Chamber Supports Expansion of Telecommunications Infrastructure

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Adequate infrastructure is critical to the health and growth of communities. In addition to good roads, water, and electricity, reliable telecommunications is essential for resident safety and business operations. Unfortunately, telecommunications service, especially broadband internet, is either limited or nonexistent in significant portions of Montour and Columbia counties. The Columbia Montour Chamber recently joined with municipalities in northern Montour County in asking state legislators to work with potential providers to improve telecommunications infrastructure.

In underserved areas, cellular technology could be a viable option for homes and smaller businesses. However, many of these same areas also lack adequate cellular coverage. While speeds and network coverage in more populated areas are being improved, the carriers do not appear to be investing significantly in our rural areas to expand coverage.

From a regulatory standpoint, only the public utilities are compelled to provide a basic level of service. Today’s telecommunications marketplace offers other potential vendors. The Chamber is suggesting that funding policies should be modernized to provide incentives and assistance to these companies that is currently only available to the regulated utilities. This deficiency not only puts public safety as risk, but may cost our area job creating opportunities.

Member Spotlight: Carr’s Sawmill

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“Membership in the Columbia Montour Chamber has allowed for the opportunity to learn about other small businesses and share ideas from one small business owner to another. It has also generated sales through networking at Chamber events.”

– Dan Carr, owner, Carr’s Sawmill.

Carr’s Sawmill was added to the family farming operation in 1983 by Dan Carr as a way to be more self-sufficient. Having a sawmill on the farm and sawing the family’s own logs into lumber makes work for when the weather is not suitable for field operations. It also serves to provide a local market method for forest products. The business operates a historic 100-year-old Frick sawmill manufactured in Waynesboro, Pa. Unlike larger commercial mills, Carr’s Sawmill stocks a large inventory of quality hardwood for retail sales to local woodworkers. For woodworkers that want their own logs milled to lumber, Carr’s can provide pickup service for the logs and return delivery of the lumber.

Products and services offered by Carr’s include live edge hardwood slabs, framing lumber up to 2”x 8”-16’ (full dimension), and air dried native Pennsylvania woods including oak, ash, cherry, walnut, maple, pine and many other lesser species. Planning services are also available with lumber sales. Carr’s Sawmill has also donated lumber to numerous local non-profit projects over the years, and is active with the Central Susquehanna Woodland Owners Association (CSWOA), a local trade group.

Being part of a family farm operation, Carr’s does not maintain regular business hours, but rather is open by appointment at customers’ request any time of day or day of the week. Located at 308 Dahl Road in Bloomsburg, it can be contacted at 570-204-0673. For more information about Carr’s Sawmill, visit its Facebook page, which includes several photos of the mill and its operations, as well as a few videos of explosive log splitting like the one below.

Member spotlights are chosen via a random drawing from members that submit their business cards at a Business After Hours event. The next Business After Hours is scheduled for July 19 at the Columbia County Traveling Library, located at 702 Sawmill Rd., Bloomsburg. 

Expanded Maternity Center Opens at Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital

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Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital recently opened an updated and expanded Maternity Center designed to create a family-friendly, comfortable space for expectant mothers, babies and their families.

The unit’s updates included more than doubling its previous space to create a new 6,385 square-foot postpartum unit, including eight large postpartum rooms and a nursery for infants and their families to recover and bond.

“Our goal is to provide a warm, comforting and homelike environment that lets the entire family stay together in one room to celebrate the birth of their new baby,” explained Lissa Bryan-Smith, chief administrative officer at Geisinger Bloomsburg. “We expanded the size of our patient rooms and bathrooms so moms and family members have plenty of space to be with their new babies. Our goal is to have babies spend 23 hours a day in the same room as their mother and to encourage family members to spend time there as well to help the family bond.”

The updated maternity unit is a low-risk, low-intervention option for women who want a family-friendly birth experience with the comfort of having a highly specialized medical center and neonatal intensive care unit nearby in Danville.

The unit is staffed by OB/GYN doctors, certified nurse-midwives and a dedicated support staff of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. The Bloomsburg campus also houses Geisinger’s central region midwifery program.

