Event Sponsor Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital 
Holiday Cheer Sponsors M&T Bank 
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hodrick Realty 
Gold Star Sponsors Service 1st Federal Credit Union 
Century 21 Covered Bridges Realty 
Red Reindeer Sponsors BIDA 
Key Partners 
LIVIC Civil 
North Shore Railroad 
Green Tree Sponsors ChamberChoice/Kinect Energy 
Century 21 Mertz & Associates 
Derr, Pursel, Luschas & Naparsteck, LLP 
First Columbia Bank 
First Keystone Community Bank 
Lackawanna College (Sunbury Center) 
Susquehanna Valley Limousine 
The Women’s Center
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 new graduate-level certificate from Penn State can help managers and leaders improve their organizations through business architecture, a growing practice that bridges business strategy with tactical implementation.
Penn State is accepting applications for the nine-credit graduate certificate in business architecture, which is being offered online through Penn State World Campus and the internationally recognized Smeal College of Business. The courses also may be used as a stepping stone toward one of several master’s degrees online through Penn State.
“Business architecture is the bridge between high-level business strategy and tactical execution,” said Brian Cameron, faculty director for the certificate program and associate dean for professional graduate programs at Smeal. “The business architecture discipline is growing rapidly today and this graduate certificate addresses a need for more university-based education in this field. The interest so far has been great.”
Cameron said studies show many organizations do not successfully execute their business strategy because they do not have a clear picture of the state of the organization and how they can achieve their goals. Cameron said the practice of business architecture will reveal an organization’s actual structure and the changes necessary to carry out the strategic objectives to reach the goals.
The certificate was designed to help a wide range of professionals, such as business analysts who aspire to move into planning and execution or those working in information technology who want to move into a strategy role.
The curriculum consists of a course in strategic business architecture; a course that explores the emerging trends, technology and corporate innovation; and a course on the foundational concepts of enterprise modeling.
Students who complete the certificate may apply the credits toward one of three master’s degrees offered online by the World Campus: enterprise architecture and business transformation, the online MBA, and corporate innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Penn State certificate in business architecture is the first graduate-level program of its kind in the country. The University is offering it online so that business professionals who want to advance their career with this credential do not have to leave their jobs.
“This certificate provides individuals the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and earn a credential in an emerging area,” said Shubha Kashyap, director of academic affairs at Penn State World Campus. “As our students seamlessly transition between their roles as professionals and students, the immediate applicability of new skills to their careers can enrich their education and professional advancement.”
Visit the Penn State World Campus website for more information about the new certificate.
From PA Chamber of Business & Industry
Despite recent projections from the state’s Independent Fiscal Office that the Commonwealth faces an up to $1.7 billion deficit headed into 2019-20 budget discussions, the tone from the state’s outgoing Budget Secretary is one of optimism for Pennsylvania’s fiscal health.
At a mid-year budget report press event last week, Sec. Randy Albright pointed to months of higher than projected revenue collections, rising gaming revenue and no sharp spikes in required pension payments as a sign that Pennsylvania will “end the year with not just a balanced budget but a surplus,” adding that “we don’t think we face a $1.5 billion deficit for the proposed budget year.” He did admit, however, that the state might need supplemental appropriations to pay for health care entitlement spending that is the result of transitioning to its new managed care system, PA Health Choices. Albright also expressed that increasing human services costs, re-negotiating state labor contracts, decreasing reserves from the Pennsylvania High Education Assistance Agency and increasing State Police funding are all issues that could pose problems for an on-time budget deal.
According to a story in the PLS Reporter, Republican House Appropriations staffer John O’Brien, who works for House Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor, R-York, agreed that the IFO’s estimate is extreme (though IFO Executive Director Matthew Knittel continues to stand by his numbers). O’Brien told the media outlet that the IFO’s projections are based on a 10 percent spending increase – which he said the General Assembly will not allow. He added that Albright’s positive picture is based on a growing economy with decreasing unemployment, which makes the case for fair and predictable tax policy choices in order to maintain economic momentum. Republican state legislative leaders have been stressing to reporters in the weeks leading up to swearing-in day that they are taking a hard stance against any new taxes in the new fiscal year.
