More than 435 businesses and organizations belong to the Chamber to receive benefits and support efforts to strengthen their businesses and the region. Increased membership allows the Chamber to offer additional programs and benefits, have a stronger voice in advocacy and be involved in more activities and initiatives. The Chamber welcomes Trivium Packaging.

Trivium Packaging operates close to 60 locations worldwide, including its manufacturing facility in Bloomsburg.  They are a global food and specialty metal packaging producer offering a variety of shaping, decoration, embossing, debossing, and different opening solutions.  To learn more about Trivium Packaging visit their website, or LinkedIn.  

• Geisinger will be hosting Back to Business Town Hall- part two, on June 4th from 11 am-12 pm.  This event will feature Dr. Stanley Martin, Infectious Diseases; Allison Hess, VP, Health & Wellness; Brion Lieberman, VP, Human Resources.  Register for the event here. 
  This Virtual Meeting will be taped and added to their business resources landing page. On the landing page is a place for businesses to submit questions. The email will go to Geisinger’s Community Wellness staff and they will respond.  Any questions that they answer will be published to the page.

Townhall Introductions: 
Brion Lieberman is Vice President of Human Resources at Geisinger. He is responsible for leading employee relations, compensation, diversity and inclusion and organizational development. Brion joined Geisinger in 2007 and has served in various HR roles for both Geisinger’s clinical enterprise and insurance operation. 

During his tenure, Geisinger’s employee base has grown tremendously to 30,000 plus employees, serving the health care needs of our patients and members throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Brion is passionate about creating an exceptional employee experience by making a difference for Geisinger’s employees on both an individual and organizational basis.

Dr. Martin is Geisinger’s director of the Division of Infectious Diseases. He’s a board-certified and fellowship-trained specialist in infectious diseases. His clinical interests include immunocompromised hosts, transplantation and infections related to mechanical circulatory support. His research interests include antimicrobial stewardship, population health and optimization of inpatient care. 

Allison Hess is the Vice President of Health Innovations for Geisinger. She has been part of the Geisinger family for 13 years and is responsible for the oversight and implementation of health and wellness programs for Geisinger patients and insured members, employees and community members. She started her career in community health education/corporate wellness and has continued to expand to include community-based population health initiatives driven by data analysis and clinical outcome measurements.

She has been the recipient of several awards focused in various areas of health including health equity, worksite wellness and supply chain. She has also been recognized nationally for her work with the Fresh Food Farmacy program.

DRIVE, an economic development council of governments serving Columbia and Montour Counties announces an expansion of its wireless broadband network in Montour County.

The original pilot project launched in 2019 to reach underserved areas of the county as well as to create a wide area network for Montour County owned offices. Jennifer Wakeman, executive director, says new technology was deployed to reach further into Anthony and Derry Townships. “CBRS, or Citizen Band Radio Service, is a non-line of sight technology that reduces the effect of trees and other obstructions.”

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, more residents began working from home and found their service to be inadequate. Wakeman says DRIVE moved quickly to deploy CBRS. “We had been exploring the availability and cost to add CBRS to our network prior to the coronavirus outbreak. With the jump in remote workers in early March, we reached out to our contractor, Conxx and they were able to bring CBRS online in three weeks.”

Geisinger supplied $300,000 in a forgivable loan for the original project and agreed that unused funds could be utilized for this expansion. “We were thrilled that Geisinger stepped up to the plate to help us reach more users in Montour County,” says Wakeman.

CBRS could allow for network expansion into more rural, forested areas of Columbia County according to Wakeman. “We learned a lot with our initial build out and are constantly looking at options to expand our service into underserved areas in Columbia County.”

The fixed base wireless network can provide fiber speeds to areas that do not currently have adequate access to broadband service. Additional information about the DRIVE Network and how to get service can be found online.

