More than 160 women (and a few men as well) were in attendance at Leadercast Women 2019, sponsored by Geisinger, last Friday, Oct. 18, at the Barn at Frosty Valley. Leadercast Women is the world’s largest one-day leadership event featuring all women speakers, for which the Chamber served as a Host Site for the first time this year. 

The day featured talks and presentations by nine different women from various walks of life. The event was held live in the Atlanta area and broadcast out to hundreds of Host Sites around the world via web stream. The theme of the event was “take courage,” and attendees were attendees were emboldened to take courage in their daily lives, whether it be in the workplace or at home.  Locally, this event also featured local singer, songwriter and motivational speaker Kj Reimensnyder-Wagner, who gave a keynote address over lunch that featured both her insights and musical selections. 

The Chamber extends its thanks to all of the attendees that took time out of their busy schedules to attend this event and invest on their leadership and professional development, and also thanks its sponsors:

Leadership Sponsor
Geisinger

Media Sponsors
Bigfoot Country & Hanna 92.3
The River 105 & 103.5

Silver Sponsors
Bloomsburg University
Kawneer
PPL Electric Utilities
SEKISUI SPI
USG

From PA Treasury

Read Entire PA Treasury Note (with informational graphics)

In the last Treasury Note, we laid out the details of Pennsylvania’s retirement crisis. Too many private sector workers do not have the savings needed for retirement. This is of particular concern in Pennsylvania because the state has a much larger aging population than most. Collectively, workers’ lack of retirement savings will cost the state billions of dollars in social assistance and lost tax revenue.

In 2017, Treasurer Torsella convened the Task Force on Private Sector Retirement Security to study the problem in depth. It was a bipartisan group of stakeholders that included the Republican and Democratic chairs of both the Pennsylvania House and Senate finance committees. The Task Force held 4 hearings across the state in which it heard from experts in retirement security research, financial service providers, Pennsylvania small business owners, and officials from other states that are implementing their own plans. After many hours of testimony and deliberation, the Task Force ultimately reached broad consensus that the state must do something to address the problem, and that the auto-IRA is the policy option that makes the most sense.

Put simply, the auto-IRA is a means for workers to more easily save their own money. Similar to the 401(k) that many employers offer, a percentage of employee pay is deducted for investment in the employee’s retirement account. Through the state-facilitated auto-IRA program, all employers who do not already offer a retirement savings plan would automatically enroll their employees in the auto-IRA. The state would partner with employers to raise awareness among the working population about the plan prior to rollout, as well as to disclose employees’ right to opt-out. Just as all employers must deduct a certain percentage from employee pay for taxes and Social Security, employers would set up a new deduction that would send a portion of participating employees’ pay to their new auto-IRA account. In contrast to 401(k)s, employers do not make contributions to their employees’ auto-IRA accounts, as auto-IRAs are not subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Within each participating worker’s auto-IRA account, $1,000 would be safeguarded in a capital preservation fund. This would shield the first $1,000 a worker saves from the ups and downs of the investment markets, providing the assurance that—while retirement investing is a long-term strategy that flourishes over time thanks to compound interest—a portion of their savings will be preserved even if the market dips in the short term. The rest of workers’ savings would go into a default low-cost investment vehicle, such as a target date index fund. If an employee decides they want to make changes to the default account settings they are enrolled in—for example default contribution rate or specific investment vehicle—they can always change it to fit their personal preferences and goals.

Another important feature of the auto-IRA is that it is portable. Since few people work for the same company their whole career anymore, portability allows workers to continue to save in the same plan if they switch employers, without having to worry about rolling the account over.

The auto-IRA can best be described as a public-private partnership. Through the bid process, state government selects a private investment manager and vets the investment vehicles the manager offers to program participants. While the program would require appropriations at the outset for startup costs, those costs would be repaid as the program ultimately becomes self-funding. The College and Career 529 Savings Plans provide a good example of how Pennsylvania has already successfully implemented this type of program for over two decades. And just like in the 529 Plans, the assets in the program belong entirely to the individual account owners, not the state.

As described in the Task Force’s report, lack of access to a workplace retirement plan is a key cause of retirement insecurity.

About 77% of workers with access to a workplace plan participate, while only about 5% of workers who lack workplace access will open their own independent account. In short, when workers have an easy, automatic way to save some of their income before it even appears in their paycheck, they are much more likely to save for retirement—at least 15 times more likely, according to AARP. 