Notably, Albright also announced during the event that he will be departing his post at the end of the month. The first member of Gov. Wolf’s Cabinet to announce that they won’t be returning to their post when the new term begins in January, Albright served all four years of Wolf’s first term. He will be replaced by Jen Swails, who has more than 19 years of fiscal and policy experience in state government. Her most recent role is that of fiscal management director for the new Shared Services Budget Office, which oversees budgets for the Depts. of Aging, Health, Human Services and Drug and Alcohol Programs.
Among the areas that experienced flash flooding this summer was a portion of South Centre Township, Columbia County, which impacted homes and several major employers. Among them, Chamber members SEKISUI SPI and J.M. Smucker were forced to shut down for days to deal with unprecedented flooding. Efforts are underway to reduce or eliminate the future risk to these businesses and residents.
Representatives from PennDOT, DEP, North Shore Railroad, the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority, Columbia County, and South Centre Township, as well as Chamber president Fred Gaffney, representative David Millard, and senator John Gordner recently met with the affected businesses to discuss the issues that may have contributed to the flooding. The Township has already worked with DEP to address a stream bed, which was believed to be a major contributor. Agency representatives pledged to review their areas of responsibility to ensure that drainage systems are working properly. Senator Gordner and representative Millard are working with DEP and the Township to pursue funding for a storm water management study for the area, which has not been done since the early 1970s. Such a study could identify other long-term solutions for dealing with runoff and drainage.
The businesses expressed their appreciation to the various entities helping to ensure that the hundreds of jobs and business investments will be safe from future risk of flooding.
From Lackawanna College and Bloomsburg University
Lackawanna College and Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania signed a transfer agreement that will provide a seamless program-to-program pathway for Lackawanna students to complete their Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Technical Leadership.
Under this new partnership, students in good academic standing who complete their associate degree at Lackawanna can transfer to Bloomsburg with junior (third-year) status. The bachelor’s degree in Technical Leadership aims to build on the expertise students have gained through their associate degree program to build working professionals ready to take charge of technical workgroups, project teams, and service departments.
“We are excited at the opportunity to formalize a partnership that has existed for many years between our institutions,” said Mark Volk, Lackawanna College President. “Providing quality alternatives for our students to continue their educational journeys is among the most important things we do, and Bloomsburg has always been a top-notch choice.”
“We are thrilled to be able to work with Lackawanna College to provide a program where students from Lackawanna can matriculate to Bloomsburg and pursue a bachelor’s degree in our Technical Leadership program,” said Tom Fletcher, Bloomsburg University Vice President for Enrollment Management. “BU is committed to working together with institutions to ensure students have the best path to success. This agreement is another example of a partnership in action.”
Earlier this year, Bloomsburg University entered into a similar type of agreement with Luzerne County Community College that helps facilitate the transfer of LCCC’s nursing program graduates to BU to complete their bachelor’s degree.
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, Rainer’s Professional Painting & Wall Covering, to help us fulfill our mission.
Rainer’s Professional Painting & Wall Covering is a locally-owned business that provides painting and wall-covered services to the Berwick and Bloomsburg areas, as well as part of Luzerne County, including Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Hazleton, Mountain Top, Nanticoke and Kingston. Owned by Rainer Hofauer, who has over 25 years experience as a home improvement contractor, Rainer’s Professional Painting & Wall Covering was founded in 2000 and is located in Stillwater, and prides itself on reliability, great communication, integrity and quality work. To learn more or schedule a free estimate, call 570-594-8443 or email.
From rabbittransit
Often, many people take for granted the ability to travel to everyday locations — a place to buy milk, receive an immunization, maintain employment or learn the alphabet. Without these connections, individuals cannot provide for their basic needs or dare to explore opportunities for their future.
3P Ride is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing affordable and convenient mobility solutions for Central Pennsylvania’s residents to access their most basic needs. It is a partner 501(c)(3) of rabbittransit. 3P Ride is primarily focused on providing food access, veterans transportation and access to care. A ride for a senior, veteran or someone else in critical need of a ride can cost as little as $1.50. A ride to dialysis saves a life. A ride to school educates a future leader. A ride to the VA Clinic honors a veteran.
rabbittransit is a regional public transportation provider and offers a variety of transportation services to the residents of Adams, Columbia, Cumberland, Franklin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder, Union and York Counties. Nearly 8,000 people depend on rabbittransit each day to get to work, medical facilities, school and other life-sustaining activities. rabbittransit is dedicated to helping all residents in the region get to where they want to go.
