, but at a much lower figure. This is a major agenda item for the PA Chamber.

Gov. Wolf is asking lawmakers to approve a 6.5% tax on natural gas production. The proposed severance tax would generate an estimated $300 million in revenue for the state. Those opposed to this tax argue that a sever-ance tax will stifle job growth and ham-per the natural gas industry statewide. Democrats note that the severance tax would bolster the state’s economy but acknowledge the difficulty of getting it passed.

PA Senate Bill 166, which provides protection of paychecks of certain workers and for the collection of politi-cal contributions, passed the Senate 28-22 and has been moved to the House.

A committee member is working on the details for an Elected Officials Seminar.

Coffee Talk with State Legislatures is slated for the Chamber Networking Before Nine Breakfast on April 12, 2017. The event will be at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

On April 4, 2017 there will be a Chamber Business Executive Forum luncheon with PA Rep. Mike Turzai, Pennsylvania Speaker of the House at the Schuylkill Country Club. The event will begin at 10:45A.M.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce advocacy requests that are supported by the Schuylkill Chamber are; Reg-ulatory Accountability Act Letter to U.S. Senate – A letter of support was issued, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-“Venting and Flaring Rule”, Department of Interior’s---“Stream Protection Rule” – REPEALED 2/16/17, and Securities and Exchange Commission Resource Extraction Rule.

The next meeting has been resched-uled from the normal date of Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 12 Noon to April 4, 2017 at the Schuylkill Country Club, immediately following the Rep. Turzai, PA Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives, Business Executive Forum Luncheon.

Transportation - 3-9-17The committee discussed PennDOT

Connect that allows PennDOT to connect at the local level during the planning stages of projects, allowing for local input. PennDOT is aggressive-ly reaching out to the municipalities/towns in the areas of upcoming proj-ects. It was suggested that a meeting be arranged between our local munic-ipalities and PennDOT to educate the municipalities on how this program will work.

The TIP (Transportation Improve-ment Program) process is coming up shortly and there is an online public meeting on March 21, 2017 at 6:30 P.M. A discussion was held regarding having the light in Cressona at the Route 183/901 intersection added to the TIP as this is an area where there are a

Committees continue on page 12

New Members

Populytics, Inc.707 Hamilton StreetAllentown, PA 18101Ms. Jaclyn D. Solick Phone: 484-862-3500Fax: 484-862-3502info@populytics.comwww.populytics.comHealth Care - Population Health Management

St. Patrick R.C. Church401 Mahantongo StreetPottsville, PA 17901Ms. Debbie Walker Phone: 570-622-1802dwalker.stpats@gmail.comwww.stpatrickpottsville.comChurch

Ambassador of the Month

MarchWayne Lutsey

Tompkins VIST Bank|Insurance

students were given the chance to dust for fingerprints in the Crimi-nal Justice lab, solder a pipe in the HVAC/R lab, prepare a coffee sugar scrub in the Massage Therapy class, view blood draws up close in the Medical lab, wire a server in the IT lab, apply electrical principles to illu-minate a light bulb in the Electrical lab and play an anatomy and physi-ology trivia game.

In other news, The Pottsville Campus of McCann School of Business & Technology entered into a partnership with Penn Foster High School to offer an online high school diploma program at the campus lo-cated in Pottsville.

Penn Foster High School is a regionally and nationally accredited high school that offers a self-directed online learning experience tailored to the specifications of what each student needs to complete in order to earn his or her high school diplo-ma. This partnership is designed to assist a prospective McCann Student who lacks a high school diploma or GED with the resources needed to meet the admissions requirements of McCann. Students enrolled in the McCann/Penn Foster Partner-ship Program complete the required online Penn Foster classes from a designated classroom, staffed by a McCann Instructor, at the Pottsville Campus of McCann. According to McCann Campus Director, Shannon Brennan, “the program began three weeks ago and currently has six stu-dents enrolled.”

For more information regarding the McCann/Penn Foster Partner-ship Program, please contact Amelia Hopkins at 570-622-3293. ℑ

Member News continued from page 4

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017

members were introduced. All GSHBA news can be found on the Schuylkill Haven Borough’s website. This page will link to The Associations’ Facebook page. The First Saturday Event will kick off on April 1. A new membership packet is being designed to generate new members. The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 4 at 6:00pm at the Walk In Art Center. The winning students from the Student Art Contest will be recognized at 6:00pm.

Orwigsburg Professional Business Association

The Orwigsburg PBA met on Thurs-day, March 2 at the Blue Mountain Recreation Center. The committee reviewed and discussed all the associ-ation’s upcoming events including the Meet & Greet to be held on April 6, 2017 at The Schuylkill Country Club,

Page 10 Page 7

New Fault Indicators Improve Reliability

By: Carol Obando-DerstineRegional Affairs Director

PPL Electric Utilities

If you’ve been out at night re-cently and seen small flashing lights along the electric lines, you might have wondered what they were. You might even have been concerned.

Well, there’s good news: What you saw weren’t sparks, and there’s no need for alarm.

What you really saw were devices on the electric-ity network that help provide strong service – but some-times cause some public confusion.

As part of efforts to increase reliability and more quickly restore outages, we’ve placed fault indi-cators on many power lines. These devices are small enough to be held in the hand, and can be moved from place to place on the network.

If these devices sense problems on the line, their lights will start blinking. They provide information

the electricity network this year, including some in your area.

Smart grid technology can auto-matically reroute power around the scene of an outage, restoring many customers to service within minutes. Smart grid devices are already on duty across our 29-county service area, and the ones we’re adding this year will improve outage response still further.

You might also see one of our new bucket trucks with electric-pow-ered lifts. These trucks are environmentally friendly because our crews no longer have to keep the

engine running to power the lift. (They’re also a lot quieter as a result. While you might see one of these trucks on duty, you’re a lot less like-ly to hear it.)

These are all examples of technology Thomas Edison never dreamed of – and who knows, maybe if he saw a fault indicator, he’d won-der what it was too. But there’s no need for concern about these small flashing lights in the night. ℑ

about the location of the problem and serve as a guide for repair crews.

Some customers mistake the flashing indicator for sparking wires or a wire fire and call their local 911 center. We’re working to share information on fault indicators with the public, so customers recognize the devices and are less likely to call first responders when they see one. (Of course, you should still call

in case of a real emergency.)

We’re also sharing info with fire and police departments so they can recognize these devices if they receive a call.

If you have questions about fault indicators – or you want to report a real emergency, such as a downed wire – don’t hesitate to call 1-800-DIAL-PPL (342-5775).

Fault indicators are just one ex-ample of new technology helping to keep the lights on.

We’ll also be installing hundreds of additional smart grid devices on

Affiliate News

Solar Inno-vations recently made a $5,000 contribution to the YES (Your Em-ployability Skills) Northeast Certifi-cate Program.

Pictured: Dar-lene J. Robbins, President, NEPA MAEC; Stacey Header, CFO, Solar Innovations; Courtney Fasnacht, Executive Director, NEPA MAEC.

