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

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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