For more information on 3P Ride, visit its website, and visit rabbittransit’s website for additional information, including eligibility requirements and how to apply.
Over the past 21 years, the Columbia Montour Chamber and its members have been supporters of the Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW). This unique educational summer program provides students from across the state the unique opportunity to learn about business and manufacturing. Thanks to continued generous support of Chamber members through The Foundation of the Columbia Montour Chamber, 167 local students have been able to experience running their own simulated company.
For those who may be interested in learning more about the program, the Chamber will host a PFEW information session at on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, at 7:30 a.m. at the Greenly Center, located at 50 East Main St., Bloomsburg. A free continental breakfast will be served at 7:30 a.m.
We are inviting students who participated from local schools, their teachers, and PFEW sponsors. We also want to extend the invitation to all Chamber members to join us in hearing about the experiences of our students and what PFEW has meant to them.
Hearing the stories from the students themselves is truly inspiring. Please join us to hear what PFEW does in opening a young person’s eyes to the possibilities of their own future and how it might relate to our free enterprise system. It is crucial that the future workforce has an understanding and appreciation of the challenges that face the business community. At PFEW, myths about business unravel as students and business people work together, gaining fresh insights into the intricacies of our free market system.
The meeting will be held from 8 a.m. to approximately 9:30 a.m., and there is no cost to attend. Please RSVP to the Chamber at 570-784-2522 by email or online.
Bloomsburg Town Council recently approved an amendment to its zoning ordinance with a goal of increasing the amount of public parking available for people who visit and work in the downtown. The changes, approved by Council at its December 10th meeting, require that any new residential development in the downtown commercial district provide private parking. The ordinance allows parking, including multi-level parking structures, to be developed within the district subject to certain criteria. Commercial uses and existing residential uses are not required to provide parking.
The changes had long been considered to reduce the strain on public parking without discouraging the development of housing. Decades ago, the Town eliminated the need to provide parking for residential development to encourage a higher density of people living in the downtown. With the success of such development, the demand for permit parking increased and has impacted adjacent residential areas. While future demand should not be increased by new residential development, by providing greater flexibility for creating private parking, some of the current demand could also be reduced.
The Chamber and Downtown Bloomsburg Inc. worked with the Town on this ordinance over many months. These changes are an important step forward in Bloomsburg’s management of parking in the downtown. We look forward to discussing further improvements to parking management in 2019.
From PA Chamber of Business & Industry
Last week, the Justice Action Network – a national coalition of chambers of commerce, corrections programs and business associations – sent the legislative leaders of the U.S. House and Senate a letter urging passage of the bipartisan FIRST STEP Act, which will help address a skills gap within the nation’s workforce and provide incarcerated persons a second chance.
The legislation aims to provide job training, treatment and rehabilitation programs to those who are currently cycling in and out of America’s jails and prisons. It provides tools for business and trade associations to implement their own job training programs behind prison walls to help incarcerated people learn skills that are tailored to jobs employers have difficultly filling and can help them transition successfully from “prisons to paychecks.”
In making the case for the bill’s passage, the coalition letter lists some of the industries that could benefit from the FIRST STEPS Act, including trucking, construction and manufacturing. One example provided was the National Association of Home Builders, which is experiencing labor shortages in all specialties and trades and has 300,000 unfilled construction jobs nationwide. Likewise, the manufacturing sector will need to fill 3.5 million jobs over the next decade – 2 million of which are expected to go unfilled due to a lack of skilled candidates.
“That is why chambers of commerce and business leaders in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Kentucky have strongly supported state criminal justice reform efforts that break down barriers to employment for the formerly incarcerated, and why the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has gone one step further by endorsing the FIRST STEP Act, which will help ensure that incarcerated people are job-ready before they take their first steps of freedom,” the coalition wrote.
The PA Chamber supports this legislation as a good step toward addressing Pennsylvania’s workforce development challenges. Last session, we supported “Clean Slate” legislation. This bill, signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf, is a first of its kind program to provide a mechanism for individuals with low-level, non-violent criminal offenses to have those records sealed from public view and give them a better chance at securing housing and a good job.