February Chambergram
St. Marys Area
Chamber of Commerce
301 E. Spring Street
St. Marys, OH 45885
Phone: (419) 300-4611
Fax: (419) 300-6202
smchambe@bright.net
JUNE 2009
EVENTS CALENDER
June 1 - Lake Development Committee, 4:00pm, CVB office
June 2 - Community Improvement Committee, 4:30pm, City offices
June 6 - Auglaize Outdoor Show, Heritage Trails Park
District, 9:00am-noon, Noble Township House
June 11 - Convention and Visitors Bureau, 7:30am, CVB office
June 13 - Food Preservation Demonstration, Covered Bridge Farmers Market 9:00am
June 16 - Chamber Executive Committee, 7:30am, Chamber office
June 18 - Auglaize County Leadership Class Health Care and Human Services
June 20 -Hypnotic Hips Dance and Drumming, 9:30am-11:00am Covered Bridge
Farmers Market
June 23 - Chamber Board of Trustees, 12:00pm, Eagles
June 25 - Entrepreneur Seminar, 8:00am, WSU-LC- room #177
June 26 - Ohio Historic West, 10:00am, Aug/Mer CVB
June 27 - St. Marys Beautification, 8:30am, Memorial Park
Arts In The Parks Raku Firing, 10:30am, Covered Bridge Farmers Market
WCSM Radio “Click and Save”
Are you a bargain hunter? Want money saving coupons? Just
log onto www.wcsmradio.com and click on “click ‘n save” at the top to find
coupons for a lot of services you may use every day. Check it out!
It’s time for Spring Cleaning!
Think of donating your arts supplies to Arts Place. We could
use paints, brushes, beads, feathers, sequins, fabric, easels, paper, or stop
by and surprise us with something you think we could use. We will put them
all to good use.
Arts Place
138 E. Spring St.
St. Marys, OH 45885
419-394-0707
PAY IT FORWARD
After a rain day on April 30, we finally had our Pay It Forward day to great
success on May 6. The students of Memorial High School showed up at their designated
work spots around St. Marys at 8:30am and immediately got down to business.
They all seemed very excited about the day and came away with the feeling of
pride that they did something productive to help their community. Some of the
students have even volunteered to come back on the weekends to help finish
up some of the projects. We are very proud of our local youth and the accomplishments
they have made and will make in the future.
Changes Made in Workers’ Compensation Interstate Jurisdiction Law
Ohio employers may benefit from recent changes to the workers’ compensation
interstate jurisdiction laws in Ohio. The new law gives Ohio employers a way
to avoid paying double to cover work completed outside of Ohio.
Many Ohio employers have workers’ compensation coverage with other state
funds or private insurers for work done outside of Ohio. Under the new law,
BWC will now allow these employers to segregate or set apart payroll for work
done in another state. This means they do not have to pay an Ohio premium for
this work. However, they must still report this payroll to BWC for auditing
purposes. Only employers who submit a Notice of Election to Obtain Coverage
from Other States for Employees Working Outside of Ohio (U-131) and a copy
of the other state’s insurance policy will qualify for this option.
In addition, the new law provides that BWC will recognize out-of-state coverage
for employees who are residents of another state but work in Ohio for no more
than 90 days. However, BWC will only recognize that coverage if the other state
recognizes Ohio employers in the same manner. If not, the employer must obtain
Ohio coverage and report payroll to BWC for all work done in Ohio that is not
subject to reciprocity from the other state.
The new law also prohibits an employee from filing a claim for Ohio benefits
if he or she has or will file a claim for the same injury in another state.
It also grants BWC the authority to recuperate the costs for any claim found
to be under the jurisdiction of another state.
For more information on the changes in the workers’ compensation interstate
jurisdiction laws, contact Troy Boughan, BWC Business Consultant, at 419-227-4763
or at troy.boughan@bwc.state.oh.us.
Average workers’ compensation base
rates for private employers projected to be reduced by more than 25 percent
The Workers’ Compensation Board of Directors approved BWC’s comprehensive
rate reform plan to set rates more accurately and equitably for non-group employers.
The plan becomes effective for private employers with the July 1, 2009 policy
year.
There are two sources driving the base rate reduction. The first is eliminating
the use of experience modifiers (EMs) to calculate base rates. This allows
BWC to assess premiums to non-group employers at base rates comparable with
the cost they bring to the system. In the past, BWC has used EMs in calculating
base rates and off-balance factors. Because the group rating program added
numerous credit-rated employers to the system, off-balances increased, which
caused base rates to rise. Not using EMs in the base rate calculation will
solve inflated base rate concerns and establish a foundation for rate stability.
The second source is the overall premium recommendation for private employers.
BWC recommended an overall premium reduction of 12 percent based on downward
trends in claims costs. Combined, these two sources reduce base rates for non-group
employers by an average of 25.3 percent.
Limiting the reduction in base rates to non-group rated employers allows
BWC to collect the right amount of premium from employers that is reflective
of the risk the employers present to the state fund. In previous years, the
total premium collected from group rated employers was not paying for the claims
those employers were experiencing. Non-group rated employers were paying more
to cover the cost of group rated employer claims.
Previously, the Board of Directors approved a reduction in the maximum discount
an employer may receive from 85% in the 2008 policy year to 77% in the 2009
policy year. Reducing the maximum discount will increase the amount of premium
collected from group rated employers by 9.6%.
With the intent to limit base rate reductions to non-group employers, BWC
created a break-even factor for group employers. This factor will bring the
2009 group rated employers’ premium level back to the 2008 premium level (increased
by the 9.6%). BWC will apply the factor, which is 31 percent, to the group
EM.