MemberShots

Riverview Bank recently made a $3,000 donation to the Schuylkill YMCA as part of their ongoing par-ticipation in the Educational Improve-ment Tax Credit (EITC) Program. Schuylkill YMCA Executive Direc-tor Bob Oravitz is presented a check from Michelle Lewandowski, Eastern Region Manager, Riverview Bank.

Riverview Bank recently made a do-nation of $15,000 dollars to a Schuylkill County area school through the Opportu-nity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) Pro-gram. The contribution will help Nativity BVM High School families throughout the Schuylkill County area by providing scholarships to eligible students.

Pictured: Louise Jenkins, Riverview Bank Pottsville Park Plaza Branch Man-ager; Jennifer Daubert, Development Office of Nativity BVM; and Mi-chelle Lewandowski, Eastern Region Manager, Riverview Bank.

Representatives from M&T Bank were kept busy distributing checks to worthy organizations. Clockwise from top left: Debra A. Kukta, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Albert Nastasi, Executive Director, Servants to All, and Servants to All Board Members, Theresa Santai Gaffney, David Yuengling and Karen Kenderdine; Jeffrey E. O’Neill, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Kelly M. Austin, Ph.D. Chancellor, Penn State Schuylkill, as a sponsor of the LionLaunch Program; Jeffrey E. O’Neill, M&T Bank, presented a charitable foundation check to Joan O’Brien, Housing Counselor/Manager Schuylkill Community Action, for the Homebuyers Workshop Series; Harry Ciavarella, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Patricia Falco, President, Orwigsburg BPA Community Revitalization Committee as a sponsor of the Square time Events and Heritage Celebra-tion; Jeffrey L. Wessner, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Peter J. Keitsock, Executive Director of Avenues for the upcoming “Annual Duck Race” fundraiser; and Debra A. Kukta, M&T Bank, presented a Chari-table Foundation check to Kay Jones, Executive Director, Schuylkill County’s VISION and Schuylkill County Com-missioner Gary J. Hess as a sponsor for the fifth annual Youth Summit;.

Ashland Area Chamber of Com-merce

The Ashland Chamber met on Feb-ruary 16. The Chamber was contacted by PP&L and informed that updates were needed to improve the light poles throughout Ashland. The committee voted to accept the financial responsi-bility . The next meeting will be April 20, 2017 at 8:00 am at May’s Restau-rant.

Greater Schuylkill Haven Business Association

The GSHBA met on March 7. New

5:30pm – 7:30pm. The induction of the 2017 Board of Directors will take place at 6:00pm that evening.

Pottsville Business AssociationPBA met on March 9, 2017. Repre-

sentative Mike Tobash was present and gave an update of the Pottsville Down-town Revitalization Project. PBA will be forming committees and those inter-ested in getting involved should email the PBA. The future of the Pottsville Cruise as a possible PBA event was discussed. Ideas to generate foot traffic in downtown Pottsville were discussed. The PBA feels that quarterly 6:00pm mixers would offer the residents and businesses the opportunity to connect with the PBA. The mixer will include an agenda so there is a “purpose” for the meeting.

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 8 Page 9

SamSon Productions - SSPTV - recently taped a show at Penn State Schuylkill with members of Young Entrepreneurs Acade-my - YEA! Schuylkill - a program of the Schuylkill Chamber Foundation.

Host Jeannine Lesante Mazurkiwecz wel-comed the following to SSPTV’s “Let The People Know” program:

Seated: Darian Stripe, 2016 YEA! Gradu-ate and 2016 Saunders Scholar Competitor (age 18) who launched Ygeia Naturals; Lindsay Griffin, YEA! Class of 2017 (age 14) who will launch ‘Lemental Creations; and Alexandra (Lexy) Renken, YEA! Class of 2017 (age 16) who will launch Priceless Apparel.

Standing: Jeannine Lesante Mazurkiwecz; Jacob Challenger, 2016 YEA! Graduate (age 13) who launched Fuel for Earth; and Mary Jo Moss, YEA! Schuylkill Program Manag-er.

The YEA! Schuylkill Investor Panel (Shark Tank) on March 22 at Penn State Schuylkill awarded over $8,000 to the students to launch their businesses. The event drew a large crowd of supporting family, friends and spectators. Congratulations to Lindsay “Linz” Griffin, CEO of ‘Lemen-tal Creations on being chosen as the Saunders Scholar win-ner. Linz will go on to the competition in Rochester, NY.

Presenters and sponsors Sharon Tropp & Sharon Angelo, PA CareerLink Schuylkill County, join SWIB Chair Cynthia Mensch, Alvernia University Schuylkill Center, following the luncheon at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

The March Breakfast Meeting at Friedensburg Country Restaurant, sponsored and presented by SEAPA - Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alli-ance, was both fun and informative. Dr. Robert De-Colli, Lehigh Valley Health Network - Schuylkill, labors to come up with the number of jelly beans in the jar to win a prize.

The Schuylkill Lead-ership Class of 2017 enjoys their first field trip to the D.G. Yuen-gling & Sons historic brewery in Pottsville.

Schuylkill Chamber members put on the “green” to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at the Business After 5 O’clock Mixer co-hosted by BB&T Bank & BB&T Insurance at the Grey-stone Restaurant.

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017

members were introduced. All GSHBA news can be found on the Schuylkill Haven Borough’s website. This page will link to The Associations’ Facebook page. The First Saturday Event will kick off on April 1. A new membership packet is being designed to generate new members. The next meeting will be Tuesday, April 4 at 6:00pm at the Walk In Art Center. The winning students from the Student Art Contest will be recognized at 6:00pm.

Orwigsburg Professional Business Association

The Orwigsburg PBA met on Thurs-day, March 2 at the Blue Mountain Recreation Center. The committee reviewed and discussed all the associ-ation’s upcoming events including the Meet & Greet to be held on April 6, 2017 at The Schuylkill Country Club,

Page 10 Page 7

New Fault Indicators Improve Reliability

By: Carol Obando-DerstineRegional Affairs Director

PPL Electric Utilities

If you’ve been out at night re-cently and seen small flashing lights along the electric lines, you might have wondered what they were. You might even have been concerned.

Well, there’s good news: What you saw weren’t sparks, and there’s no need for alarm.

What you really saw were devices on the electric-ity network that help provide strong service – but some-times cause some public confusion.

As part of efforts to increase reliability and more quickly restore outages, we’ve placed fault indi-cators on many power lines. These devices are small enough to be held in the hand, and can be moved from place to place on the network.

If these devices sense problems on the line, their lights will start blinking. They provide information

the electricity network this year, including some in your area.

Smart grid technology can auto-matically reroute power around the scene of an outage, restoring many customers to service within minutes. Smart grid devices are already on duty across our 29-county service area, and the ones we’re adding this year will improve outage response still further.