The auto-enrollment aspect of the auto-IRA makes workplace saving that much easier because workers do not have to take any action to begin saving. Many workers with the best intentions to save may be overwhelmed and ultimately deterred by the time and effort it can take to research investment decisions. However, a growing body of behavioral economics research tells us that the easier it becomes for people to save through mechanisms like automatic payroll deduction, the more savings they accumulate. That means we can use auto-enrollment to harness the inertia many of us face when making financial decisions to ultimately improve people’s lives. 

As several small business owners stated at a Retirement Task Force hearing, employers face significant obstacles in establishing a retirement plan such as a 401(k) for their workers—particularly cost, liability, and compliance obligations related to ERISA. A state-facilitated auto-IRA program would bring the remaining employers who do not offer a retirement plan into the fold without those burdens, thereby evening out plan coverage gaps so that all Pennsylvanian workers would have workplace access to a retirement savings plan.

From inception, the auto-IRA has represented a bipartisan effort to address the country’s lack of retirement savings. It was first proposed in a 2006 article written by David John of the Heritage Foundation and J. Mark Iwry of the Brookings Institution. Since then, it has been adopted into law by six states. California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, and Oregon. Notably, the Maryland auto-IRA bill was signed into law by a Republican Governor in May 2016, where it passed the Senate with a unanimous vote from all 32 Democrats and 14 Republicans. This year, Oregon’s standalone compliance legislation passed with bipartisan support. It was also supported by the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

The president and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers Susan Neely recently gave a public endorsement of a federal auto-IRA bill, stating “It is a market-based solution that can help more people save more of their own money for the good of their families’ futures.”

Numerous other conservative individuals have spoken in favor of the auto IRA, including former chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors, Martin Feldstein, Ramesh Ponnuru of the American Enterprise Institute, and journalist George Will.

At a Retirement Task Force hearing, several small business owners testified that it is important to them to offer retirement benefits to their employees, both for competitiveness and because it’s the right thing to do. However, they also noted there are many challenges involved with doing so—particularly cost, complexity, and liability risk. Results from a recent AARP survey of Pennsylvania businesses with 100 or fewer employees support these remarks. According to the survey, nearly 9 in 10 of PA small business owners agree that state lawmakers should support the creation of a state-facilitated retirement savings option. In addition, three quarters of respondents favored a ready-to-go retirement plan over having to stand one up on their own. 

In contrast to most employer-sponsored plans, a state-facilitated auto-IRA involves minimal obligations for employers. Under the plan, employer obligations would be limited to simply adding an extra payroll deduction for all employees who do not opt-out, maintaining and sharing payroll deduction records with the state, and distributing information to employees. Because the auto-IRA is not subject to ERISA, employers cannot contribute to employees’ accounts. They also do not have to take on any of the administrative paperwork or liability risk that comes with ERISA.

In today’s tight labor market, the auto-IRA allows small businesses a step up in offering retirement benefits to potential hires without taking on the burdens of an employer-sponsored plan. This improves their competitiveness and the Commonwealth’s economy.

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

Beginning in January of 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue will begin to assess the state’s Corporate Net Income Tax on out-of-state corporations that do business in the Commonwealth. 

The change in policy comes on the heels of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair which found that states can collect sales tax from corporations that, while not physically located within the states’ boundaries, do business within the state.  According to a Corporate Tax Bulletin issued by the Department, corporations that aren’t located in the state but have “$500,000 or more of direct or indirect gross receipts pursuant to their sales factor” sourced to Pennsylvania will be required to pay the state’s CNI tax.  The gross receipts sales can be factored from a combination of the following three categories: 1. the sale, rental, lease or licensing of tangible personal property; 2. the sales of services; and/or 3. the sale of licensing of intangibles, including franchise agreements. 

The Wolf administration has not publicly stated how much additional revenue this expansion of the CNI tax is expected to bring into the state’s General Fund.  The tax generated $3.4 billion in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

• DRIVE will host an Open House tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 17, from 4-6 p.m., at its new office building located at 418 Railroad St., Danville (in the old Metso Minerals Building). Come check out the newly renovated DRIVE office space and common areas, which include a 700 square foot training room available for daily rental and 24,000 square feet available for fit-out and lease. Refreshments will be provided. RSVP by emailing or call 570-284-4296. 

• The October newsletter from Danville Child Development Center is now available. 

• The Children’s Museum, The Exchange, the Bloomsburg Area YMCA, AGAPE and Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble will team up to hold Boo!burg, a free Halloween event, at the Children’ Museum, on Friday, Oct. 25, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Enjoy Trunk-or-Treat, children’s crafts and games, marshmallow roasting, a costume contest, watch a great pumpkin drop and more. 