In response to the heightened needs of area nonprofit organizations and its mission to enhance the quality of life in the region, the Central Susquehanna Community Foundation is pleased to announce a second grantround available for Disaster Relief Funding. Established in 2011, the purpose of the Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund is to support nonprofit organizations affected by disasters in Lower-Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties. The grantround is designed as a flexible response to provide relief for a variety of unexpected costs. The Foundation is specifically interested in helping organizations maintain their operations and respond to increased demand from clients during this critical time.

While many CSCF funds have contributed to these Disaster Relief efforts, the grantround can create an even bigger impact with contributions from community members. To join the Foundation in this initiative, visit here to make a secure online donation.

Grant requests ranging from $500-10,000 are currently being accepted. Additional funding may be considered on an individual basis. This is the second grantround from the Disaster Relief Fund in 2020. The grant application has been updated. If your organization applied in the first grantround in April and wishes to apply again, you must submit a new application for this grantround.

Only 501(c)(3) nonprofit and government organizations are eligible to apply and the requested funding must be invested within the CSCF service area of Lower-Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties. Individuals are not eligible to apply. To discuss your organization’s eligibility, please contact the Foundation.

Grant applications must be completed and submitted through a web-based program. Interested applicants can access the grantround guidelines and applications by visiting www.csgiving.org.

Grant requests must be submitted online by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, June 16, 2020.

For grant-related questions, please contact Christine Orlando, CSCF Senior Program Officer, at 570-752-3930 ext. 2, or corlando@csgiving.org.

In Pennsylvania and across the country, child care is identified as one of the top barriers to employment. In the changing landscape of workforce development, businesses want to better understand how child care affects their bottom line and Pennsylvania’s edge in the national and global marketplace. The effects of COVID-19 mitigation mandates have created new challenges for an already economically fragile childcare system.  As childcare and the workforce struggle to regain their interdependent stability, public and private actions are imperative.

The Pennsylvania Early Learning Investment Commission in partnership with the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation will be discussing these issues at the 2020 Early Learning Economic Summit. The event will be held via webinar from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 8^th. The Summit offers a shared learning opportunity for business leaders and policy makers to:

• Learn recent Pennsylvania research on child care’s economic implications
• Understand the challenges working and recently furloughed families face 
• Explore concrete recommendations designed for public-private action
• Discover private-sector, best practices supporting the childcare system
• Acquire tools for business assessment of workforce child care needs

Click here to view the agenda and here to register.

On Tuesday, June 9, 2020, the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) student video program will conclude its seventh season with the “Best of PA” Statewide Awards Event. Due to the unprecedented challenges presented by social distancing, this year’s event will stream ‘live from home’ on YouTube, and will include 22 teams competing for first, second and third place awards.

A five judge panel, representing eastern, central and western Pennsylvania, viewed 22 entries, representing 13 regional contests across Pennsylvania, to select the statewide award recipients.

“We are so proud of the students and so excited we will still be able to celebrate the Best of PA videos, even with all that is going on,” said Karen Buck, Manager of Workforce Initiatives Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC). “The continued success of the What’s So Cool program validates its value to both STEM and STEAM education and really highlights the necessity for these initiatives, both statewide and nationwide, to help plan for a robust economic future.”

The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Student Video Contest, which originated in the Lehigh Valley and is the brainchild of MRC, has garnered over 3,000,000 combined votes by the public during regional online voting dates since its inception in 2013, and more than 50% of Pennsylvania school districts have participated in the program.

The WSCM Student Video Contest gives students the opportunity to interact with local manufacturers as they gain new perspectives about careers and technology, record their
experiences and present them in an educational and “cool” way through documentary video production. The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” program includes a Pennsylvania Department of Education approved lesson plan that is in use across the Commonwealth. The contest was created to generate excitement that draws students toward considering manufacturing career paths to create a 21st century workforce.

This season’s original 16 participating regional contests in Pennsylvania were Berks Schuylkill, Central Susquehanna, Chester Delaware, Lehigh Valley, North Central, Northeast, Northern Tier, Northwest, Philadelphia Region, Pittsburgh Central, Pittsburgh East, Pittsburgh North, Pittsburgh South, PA Forest & Oil, South Central, and West Central.