You might also see one of our new bucket trucks with electric-pow-ered lifts. These trucks are environmentally friendly because our crews no longer have to keep the

engine running to power the lift. (They’re also a lot quieter as a result. While you might see one of these trucks on duty, you’re a lot less like-ly to hear it.)

These are all examples of technology Thomas Edison never dreamed of – and who knows, maybe if he saw a fault indicator, he’d won-der what it was too. But there’s no need for concern about these small flashing lights in the night. ℑ

about the location of the problem and serve as a guide for repair crews.

Some customers mistake the flashing indicator for sparking wires or a wire fire and call their local 911 center. We’re working to share information on fault indicators with the public, so customers recognize the devices and are less likely to call first responders when they see one. (Of course, you should still call

in case of a real emergency.)

We’re also sharing info with fire and police departments so they can recognize these devices if they receive a call.

If you have questions about fault indicators – or you want to report a real emergency, such as a downed wire – don’t hesitate to call 1-800-DIAL-PPL (342-5775).

Fault indicators are just one ex-ample of new technology helping to keep the lights on.

We’ll also be installing hundreds of additional smart grid devices on

Affiliate News

Solar Inno-vations recently made a $5,000 contribution to the YES (Your Em-ployability Skills) Northeast Certifi-cate Program.

Pictured: Dar-lene J. Robbins, President, NEPA MAEC; Stacey Header, CFO, Solar Innovations; Courtney Fasnacht, Executive Director, NEPA MAEC.

MemberShots

Riverview Bank recently made a $3,000 donation to the Schuylkill YMCA as part of their ongoing par-ticipation in the Educational Improve-ment Tax Credit (EITC) Program. Schuylkill YMCA Executive Direc-tor Bob Oravitz is presented a check from Michelle Lewandowski, Eastern Region Manager, Riverview Bank.

Riverview Bank recently made a do-nation of $15,000 dollars to a Schuylkill County area school through the Opportu-nity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) Pro-gram. The contribution will help Nativity BVM High School families throughout the Schuylkill County area by providing scholarships to eligible students.

Pictured: Louise Jenkins, Riverview Bank Pottsville Park Plaza Branch Man-ager; Jennifer Daubert, Development Office of Nativity BVM; and Mi-chelle Lewandowski, Eastern Region Manager, Riverview Bank.

Representatives from M&T Bank were kept busy distributing checks to worthy organizations. Clockwise from top left: Debra A. Kukta, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Albert Nastasi, Executive Director, Servants to All, and Servants to All Board Members, Theresa Santai Gaffney, David Yuengling and Karen Kenderdine; Jeffrey E. O’Neill, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Kelly M. Austin, Ph.D. Chancellor, Penn State Schuylkill, as a sponsor of the LionLaunch Program; Jeffrey E. O’Neill, M&T Bank, presented a charitable foundation check to Joan O’Brien, Housing Counselor/Manager Schuylkill Community Action, for the Homebuyers Workshop Series; Harry Ciavarella, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Patricia Falco, President, Orwigsburg BPA Community Revitalization Committee as a sponsor of the Square time Events and Heritage Celebra-tion; Jeffrey L. Wessner, M&T Bank, presented a Charitable Foundation check to Peter J. Keitsock, Executive Director of Avenues for the upcoming “Annual Duck Race” fundraiser; and Debra A. Kukta, M&T Bank, presented a Chari-table Foundation check to Kay Jones, Executive Director, Schuylkill County’s VISION and Schuylkill County Com-missioner Gary J. Hess as a sponsor for the fifth annual Youth Summit;.

Ashland Area Chamber of Com-merce

The Ashland Chamber met on Feb-ruary 16. The Chamber was contacted by PP&L and informed that updates were needed to improve the light poles throughout Ashland. The committee voted to accept the financial responsi-bility . The next meeting will be April 20, 2017 at 8:00 am at May’s Restau-rant.

Greater Schuylkill Haven Business Association

The GSHBA met on March 7. New

5:30pm – 7:30pm. The induction of the 2017 Board of Directors will take place at 6:00pm that evening.

Pottsville Business AssociationPBA met on March 9, 2017. Repre-

sentative Mike Tobash was present and gave an update of the Pottsville Down-town Revitalization Project. PBA will be forming committees and those inter-ested in getting involved should email the PBA. The future of the Pottsville Cruise as a possible PBA event was discussed. Ideas to generate foot traffic in downtown Pottsville were discussed. The PBA feels that quarterly 6:00pm mixers would offer the residents and businesses the opportunity to connect with the PBA. The mixer will include an agenda so there is a “purpose” for the meeting.

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 6 Page 11

Corporate Environments605 E. Broad StreetBethlehem, PA 18018-6332Mr. Justin Smith Phone: 610-974-7990Fax: 610-974-7994jsmith@cefurn.comwww.cefurn.comCivil & Investigative Engineers

Mary Kay Cosmetics Independent Sales Director115 Mahantongo DrivePottsville, PA 17901Ms. Alyssa O’Neill Phone: 570-640-9012troy.alyssa@yahoo.comwww.marykay.com/alyssaoCosmetics/Beauty

Mortgage America950 East Main St.Suite 103Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972Ms. Rebekah Tolar Phone: 570-385-3837Fax: 570-385-3848www.mortgagebankamerica.comwww.mortgagebankamerica.comFinancial Services - Mortgage

Committee Updates

Government Affairs - 3-2-17 The meeting was called to order Vice

Chairman, Robert WilliamsThe legislative priorities for the 2017

Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs committee were highlighted. The priorities include: Responsible State Spending and Smart Government – Budget Reform; Affordable and Ac-cessible Healthcare; PA State Pension Reform; PA Property Tax Reform-thor-oughly vet proposed legislation and benchmark impact to members; PA Education Review and Reform; Trans-portation Infrastructure-Federal, State, County and Local.

The Chamber President & CEO asked if anyone had any questions on last month’s presentation by Dr. David Helsel, Blue Mountain School Dis-trict Superintendent, on the proposed property tax reform impact to the Blue Mountain School District. Although no questions were raised, it was noted that if all school districts oppose Senate Bill 76, they will be in for quite a fight. A representative from Senator Argall’s office said that the Senator is confi-dent that SB76 will make it out of the Senate this session; however, its fate in the House is unknown. One com-mittee member stated that tax payers need to become better educated on the issue – this will not be an elimination of taxes, rather a tax shift. Democrats have asked Governor Tom Wolf to call a special meeting, in which the Senate and House can further clarify legisla-tion to eliminate or reduce property taxes. The committee will continue to discuss the topic of PA Property Tax Reform at future meetings and decide if the Schuylkill Chamber will take a position on the issue. The Chamber will take a position if members are going to be negatively affected.