• There will be a fun, Halloween-themed, family-friendly fundraising event on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Hawkins Chevrolet, located at 1856 Montour Blvd. (Rt. 11), Danville, to benefit the Montour Area Recreation Commission, which manages the Montour Preserve. This event is being hosted by the Danville Business Alliance and several other Danville-based organizations. It will feature an obstacle course, pumpkin toss, trunk or treat and much more. All proceeds raised from the event will benefit MARC, which currently does not have enough funding to sustain operations beyond next fall. For additional information, visit the Facebook event page, and view the below video. 

• Hand in Hand Family Resource Center will present a special Halloween edition of C.A.M.P.S. (Construction, Art, Music, Play, Sensory), called Tricks & Treats on Sunday, Oct. 27, from 2-5 p.m. at Arnold’s Golf Course in Mifflinville. The event will begin with a Halloween golf cart parade (with golf card decorated by local families), and then will move onto the C.A.M.P.S. program, which will include: building haunted houses from recycled materials, skeleton handprints, apple, pumpkin and potato stamping, blowing ghost paintings, making musical instruments, eyeball putting, pumpkin bowling, and more. This free event (which includes a suggested but not mandatory donation to benefit Hand in Hand), is for all ages and every ability. For more information, visit the Facebook event. 

More information about the Opportunity Zone program

Economic development organizations from the region gathered recently at Monty’s on the Upper Campus of Bloomsburg University to learn more about a Federal program designed to spur development in selected communities. Qualified Opportunity Zones were created as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The program provides tax benefits for investing eligible capital into designated zones.  

Investors who realize capital gains can defer their tax liability by investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOF), which are established to provide funding for projects in Opportunity Zones. Funds can be used to invest in commercial properties, housing, and stock or interest in a business. If funds are held in a QOF for at least five years, 10% of the liability on the investment is eliminated. If the investment is held for at least seven years, an additional 5% of the liability is eliminated. If the investor holds the investment for at least 10 years, when the investor sells or exchanges the investment, the liability for the gain on the increased value of the investment is also eliminated. There are deadlines for investing funds in order to maximize tax benefits.

Opportunity Zones were established by census tract based on economic demographics. There are zones in significant areas of Berwick, Bloomsburg, and Danville. Congressman Dan Meuser spoke about the program with Chamber members in August. Meuser attended the workshop in early October which was sponsored by State Senator John Gordner and SEDA-COG. Representatives Kurt Masser and David Millard were also in attendance.

The Chamber has been in discussions with other economic development groups about potential projects in the three local zones.

More than 400 businesses and organizations belong to the Chamber to receive benefits and support efforts to strengthen their businesses and our region. Increased membership allows us to offer additional programs and benefits, have a stronger voice in advocacy and be involved in more activities and initiatives in our communities. The Chamber welcomes its newest member, Pennsylvania MENTOR, to help us fulfill our mission.

Pennsylvania MENTOR is a leading home and community-based human services provider that serves individuals, both adults and children, with intellectual or developmental disabilities, as well as emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges. Part of how they go about serving the children among this population is through therapeutic foster care and foster parents, which are called “Mentors.” Founded in 1989, Pennsylvania Mentor is part of The MENTOR Network, which is in 36 states. Pennsylvania Mentor will soon be opening an office in the Columbia/Montour region, and can be reached at 570-982-4112, by email, or visit its website. 

Conference Agenda

The United Way of Columbia and Montour Counties will hold a United in Recovery Employer Conference on Friday, Nov. 8, from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Henry Hood Center on the campus of Geisinger Medical Center. There is no cost to attend and anyone is welcome. 

This conference will feature several sessions designed to make employers better aware of various aspects of opioid awareness. Session topics include: supervisor training; benefits of an employee assistance program (EAP); signs and symptoms of substance misuse; drug testing in a drug-free workplace; tools and techniques for reasons suspicion; why hire those in recovery and more. 

Sponsors of the event include the Chamber, Pine Barn Inn and Henry Dunn Insurance. Both a continental breakfast and lunch are included. Registration is preferred but not required, and can be done by emailing the United Way. For additional conference details or information about United in Recovery, visit the United Way’s website. 

From Penn State World Campus

Note: Employees of all Columbia Montour Chamber members, their spouses and dependents are eligible for a 5% discount on tuition through the PSU World Campus. 

A partnership between Penn State and the U.S. Army has been helping to transform the way the military branch teaches its soldiers to be leaders since 2015.