“Some families don’t see the inside of a maternity unit until it’s time for the baby to be born,” explained Bryan-Smith. “So we invite our expectant moms and their families to schedule a tour of the maternity unit ahead of time so they can ask questions and get the personalized information they need to help make the upcoming birth as easy and joyous as everyone wants it to be.”

For patients interested in delivering their baby at Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital or scheduling a tour of the new Maternity Center, call 570-387-2474.

Geisinger Health offers two convenient birthing locations for expecting mothers in the central region with the expanded Bloomsburg unit and Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.

NEPIRC to Offer Free Leadership Development Training Seminar in Berwick

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The Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC) is offering a series of free leadership development seminars during the month of August, including one that will be held in Berwick. 

Leadership development is applicable to all levels, in all industries. Become a stronger, more impactful leader and learn how to manage teams more effectively. These four-hour, no-cost seminars teach how to provide leadership in the midst of adversity and change. Using self-assessment tools and experiential learning, attendees examine their strengths and weaknesses while exploring best practices of exceptional leaders. 

The seminar in the Columbia/Montour area will be held on Aug. 1 from 8 a.m. – noon at the Eagles Building Community Center, 107 South Market St., Berwick. For additional information, visit the NEPIRC Berwick training event listing. 

Additional seminars are being offered on/at the following dates and locations:

Aug. 2 – Wilkes-Barre
Aug. 8 – Hazleton
Aug. 10 – Jessup
Aug. 15 – Towanda

Member News – June 21, 2017

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Member News

 

Children’s Museum Hosts Special Needs Night

The Children’s Museum, 2 W. 7th St., Bloomsburg, will host Special Needs Night this Friday, June 23, from 6-8 p.m. Come to a fun night out for families with special needs. Enjoy a reduced number of visitors, space and freedome to explore at your own pace, adapted exhibits, a quiet area, fun craft and sensory activities and an opportunity to network with other families. Special Needs Night is a free event held quarterly. 

 

Three Members Honored on Forbes’ America’s Best Employers List

Three Columbia Montour Chamber members were recently recognized on Forbes‘ 2017 list of America’s Best Employers. This annual list is broken down by size into categories — mid-sized (1,000-5,000 employees) and large ( > 5,000 employees). Williams, U.S. Gypsum and PPL Electric Utilities were all ranked on the large list. Williams came in at #22, USG at #114 and PPL Electric Utilities at #172. 

 

U.S. Gypsum Wins Two Manufacturing Leadership Awards for Operational Excellence and Supply Chain Leadership

U.S. Gypsum, which is headquartered in Chicago and operates a manufacturing plant in Washingtonville, was recently recognized by the Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council with two prestigious awards. USG earned an award in the “Improving Operational Excellence” category for its Lean Six Sigma program achievements, and USG Mexico earned an awards in the “Supply Chain Leadership” category for optimizing its import logistics and distribution programs. 

 

MePush President Earns New Certification

Art Ocain, President and COO of MePush, recently earned a certification from Microsoft for “Implementing Microsoft Acure Infrastructure Solutions.” This certification is given to anyone who passes an exam, which validates a candidate’s ability to implement web apps, virtual machines, cloud services, storage, Azure Active Directory and virtual networks. 

 

Recent BTE Production Recognized and Profiled in Industry Magazine

The Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble’s recent production of Gunpowder Joe was featured in last month’s issue of American Theatre, an industry publication. The play was about Joseph Priestley, who was recognized as being the person that discovered oxygen and who settled in nearby Northumberland after emigrating from England in the late 18th century. The play was written by Anthony Clarvoe, who also penned this piece, and who was the first outside writer to be commissioned a piece for BTE. 

 

Hamilton Dental Care to Host Open House at New Office Location

Hamilton Dental Care will celebrate the recent opening of its new location at 2 Audubon Court, Bloomsburg, with an Open House on Thursday, July 13 from 4:30-8 p.m. The public is invited to bring the family for a fun night of food and prizes. Attendees can tour the new office and meet the friendly staff. Kids will enjoy face painting and balloons by The Balloon Man, Lanny Lee.  Adults can register to win a variety of prizes and baskets.  All new patients that schedule during this event will receive a 50% savings off their new patient exam.  A door prize of free whitening will also be given away to one lucky winner.