The PA budget proposal to assess $25 per resident fee to municipalities that

do not have local police coverage was discussed. Gov. Tom Wolf's proposal would generate $63 million from those predominantly rural municipalities to help fund the state police's $1.3 billion budget. Some of these municipalities are now looking to keep their money locally and will look to support neigh-boring towns with police forces, versus going to state police force. Most states have their police forces funded at a county level and have regionalized po-lice forces. Senator Argall, along with DCED, is doing a regional study to see if municipalities would be interested in a regionalized police force. The Cham-ber President & CEO will also outreach to County Commissioners to address the issue.

An update on PA Pension Reform was provided. This is still a priority for Rep. Tobash, however the bill has yet to be introduced.

Gov. Wolf proposed raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania from $7.25 to $12.00/hour. This would be the nation’s highest. The Governor is tying the proposal to his budget plan as a way to provide more tax revenue.

Some Republicans say a minimum wage increase could be acceptable, but at a much lower figure. This is a major agenda item for the PA Chamber.

Gov. Wolf is asking lawmakers to approve a 6.5% tax on natural gas production. The proposed severance tax would generate an estimated $300 million in revenue for the state. Those opposed to this tax argue that a sever-ance tax will stifle job growth and ham-per the natural gas industry statewide. Democrats note that the severance tax would bolster the state’s economy but acknowledge the difficulty of getting it passed.

PA Senate Bill 166, which provides protection of paychecks of certain workers and for the collection of politi-cal contributions, passed the Senate 28-22 and has been moved to the House.

A committee member is working on the details for an Elected Officials Seminar.

Coffee Talk with State Legislatures is slated for the Chamber Networking Before Nine Breakfast on April 12, 2017. The event will be at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

On April 4, 2017 there will be a Chamber Business Executive Forum luncheon with PA Rep. Mike Turzai, Pennsylvania Speaker of the House at the Schuylkill Country Club. The event will begin at 10:45A.M.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce advocacy requests that are supported by the Schuylkill Chamber are; Reg-ulatory Accountability Act Letter to U.S. Senate – A letter of support was issued, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-“Venting and Flaring Rule”, Department of Interior’s---“Stream Protection Rule” – REPEALED 2/16/17, and Securities and Exchange Commission Resource Extraction Rule.

The next meeting has been resched-uled from the normal date of Thursday, April 6, 2017 at 12 Noon to April 4, 2017 at the Schuylkill Country Club, immediately following the Rep. Turzai, PA Speaker of the House of Repre-sentatives, Business Executive Forum Luncheon.

Transportation - 3-9-17The committee discussed PennDOT

Connect that allows PennDOT to connect at the local level during the planning stages of projects, allowing for local input. PennDOT is aggressive-ly reaching out to the municipalities/towns in the areas of upcoming proj-ects. It was suggested that a meeting be arranged between our local munic-ipalities and PennDOT to educate the municipalities on how this program will work.

The TIP (Transportation Improve-ment Program) process is coming up shortly and there is an online public meeting on March 21, 2017 at 6:30 P.M. A discussion was held regarding having the light in Cressona at the Route 183/901 intersection added to the TIP as this is an area where there are a

Committees continue on page 12

New Members

Populytics, Inc.707 Hamilton StreetAllentown, PA 18101Ms. Jaclyn D. Solick Phone: 484-862-3500Fax: 484-862-3502info@populytics.comwww.populytics.comHealth Care - Population Health Management

St. Patrick R.C. Church401 Mahantongo StreetPottsville, PA 17901Ms. Debbie Walker Phone: 570-622-1802dwalker.stpats@gmail.comwww.stpatrickpottsville.comChurch

Ambassador of the Month

MarchWayne Lutsey

Tompkins VIST Bank|Insurance

students were given the chance to dust for fingerprints in the Crimi-nal Justice lab, solder a pipe in the HVAC/R lab, prepare a coffee sugar scrub in the Massage Therapy class, view blood draws up close in the Medical lab, wire a server in the IT lab, apply electrical principles to illu-minate a light bulb in the Electrical lab and play an anatomy and physi-ology trivia game.

In other news, The Pottsville Campus of McCann School of Business & Technology entered into a partnership with Penn Foster High School to offer an online high school diploma program at the campus lo-cated in Pottsville.

Penn Foster High School is a regionally and nationally accredited high school that offers a self-directed online learning experience tailored to the specifications of what each student needs to complete in order to earn his or her high school diplo-ma. This partnership is designed to assist a prospective McCann Student who lacks a high school diploma or GED with the resources needed to meet the admissions requirements of McCann. Students enrolled in the McCann/Penn Foster Partner-ship Program complete the required online Penn Foster classes from a designated classroom, staffed by a McCann Instructor, at the Pottsville Campus of McCann. According to McCann Campus Director, Shannon Brennan, “the program began three weeks ago and currently has six stu-dents enrolled.”

For more information regarding the McCann/Penn Foster Partner-ship Program, please contact Amelia Hopkins at 570-622-3293. ℑ

Member News continued from page 4

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 12 Page 5

lot of congestion complaints.Ron Young, PennDOT, reported that

within a few months PennDOT would be rehabbing I-81 between Frackville and Mahanoy City exits as well as some other work from Frackville south-bound to rehab 7 bridges.

A Route 61 issue in Butler Township was discussed. A PennDOT has a crew scheduled to clean out the drainage area. There are two PPL access roads in the vicinity that is adding to the issue.

The contractor is scheduled to come back to the bridge going into Shenan-doah to pave the approach to the bridge. This should eliminate the bump.

The truck signs are up, with the exception of one, at Gordon Mountain Road. Gordon Borough is moving forward with signage for trucks and the Taylorsville Road work will go out this year.

There is a free motorcycle safety course coming up (list of upcoming classes available at www.pamsp.com).

The Liquid Fuels dollars are being released with a 5% increase.

Governor Wolf is working to raise awareness on several issues, including opioid addiction and human trafficking.

SEDCO requested that the Schuylkill County Maintenance Manager attend this meeting. It was noted that he has a conflict that does not allow him to attend.

Susan Smith passed an article on the use of automated vehicles for local gov-ernments for the committee’s reference.

There is an amendment to the TIP being composed to add a bridge in Port Clinton. This is a $4 million dollar project. This bridge is the only access to the corporate offices of the railroad. The Board of Commissioners commit-ted Act 13 funds to the project. It was noted that adding this project to the TIP does not take funding from the projects already on the TIP.

Another project was approved and added to the TIP to replace a bridge in Mahanoy City on Market Street between 1st & 2nd Streets. This will be

DCED funded.The Act 13 dollars from Marcellus

Shale is roughly $200-230,000 per year and has two areas of funding that are in two separate accounts – one for bridges and one for recreational usage.

There is no news on the $5 registra-tion fee from the Schuylkill County Commissioners intended to assist in repairing County owned bridges and roads.

Chairman Tom Yashinsky has met with Senator Dave Argall regarding the trail system in Schuylkill County. Dave has agreed to come to a meeting of the committee to talk about the trails as well as State Police funding issues. It was noted that there is currently a study being done on the Gordon Nagle Trail section of the trail.