Nearly 80 Army sergeants major have graduated with a master’s of education in lifelong learning and adult education through Penn State World Campus, thanks to the partnership between World Campus, the College of Education, and the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Fellowship Program (USASMA).

The program has graduated four cohorts and 78 sergeants major, and the most recent graduates were recognized at a celebration at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on Aug. 27. A fifth cohort arrives this week.

Sergeants major from the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy Fellowship Program attended Penn State commencement in Aug. 2019. IMAGE: GREG BOND

Many Fellows have continued their careers as educators in and out of the military, including in the El Paso public school system, working in the U.S. government, or as students pursuing other degrees in higher education. Alumni have assumed leadership posts at organizations including the Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Center of Excellence, the Department of Command Leadership, the National Guard Bureau, and the Nebraska National Guard. A program graduate also became the Army’s first enlisted soldier to publish a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Military Learning.   

One sergeant major, Robert Nelson, became the Army’s first noncommissioned officer to be selected for a fellowship in national security and foreign policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A 2018 Penn State graduate, Nelson now serves as an instructor in the Department of Army Operations and said the Army uses problem-based learning methodologies geared toward adults and adult learners.

“We’re providing structure and teaching sergeants based on experience and pertinent learning methods,” Nelson said. “Penn State has helped us use our model better and improve it.”

The Penn State-USASMA partnership is part of a broader push from the Army to change the way soldiers are taught, according to Command Sgt. Maj. David Lee, who earned his Penn State degree in 2016 and is now the USASMA director.

“We want to become facilitators and foster collaborative environments for adult learners,” Lee said. “We want younger sergeants, as they come up, to understand how to be a trainer and how to be an educator. What we want to see in the field, as we push this model down, is for students to understand how they as adult learners learn best.”

After completing their master’s degrees in one year, Fellows teach three years in the Sergeants Major Course, which prepares the military’s next generation of leaders with the skills they need on and off the battlefield. USASMA trains more than 750 newly selected sergeants major for future service in the Army.

Sgt. Maj. Deitra Alam, who attended Penn State’s summer commencement in August along with 13 members of her cohort, said the course work helped her see the difference between being a trainer and an educator.

“That was the big light bulb moment for me,” she said. “You have to take many things into consideration when you’re teaching adults. You need to consider the process of it, what capitalizes on the strengths of your adult learners, and how to design programs that cater to that.”

For Nelson, who is simultaneously pursuing a doctorate in education, he said his future would not have been possible without Penn State.

“Penn State really gave me the confidence to pursue higher education further on in my life,” he said. “I want to take what I’ve learned from Penn State and influence curriculum design to incorporate more adult learners.”

Visit the Penn State World Campus website for more information.

Members and guests had an opportunity to see Service 1st Federal Credit Union’s newest branch in Elysburg, which opened earlier this year, learn about Service 1st’s various business and consumer products, and connect with Service 1st staff during the first of two Business After Hours in October, held on Thursday, Oct. 10. Attendees also enjoyed some food from the nearby Nickle Plate Barr & Grill. The Elysburg branch is the credit union’s 12th location, and it opened this past spring after being announced that it would open last fall. 

Business After Hours provide regular opportunities to build business relationships while learning about the services offered by other Chamber members. The next Business After Hours will be held at Berwick Hospital Center, located at 701 East 16th St., Berwick, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. 

From PA Chamber of Business & Industry

The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry is proud to join Gov. Tom Wolf in recognizing October 2019 as “Local Chamber of Commerce Month” in the Commonwealth. 

“Local chambers are the lifeblood of Pennsylvania’s cities and towns,” said PA Chamber President and CEO Gene Barr.  “The PA Chamber is proud to recognize Pennsylvania’s more than 200 local chambers, as they work every day to support the businesses in their communities.  They are invaluable partners in our advocacy efforts and we look forward to building on these strong relationships as we collectively work to improve the Commonwealth’s business climate.”

The governor’s greeting highlights the important role local chambers play in communities throughout the state: “Our local chambers of commerce play a critical role in supporting the needs of our vibrant business community, and are essential to the Commonwealth’s continued economic growth and advancement.”

The tie between the PA Chamber and local chambers of commerce dates back to the PA Chamber’s founding in 1916, when a group of influential business leaders and local chamber officials recognized the need for a unified voice of business at the state level.  While local chambers are independent organizations, they often work in partnership with the Pennsylvania Chamber to advocate for pro-business issues in the halls of the state Capitol; most notably, during the annual “Chamber Day at the Capitol” in June when representatives from local chambers of commerce visit Harrisburg for a day of networking and meetings with top policymakers to discuss issues that impact the state’s business community.