Funding for the regional pilot contests is provided by the PA Department of Community & Economic Development. Funding for the statewide Awards show is provided by Platinum Sponsor: Nestlé Waters North America, Gold Sponsors: PA Manufacturing Extension Partnership and RETTEW, and Silver Sponsors: Catalyst Connection, MANTEC and Chester County Economic Development Council. Regional Program Partners: Catalyst Connection, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, Chester County Economic Development Council, Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center, Innovative Manufacturers’ Center, Manufacturers Resource Center, MANTEC, North Central Workforce Development Board, Northern Tier Regional Planning & Development Commission, Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center, NWIRC, and The Foundation of The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce.

For more information regarding the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Student Video Contest please visit: WhatsSoCool.org/BestofPA, www.WhatsSoCool.org, or follow on Twitter.

• Geisinger will be hosting Back to Business Town Hall- part two, on June 4th from 11 am-12 pm.  This event will feature Dr. Stanley Martin, Infectious Diseases; Allison Hess, VP, Health & Wellness; Brion Lieberman, VP, Human Resources.  Register for the event here. 
  This Virtual Meeting will be taped and added to their business resources landing page. On the landing page is a place for businesses to submit questions. The email will go to Geisinger’s Community Wellness staff and they will respond.  Any questions that they answer will be published to the page.
• The Bloomsburg Area Community Foundation announces grant opportunities for local nonprofit organizations serving the greater Bloomsburg area. Grants will be awarded from the Bloomsburg Area Community Foundation Fund and the Hartman/Robbins/Stroup Fund. This competitive grant round begins now and will continue into July. Approximately $10,000 is available.  Only 501(c)(3) nonprofit and governmental organizations are eligible to apply and 100% of requested funding from the above noted funds must be invested within Bloomsburg and surrounding areas. Individuals are not eligible to apply.  Grant applications must be completed and submitted through a web-based program. Prior to beginning the grant application process, applicants are encouraged to watch a short tutorial. Interested applicants can find the tutorial and instructions for completing grant application online by visiting csgiving.org, clicking on “Receive” and then “Apply for a Grant”. Look for information under the heading “Bloomsburg Area Community Foundation”.  Grant requests must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on May 28, 2020. 
• The Central Susquehanna Community Foundation announces their new online donation platform has officially launched. This update will enhance the overall donor experience and better connect people to funds that support causes that they care about in the community. As usual, other forms of donations will still be accepted via mail or by stopping by the Foundation office. Much work has been put into this new system, and they look forward to the efficiencies and functionality it will bring to donors, fundholders, and staff! Visit csgiving.org and click on the donate leaf to view the new page. Please contact Katie or Kara with any questions.

Your Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan was approved, now what? The Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center is hosting a free webinar on June 2^nd at 10 a.m. to help business owners maximize loan forgiveness. Jeffrey Berdahl, CPA, Shareholder with RLB Accountants, will discuss the following topics: general rules of the program, program updates, tips for forgiveness, how to track your expenses.  A Q&A session will follow the presentation.  Click here to register.  

Facing a projected $5 billion revenue shortfall, lawmakers in Harrisburg are working on a short-term state budget. The Legislature has also advanced a number of bills to support businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Information on these efforts will be provided by our elected officials at the Chamber’s annual State Legislative Program, sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities. 

Senator John Gordner, Representatives Kurt Masser and David Millard, and Alex Halper with the PA Chamber of Business & Industry are scheduled to participate.

The program will be held Thursday, June 11^th from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. via Zoom.  This event is typically held annually as a breakfast program, but due to the current situation, this year’s program will be virtual. Cost for the program is $15 for members and $25 for non-members.  Register for the event online or by calling the Chamber office at 570-784-2522.  The Zoom meeting link will be emailed upon registration confirmation.