The State Police budget was also brought up at the Government Affairs Committee meeting and that committee is also monitoring this concern. The proposed $25 per person assessment proposed by Governor Wolf is also be-ing monitored. Chairman Tom Yashin-sky suggested a joint meeting between the Transportation and Government Af-fairs Committees with Senator Argall.

Bill Willard reported that the survey-ing is being completed for the runway extension at the Schuylkill County Airport. The airport is very busy with corporate traffic and the new hanger is now completely full.

Ron Young noted that the Pick Up PA cleanup is from April 18 through May 8. You may register on the Keep PA Beautiful website and receive free supplies for organizing a cleanup. The SKIP cleanup is April 6-9. Earth Day is also in April.

Bob Williams noted that work would begin in April on ADA ramps in the Orwigsburg Borough.

Matt Boyer recently attending a CO-STARS presentation and they would be willing to come in to do a presentation if requested. The committee will pass this to the Education Committee to set up a session. It was noted that the Pen-nDOT auction is coming up soon.

SEDCO noted that they have been receiving calls regarding the signage for truck traffic on the Gordon Moun-tain Road. There are rumors that some of the locals feel that the restriction does not apply to them. There will be a meeting of the Highridge Business Park tenants and the local municipalities as well as police will be invited to speak in order to educate on the truck ban.

Bill Hanley noted that the feeling is that the Transportation Funding will pass Congress, but the question is how to pay for it. Also, there is talk of ear-marks returning.

Member Services - 3-21-17J.T. Herber, Williamson, Friedberg &

Jones, LLC, was welcomed as a new committee member.

The Chamber currently has 840 members. There were 5 new members obtained in February and there are 5 new proposed members for March.

The Chamber staff continues to work toward their goal of obtaining 6 new members a month. The board also continues to work on their goals. The Chamber currently has 11 Visionary members, 17 Premiere members, 26 Executive members, 24 Partner mem-bers and 5 Business members.

There will be an Affiliate luncheon held at the Chamber on Friday, March 24, 2017 at 12:00 noon.

The Ambassador Committee will meet directly following the Member Services Committee meeting. The Chamber will continue to hold Am-bassador Committee meetings on a quarterly basis. The staff continues to outreach to the members for leads of ambassadors.

An update on the energy program noted that during member tiered meet-ings, the energy program is highlighted as a very important member benefit and referrals are continually being made between OnDemand Energy and our members.

There was one new Member2Mem-ber Discount presented. Anytime Fitness will offer three free months of

Committees continued from page 11

Weekend Update Sponsorships Available

Get your message out on one of the most popular emails

utilized by the Chamber membership.

Choose weekly - monthly - or quarterly options for sponsorship.

Call Vanessa at 570-622-1942for more information.

We congratulate the following Schuylkill Chamber members who are celebrating their

membership anniversary this month.

15 YearsRausch Creek Powersports, LP

Schuyl, Inc.

5 Years3 C’s Family Restaurant

A & C CateringAflac District Office

Anthracite Animal ClinicThe Arts Barn

Beer Mountain DistributorsBlind Ambitions

Brenda A. Jenkins, DDSBrennan Law Office

Comfort KeepersDewald & Lengle Hardware, Inc.

Ed’s USA Auto RentalsEisenhauer Nissan, Inc.

Framing Mad

5 Years (cont.)Francesco’s Restaurant

Fraser - AISFriendly’s - Revere Restaurant

Group, Inc.Gruber’s Excavating, Inc.

Hart FarmsHerbein & Company, Inc.

James C. Cook & Son Masonry, Inc.

Jersey Acres Farms & Stone Mountain Wine Cellars

Kim Chappell Insurance Agency, Inc.Leibold, Inc.

Lift, Inc.Losch Services, Inc.

The Maid’s Quarters Bed & Breakfast

McNulty Building Supply & Flooring

1 YearMatt DiRenzo

Eye Consultants of PAGiorgio’s Pizza RestaurantThe Heart Care Group, PC

Iberdrola RenewablesSchuylkill Haven Area

High SchoolWayne Henninger

Communications, LLCWPPA/T-102 Radio

Ygeia Naturals

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 4 Page 13

tanning or 14 months of membership for the price of 12 months. They will also provide a free consultation with a personal trainer along with an exclusive 10% off any training package with their offer.

Schuylkill Leadership began on March 7, 2017 and there are 20 partici-pants in this year’s class.

The Annual Luncheon and options for keynote speakers were discussed.

The Chamber continues to work on the events surrounding the 100th An-niversary celebration. There are two sub-committees of the main plan-ning committee. Upcoming meetings include; General Meeting (3/20/17), Gala Meeting (3/21/17) and the History Committee (3/30/17). All meetings will be held at the Chamber. In conjunction with the Anniversary celebration, the Chamber will issue an Anniversary Edition of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Community Guide and a monopoly-like board game named, Schuylkill-Opoly 100th Anniversary Edition.

Due to an increase in the number of tiered events, the Chamber is propos-ing to reduce the number of breakfast events and the number of 5th Wednes-day Mix and Mingle mixers. Because of the limited number of breakfast events moving forward, all topics will be vetted by the Member Services Committee. Sponsorship fees are also being evaluated and a slight increase may be issued.

After further discussion, the commit-tee feels that the Member Appreciation Mixer and the Walk for Progress cannot be combined and need to remain as separate events.

Upcoming events include - Network-ing Before 9 Breakfast on April 12, 2017. The topic will be Coffee Talk with Legislators and the venue will be The Lodge at Sharp Mountain. The 5th Wednesday Mix & Mingle Mixer on March 29, 2017 is sponsored by LVHN Rehabilitation Center Schuylkill and will be at LVHN Rehabilitation Center Schuylkill. The SWIB luncheon will

be on March 22, 2017. The topic will be Presenting Yourself Professionally and the Sponsor is PA CareerLink at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain. Other Events include the YEA! Investor Panel on March 22, 2017 and the Business Executive Forum with PA Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Turzai, on April 4, 2017 at the Schuylkill Country Club.

Member Engagement (Ambassa-dor) - 3-21-17

The Executive Vice President opened the meeting with an overview and mis-sion of the Ambassador Program. There are two types of Ambassadors, member and event. The Ambassador Program is instrumental because it is important to engage new members during their first year of membership. This makes them feel welcome and knowledgeable of all of the benefits available to them. The Ambassador Committee meets quarter-ly

An Ambassador Orientation is sched-uled Wednesday, April 5, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. at the Chamber. The program of-fers a “to do” list to help Ambassadors outreach to their new members. New member binders are given to Chamber Board members to deliver. The Ambas-sador follows up so there are two points of contact

Chamber staff will assign Ambassa-dors to new members and share the list with the committee via email.

The New Member Follow up Sheet was discussed. The deadline to submit the form may be changed to make it timelier for Ambassador of The Month selections.

Congratulations! Ambassadors of The Month were announced and certificates presented: December 2016 - Jamie Barton; January 2017 - Jeanne Porter; February 2017 - Mary Ann Flail.