Here are the impacts of this rate methodology to the 98,267 employers who were
in group for policy year 2008:
- 56 percent of group-rated employers will see an average premium increase
of $142;
- 88,000 group-rated employers will have premium increases of less than
$1,500, with an average increase of $278;
Group-rated employers that pay more than $1,500 in premiums will see an average
premium increase of approximately 8 percent.
The projected 2008 total premium
is $2.050 Billion. Non-group rated employers’ share
of that is $1.270 Million. Group rated employers share is $780 Million. The
projected 2009 total premium is
$1.804 Billion (12% decrease). Non-group rated employers’ share of
that is $950 Million. Group rated employers’ share of that is $855 Million
(9.6% increase).
If you would like to discuss these changes further with BWC,
telephone Troy Boughan, BWC Business Consultant, at (419) 227-4763, or e-mail
him at troy.boughan@bwc.state.oh.us.
Your Input Is Needed!!
The Chamber is looking into creating a Chamber Member Stimulus Package. The
Stimulus Package would consist of a “Chamber Card” that could
be used at other participating Chamber businesses for discounts on goods
or services. This card would only be available to Chamber members, or possibly
even their employees. The participating business can decide what kind of
discount to offer. We want to know your opinions. Would you participate?
Would you use the card? Should we include employees with the memberships?
Email amy@stmarysohio.org with any and all opinions and suggestions. We want
to hear from you!
Concrete Company President attends National Technical Conference
John Hirschfeld, President of Quality Ready Mix, attended the 2009 Concrete
Technology Program of the National Ready Mix Concrete Association held May
13-15 in Cincinnati. This year’s conference “Focus on Performance
Prediction” offered state-of-the-art technical papers and presentations
from national and international speakers. Items of particular focus included “carbon
footprint”, “green initiatives” and “proportion optimization.”
Quality Ready Mix supplies advanced performance concrete to commercial, industrial,
residential, agricultural and institutional clients throughout West Central
Ohio. Owned & operated by the same local family for three generations,
Quality Ready Mix serves customers from four batch locations: St. Marys,
Wapakoneta, Lima/Ft. Shawnee, and Bluffton.
www.qrmconcrete.com
For additional information, contact Teri Hirschfeld, VP, Director of Business
Development, 419-953-6101 or teri@qrmconcrete.com
For details on the conference
see: http://www.concretetechnologyforum.org/documents/2009%20CTF%204%20page%20mailer.pdf
Farmers Market
Every Saturday May 30-August 29 8:00am-Noon
May 30 Kids Drama Klub
St. Marys’ very own KDK (Kids Drama Klub) will be performing around
9:30am. The troupe is renowned in the area for their recent production of Annie.
The group will be singing and dancing various numbers including pieces from
their upcoming production of Suessical.
June 6 Amish Baked Goods
Fresh goods straight from the Amish country of Indiana. Choose from a selection
of pies, breads, cookies, and much more.
June 13 Food Preservation
Lois Clark of the Ohio State University Cooperative Extension Office will
be demonstrating food preservation techniques. For more information visit www.auglaize.osu.edu.
June 20 Hypnotic Hips Dance and Drumming
For the third year in a row, the Hypnotic Hips will be delighting the vendors
and visitors with their drumming and dancing. This bellydance troupe originated
and teaches out of Arts Place in St. Marys, Ohio. The dancers will be performing
from 9:30am to 11:00am.
June 27 Arts in the Parks Raku Firing
At 10:30 am, vendors and visitors will be amazed by the Raku Firing of Arts
in the Parks Family Day. Raku is the ancient Japanese art form of “flash” firing.
Artist Zach Medler will help participants pull red hot pots from the kiln and
set them ablaze in a barrel of straw. Bring your own pieces of pottery made
during Arts in the Parks, or register for the Firing and receive a pre-existing
pot to fire. To register for the firing call Arts Place at 419-394-0707.
Medical
Mutual of Ohio Discounts for Members
Health Care costs for businesses rises each year. The St. Marys Chamber through
the Alliance of Ohio Chambers has offered a health insurance program for
a reduced rate. If you haven't checked Medical Mutual of Ohio's rate for
St. Marys Chamber members out recently - you should. In recent months MMO
has discounted further the rates for St. Marys Chamber members. So - call
Kelly at the Chamber, or better yet, call your insurance agent and request
an Alliance Chamber rate for Medical Mutual of Ohio!
Let's Celebrate!!
This year, this column of the Chambergram will feature the anniversary dates
of our member businesses. Our problem is, however, in most cases we only
have the year the business joined the Chamber, not the date the business
opened to the public. We are asking you for your help to put a date in our
records of when your facility began business. We want to find additional
ways to recognize our members, and this is one way of doing so. Once we receive
this information, the column will feature the number of years your business
has been open, and the number of years you belonged to the Chamber.
Until we receive the needed information, the next eight months will feature
businesses that are celebrating their membership with Chamber in increments
of 5 years. This month, the Chamber is featuring the following businesses that
have been a member for at least 15 years, joining in 1994. Congratulations
to the following businesses:
Easy Campground
14338 Townline-Kossuth Rd., St. Marys
Established: October, 1993
Mercer Savings Bank
1166 Indiana Ave., St. Marys
Established: September 6, 1994
20 years, joining in 1989 are:
Preferred Builders
1865 Celina Rd., St. Marys
Established: April, 1988
Rainbow International Carpet Care Specialists
605 Elmwood Ln., Celina
Established: 1983
Readmore’s Hallmark
1244 Indiana Ave., St. Marys
Established: 1989
St. Marys Optimists
P.O. Box 462, St. Marys
Established: 1985
St. Marys Rotary
P.O. Box 544, St. Marys
Established: March 15, 1938
Please send or call your business' birth date to the Chamber:
301 E. Spring St. 419-300-4611
St. Marys, OH 45885 kelly@stmarysohio.org
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