A committee member said that New Member Orientation is an opportunity for both old and new members to be updated on all Chamber benefits. The next New Member Orientation is at 3:30 P.M. before the Chamber Business After 5:00 O’clock Mixer on April 19,

2017 at Mountain Valley.

Education - 3-16-17The Education Committee continues

to work on fleshing out offerings for the remainder of the Chamber’s pro-gram year. Coming up in March are: March 16 - Employee Performance and Termination with Jesarela Ravelo, Walmart Distribution Center, Shannon Brennan, McCann School of Business & Technology, and J.T. Herber, Wil-liamson, Friedberg & Jones; March 21- Improve your One-on-One Communi-cation Skills with Dean Bertsch; April 5 – Using Assessment Tools for Smart Hiring Decisions with Sharon Angelo, PA CareerLink, Deanna Hollister, Pow-er Kunkle Benefits Consulting, and An-gela Kelly, Mrs. T’s; April 11-Train the Trainer –Team Building with Annette Cremo. Currently scheduled for May 10 - Get Your Head Out of the “Cloud” Risks and Resources to protect your customers and small businesses with John Albertini, AIS Consulting, and John Campomizzi, The Seltzer Group.

The committee is working to sched-ule programming that has been sug-gested by both the Transportation and Non-Profit Committees.

Non-Profit - 3-20-17Upcoming Lunch & Learns were

discussed. The April 6 session will be sponsored by Child Development. The luncheon is a workshop on Defining Board Member Responsibility facilitat-ed by Ryan Bates, The Evans Network of Companies. Attendees are asked to bring their current board member responsibility document.

Remaining sessions for 2017 are scheduled for August 3, 2017 and No-vember 2, 2017. Topics were discussed including Time Banking and Effective Use of Social Media (including Hoot Suite).

Lehigh Valley Health Network has been asked to sponsor and present at a luncheon with Time Banking as the topic. We are waiting to hear from

Committees continue on page 14

Member News continued from page 2

Allie is excited to join the Schuylkill United Way team because of her passion for helping others. She truly enjoys working with people and looks forward to continuing to build relationships while working towards the goal of helping those in need within the communities of Schuylkill County. Through hard work and dedication, the Schuylkill United Way is making a difference everyday by connecting those in need with available resources. Allie is proud to contribute to such an outstanding and passionate organization. ℑ

Tompkins VIST Bank is announcing the launch of Lightning Loans, a fast turnaround program for the ease and convenience of small business customers.

Lightning Loans features a

streamlined online application pro-cess that allows customers to quickly apply for an affordable business loan and receive a decision in days or sooner. The online capability means borrowers can apply for a loan wher-ever they are, whenever they need it, without having to come into the bank.

President and CEO Scott Gruber

said the reason behind the program was the importance of small busi-nesses to the bank. “Small business owners are the backbone of the local economy and a key customer group,” he said. “With an improving econo-my, many are now looking to ex-pand, and we want to make the loan process faster and easier for them.”

Neena Miller, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, spearheaded the program for the bank, working with a team for more than a year to develop something that meets the needs of current and

future business borrowers. “This new program is for business owners of all ages, especially those who value its technology and speed,” Miller said. ℑ

David Meas, Reading, has been hired as Vice President of Develop-ment for Berks * Fire * Water Res-torations, Inc.SM. In his role, Meas is charged with cultivating and devel-oping relationships with a focus on commercial clientele. He will com-municate Berks * Fire * Water Res-torations, Inc.SM abilities to provide full scale and a wide range of disaster recovery services.

Prior to joining Berks * Fire * Water Restorations, Inc.SM David, along with

his wife Debbie, owned a full service salon, Hair On The Avenues, in Sink-ing Spring for more than 23 years. ℑ

Eleven teams, representing sev-en local school districts and totaling 160 high school juniors and seniors, descended upon the Pottsville Cam-pus of McCann School of Business & Technology for the 11th Annual McCann Madness High School Ca-reer Exploration Event. After a great day of competition, the Mahanoy Area Bears came out winners.

During this event, high school Member News continues on page 6

Why should I go to SCORE for mentoring or educational/workshops? SCORE Chapter members have “Been there . . . done that.” Check out

this snapshot of experiences that the professional membership has been or are currently working in as a profession.

✓Manufacturing Management

✓Aeronautics ✓Sales, Marketing, IT

Services ✓Public Relations ✓Product Development ✓Real Estate ✓Rental Services &

Leasing ✓Economics Consulting ✓Business Strategy, Profit

& Non-Profit ✓Business Finance &

Accounting ✓Veterans & Home Health

Care Services ✓Commercial Legal

Transactions ✓Educational Services ✓Computer Sciences

✓Banking & Financial Services

✓ Insurance ✓Government Contracting ✓Legal Services of

Non-Profits ✓College Admissions

Counseling ✓Media &

Communications ✓Purchasing & Logistics ✓Engineering Technical

Sales ✓Construction

Management ✓Human Resources

Management ✓Social Media ✓Accounting-Management

of Software ✓QuickBooks ✓Government Auditing

✓Graphic Design & Photography

✓Food Services Management

✓Environmental Services ✓ International Trade ✓Supply Chain

Management ✓Non-Profit Board of

Directors ✓City Government ✓Strategic Planning ✓Social Services Support ✓Emergency Services

Support ✓Law Enforcement

Planning ✓Youth Educational

Services ✓Entrepreneurial

Promotion & Support ✓Financial Auditing

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 14 Page 3

Schuylkill Chamber Communicator

PublisherSchuylkill Chamber of Commerce

Union Station1 Progress Circle, Suite 201

Pottsville, PA 17901Phone: 570.622.1942

800.755.1942Fax: 570.622.1638

www.schuylkillchamber.com

Robert S. Carl, Jr.President and CEO

rcarl@schuylkillchamber.com

Monica M. WalbornExecutive Vice President

mwalborn@schuylkillchamber.com

Vanessa M. MihodaCommunications Director

vmihoda@schuylkillchamber.com

Susan WilliamsMember Engagement Director

swilliams@schuylkillchamber.com

Editorial and Advertising OfficeSchuylkill Chamber of Commerce

1 Progress Circle, Suite 201Pottsville, PA 17901

Schuylkill Chamber Communicatoris published by

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce. Copyright 2017.

Submissions for editorial review should be sent to the Chamber Office.

The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

Neither the publisher nor any individual associated with any branch of production,

nor the advertisers will be held liable for typographical misprints

contained herein.

2017, all rights reserved by Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

them.The committee is exploring the pos-

sibility of doing a session on everyday office tips, from press release, com-munication, social media, leadership, time management and organization tips. Cheryl Cresswell noted that her daughter, Tiffany, would be home from college for the August event and would be a wonderful presenter on these types of topics. The committee requested Cheryl to reach out to her and advise the committee.

The committee would like to see sessions on QuickBooks and Excel. The staff noted that Excel is in the process of being scheduled and we will pass on the need for QuickBooks (in a 4 to 8 hour “hands on” class) to the Education Committee. Other sessions under consideration are Understanding How to Communicate Your Non-Profits Story – a guide to developing strategic storytelling competency.

Schuylkill Women in Business - 3-16-17

The mission of SWIB is to create an environment where women inspire women to achieve success in business through education, networking and building relationships.

Committees continued from page 13

Schuylkill Chamber’s HR Helpline offers fast, personal help from real live HR professionals!

MEMBER BENEFIT

Need help validating an HR decision? Want a quick answer about FMLA, ADA or leaves of absence?

Need fast help regarding employee discipline, terminations or employee relations?Have you got questions about drug testing or harassment?

One quick call puts you in touch with an HR professional who will get you the help you need.

This initial complimentary service is provided by East Coast Risk Management, a subsidiary of The Seltzer Group.

The objectives of the committee are to create events that provide program-ming that is both engaging and enticing for area businesswomen.

Upcoming Schuylkill Women in Business Luncheons: March 22, 2017, Presenting Yourself Professionally, The Importance of an Updated Resume; April 27, 2017, Panel Discussion on Networking 101 / Becoming Comfort-able with Networking; May 24, 2017 Speed Networking.

The Christmas party was discussed. Locations and format were discussed and the group agreed to have it at the Schuylkill Country Club. The commit-tee will invite Gabriel Youth Choir for entertainment. A sponsor is needed. The committee suggested a gift exchange and donating an item for a food bank.

A recap of the February Luncheon: The Socializer One was held. 42 attend-ed, Social Media is a trending topic. Sam-Son Productions was present and covered the event for “Let The People Know” program.

Agribusiness - The Agribusiness Committee will next meet on March 28, 2017. The original meeting date of March 14, 2017 was delayed because of the snow storm.

The purpose of the Agribusiness

Committee is to help promote agricul-tural education among the general pub-lic and to help agricultural businesses in the county thrive. Brainstorming has begun to boost committee attendance. It was decided that the committee will meet on a quarterly basis starting in 2017 (March, June, September, De-cember) on the second Tuesday of each month beginning at 1 P.M. The thought of slotting speakers for the second half hour of the quarterly meetings for providing valuable information to the attendees was discussed. It was also noted that the Schuylkill County Grown Program Facebook page is being updat-ed on a regular basis.

The Schuylkill Chamber participated at the Schuylkill County Ag Day event (a day dedicated to Ag education and awareness) which was held at Penn State Schuylkill on March 9, 2017. The Chamber secured speakers in the Chamber program/service areas for:

✓ Jessica Dean, Power Kunkle Benefits Consulting---Healthcare procurement and employee hu-man resource consulting; Health Care Reform

✓ Cheryl Hefft, OnDemand Energy Solutions---Electricity procure-ment---both commercial and resi-dential---as depending on the size

Get YOUR information out to your fellow Chamber members!

The Member to Member e-mail is a dedicated e-mail blast for your organization that e-mails on Monday afternoon. Call Vanessa for details on availability and pricing.

Cost is $150 for first e-mail blast and $100 for each additional blast with the same content, Ad/graphic and text must be supplied.

PA State Legislators featured at

April Breakfast

The April Networking Before Nine Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, 2017 begin-ning at 7:45 a.m. at The Lodge at Sharp Mountain, 201 S. 26th St., Pottsville. The breakfast is being sponsored by The Lodge at Sharp Mountain.

Slated to attend are:

✓ Senator David Ar-gall, 29th Senatorial District of Pennsyl-vania

✓ Representative Neal P. Goodman, 123rd Legislative District

✓ Representative Jerry Knowles, 124th Legislative District

✓ Representative Mike Tobash, 125th Legislative District

The Government Affairs Commit-tee and Chairman John Powers have crafted an open forum discussion that will pose questions to all of the legislators for their feedback. Ques-tions posed will be from the commit-tee as well as those submitted by the those in attendance at the event.

The Government Affairs Commit-tee meets monthly for an hour on the

1st Thursday of the month at noon at Providence Place Senior Living. New mem-bers are welcome!

The cost to attend is $20 for Chamber members and $25 for future members. For more information, or to make your reservation, register online at www.schuylkillchamber.com, contact the Schuylkill

Chamber at 570.622.1942/ 800.755.1942 or email your reser-vation to vmihoda@schuylkillcham-ber.com. Advance reservations are requested. ℑ

P

Rep. Neal Goodman, Senator Dave Argall; Rep. Mike Tobash & Rep. Jerry Knowles participate in a previous Coffee Talk

Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce The Communicator - News & Activity Report - April 2017Page 2 Page 15

Lehigh Valley Health Net-work Rehabilitation Center – Schuylkill, formerly Schuylkill Rehabilitation Center, will be hosting a free community lecture, “Vestib-ular Rehabilitation” on Wednesday, April 19, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Ronald Ferrara, PT, MS, Physical Therapist, will present information about this exercise-based program designed to help resolve balance and vertigo issues. Reservations would be appre-ciated, but are not required. 570-621-9500. ℑ

Pottsville Area Physical Therapy, A Service of Good Shep-herd Rehabilitation Hospital, is holding a wellness event for the public on April 5 from 3 to 6 p.m. The site is located at 2655 Woodglen Road, Pottsville, and is one of more than 60 facilities in nine Pennsyl-vania counties operated by Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network. It is Good Shepherd’s first location in Schuylkill County.

Several free health screenings will be offered, including vestibu-lar and balance screenings, blood pressure screenings, stroke risk assessment and carpal tunnel screen-ings. There also will be tours of the recently-renovated facility, free refreshments, door prizes and an opportunity to meet the staff. ℑ

The Schuylkill United Way is pleased to welcome Allie Andrews to the team as the Director of Com-munity Relations. In this role, Allie will be developing marketing and communication strategies to en-hance our social media platform and

Member News

Member News continues on page 4

of the agribusiness they might be either one

✓ Kevin Sunday, PA Chamber of Business & Industry---Govern-ment regulations and advocacy to assist agribusiness with same---including EPA, conservation, water, etc. and the importance of addressing “overreaching author-ity” of regulatory bodies.

The goal, to inform the agribusi-ness community of the programs that are available to them through the Schuylkill Chamber, was achieved. Robert Carl, Jr., President & CEO of the Schuylkill Chamber, moderated the Chamber presentation. Approximate-ly 100 agribusiness participants were present.

100th Anniversary - 3-21-17The 100th Anniversary Gala will be

held on Saturday, September 22, 2018 at the Schuylkill Country Club.

A History Subcommittee is forming. A chair for the committee is needed. The committee shared some history experts to invite to the first meeting.

The first History Subcommittee meeting was suggested to be resched-uled to bolster attendance. The meeting is scheduled for March 30, 2017 at 10 A.M. at the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

The committee discussed the budget for the General events and the Gala and the fees that might be charged for the history research component of celebra-tion.

Ideas for general events included gifts for all members (an 8”x10” print), gift baskets donated by member com-panies at all 2018 events. Samples of baskets will be available to give businesses ideas. The value of the give-aways will range between $35 and $50. Gift certificates or other items could be donated in lieu of a basket. An email inviting businesses to donate baskets will be sent in October, 2017. The Chamber will get an official count of all 2018 events that a basket giveaway is needed. Mixers are excluded from

the count.The Deja Groove Band was selected

for the 100th Anniversary Gala.The next General Planning Meeting

is April 27, 2017 at 3:00 P.M. at the Chamber.

Young Entrepreneurs Academy The Young Entrepreneurs Academy

Committee had a busy month of March. Student classes and business plan de-velopment continued. There will be 14 different businesses coming from this Class of 2017.

Elevator Pitches were heard by men-tors on March 7, 2017. The Investor Panel judges held a planning session at the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce on March 15, 2017.

The YEA! Schuylkill Investor Panel Event was held on March 22, 2017 at Penn State Schuylkill in the Health and Wellness Building. The business plan and social cause presentations were outstanding. ‘Lemental Creations, an organic health and beauty product busi-ness, improving day to day lives and the community, by Linz Griffin, was selected Saunders Scholar winner and will compete in May in Rochester, NY. Linz was awarded $1,500 in Investor Panel money.

The Investor Panel distributed ap-proximately $8,000 in seed money to the 14 business/social endeavor entre-preneurs.

Nominating - 3-6-17 The Nominating Committee met to

consider nominated candidates for the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee is again chaired by James Bohorad, Esq.

After serious deliberation, 24 nom-inees were approved to be placed on the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Election Ballot, to seek a two-year Board of Directors term for 2017-2019. The random ballot placement selection was blindly drawn and the ballots were prepared for the election process. The Election Ballot was mailed to all mem-bers (1 ballot/each member organiza-

tion).Ballots are due back to the Schuylkill

Chamber offices by the deadline of March 31, 2017. The Nominating Com-mittee will meet in April 2017, to count the election results and announce the successful candidates to the Chamber membership.

Budget Committee - The Budget Committee is chaired this year by Ed Keyworth, 2nd Vice Chair of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce.

The first Budget Committee was held on March 3, 2017. Meetings will be held approximately every two weeks until a draft 2017-2018 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Budget is presented in first draft to the Chamber Board of Directors at their May, 2017 Board Meeting. A final budget will be approved at the June, 2017 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Board of Direc-tors meeting.

Awards - The Awards Committee began meeting in March 2017, fol-lowing the Award nomination process. The Schuylkill Chamber received 25 nominations, in five award categories including Business Woman of the Year, Business Man of the Year, For Profit Business of the Year, Non Profit Business of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year.

A complete vetting of all nominees and their references is currently under-way. The members of the Awards Com-mittee work diligently over the next month. The identities of those serving on the Awards Committee, remains confidential.

The 2017 Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Award winners will be an-nounced at the 99th Schuylkill Cham-ber of Commerce Annual Luncheon to be held on May 4, 2017. A special Awards Breakfast will be hosted by the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, on June 14, 2017, to honor all of the award winners. ℑ

website outreach at the Schuylkill United Way. She will work on pro-moting community outreach through new and existing programming to help increase the presence of the Schuylkill United Way along with our partner agencies.

Allie is a lifelong native of Schuylkill County. She comes to the Schuylkill United Way with five years of experience in Human

Resources and a B.S. in Business Administration from Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus. Most recently, Allie worked as a Human Resources Generalist at Empire Education Group in Pottsville. She is also an active board member as a So-cial Media Coordinator for the Penn State Alumni Association Schuylkill Chapter. Previously, Allie has been a Relay for Life Volunteer and for the past five years has volunteered to help with fundraising for the Mela-noma International Foundation.

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This Edition of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Newsletter was Printed & Finished on a

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Annual Luncheon FeaturesKeynote Speaker Merril Hoge

The Schuylkill Chamber’s 99th Annual Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 2017 at the Seasons Restaurant at Mountain Valley Golf Course, 1021 Brockton Mountain Drive, Barnesville. The keynote speaker is former NFL player, ESPN Analyst and Cancer Survivor Merril Hoge.

Ever since Merril was eight-years-old, he dreamed of being a professional football player. Growing up in a small town in Idaho, the goal seemed unrealis-tic. But, in 1987, Merril made his childhood dream a reality when he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he played until 1993. Along with Franco Harris, he is one of only two Steelers players to rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back playoff games. He was the Steelers Iron Man of the Year two years in a row (1989 and 1990) and was named to the All-Madden team in 1989. In 1993, Mer-ril went to the Chicago Bears as a free agent, where he played for one year until he was forced to retire early due to post-concussion syndrome. At the time of his retirement, Mer-ril had the longest consecutive playing streak in the NFL.

Merril joined ESPN in 1995 as a football analyst and sideline reporter, where he quick-ly distinguished himself through his in-depth knowledge of the game and his strong rela-tionships with the coaches and players in the National Football League. He has since served as a host and analyst for a wide variety of ESPN programs on television, radio and the Internet, including ESPN’s SportsCenter and NFL Live; Friday Football and Fantasy Insid-er on ESPN News; The NFL on ESPN Radio; and alongside Ron Jaworski on the highly acclaimed State Farm NFL Matchup, which is

the only show that uses coaches’ tape to pro-vide an inside look at the game. Merril is also a regular contributor to ESPN.com and to ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Foot-ball and Super Bowl and NFL Draft coverage.

In 2003, the habits and mindset that Merril formulated throughout his childhood and car-ried into adulthood, helped him Find A Way

to overcome the ultimate chal-lenge – cancer. Diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on February 14, Merril took on che-motherapy with the same tenacity that got him to the NFL and beat it. Through the difficult moments, Merril found inspiration through his daughter Kori, then nine, who upon hearing the news, whis-pered, “Dad, find a way.” On July 2, 2003, Merril was cancer-free.

For all of his life accomplishments as an ath-lete and businessman, Merril’s biggest impact can be felt within his family and community. A long-time Board Chairman of the Highmark Caring Foundation and Caring Place centers, which provide a place for grieving children, adolescents and their families to cope with the loss of a parent or loved one, Merril’s vision is to help all children know their value and im-portance, helping them to grow up healthy and whole. For the last 12 years, alongside Pitts-burgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, Merril has hosted the Hoge Ward Celebrity Golf Clas-sic for Children to raise funds and awareness for the programs of the Highmark Caring Founda-tion.

The luncheon begins promptly at 11:30 a.m. at Mountain Valley. Cost is $50 for Chamber members, $100 for Future members or $575 for a corporate table of 8. Reservations are required for this event. Make your reservation by calling the Schuylkill Chamber at 570-622-1942/800-755-1942 or email vmihoda@schuylkillchamber.com. ℑ

Merril Hoge

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