Candidate Forum: The six on the ballot for Bloomsburg Town Council in the November 3rd general election answered a series of questions related to business and other issues during a candidate forum on Wednesday, October 7th. The event, sponsored by the Joint Governmental Affairs Committee of the Chamber and Visitors Bureau, was held at the Bloomsburg High School Auditorium. Fred Gaffney, Chamber President, moderated the forum.
Questions were developed by the Committee as well as accepted from the audience. Topics included: the Town’s business climate, parking, the growth of Bloomsburg University, and flood protection.
Click here for audio.
The Big Heart Pet Brands facility started with the Hunts Company in 1963. It was purchased by Campbell’s Soup, then Heinz. In the early 2000s it was then purchased by DelMonte. In 2013, DelMonte split the fruit and vegetable business from the pet food business and they became Big Heart Pet Brands. This year they were purchased by The J.M. Smucker Company.
Big Heart Pet Brands manufactures and distributes wet and dry dog and cat food under labels such as 9Lives, Gravy Train, Kibbles ‘n Bits, Skippy, Gravy Train, Natural Balance and Nature’s Recipe.
Big Heart Pet Brands is active in the community by serving on boards at Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg Enactus, United Water Customer Advisory Council, Agape, and North Shore Railroad. They have active members in various dog and cat rescues – Fabulous Felines, PA Pets Feral Program, Chesapeake Area Alaskan Malamute, Therapy Dog International, and CART. Other employees are active responders for the various emergency response organizations including the Bloomsburg Fire Department, Berwick Fire Department, Espy Fire Department, Lime Ridge Fire Department, and Bloomsburg Ambulance. Big Heart Pet Brands employees are soccer coaches, scout leaders, etc. They also participate in various fundraisers such as research for Cancer and Alzheimer’s, Toys for Tots, and Veterans Programs.
Big Heart Pet Brands is proud of their facility and the employees who work there. They look forward to continuing to be a prominent employer in a great area like Bloomsburg.
For more information visit www.bigheartpet.com.
The subject of each month’s Member Spotlight is selected from attendees of Chamber events.
The Chamber is welcoming Merle Norman, a cosmetic studio, to 310 Mill Street in Danville on Thursday, September 10 at 4 p.m. Merle Norman will provide light refreshments and is running a Grand Opening Special from September 10-18. The special includes a free express makeover or facial, free gift with purchase and entrance to win a beauty shopping spree
Tina Welch has been a corporate Human Resources leader for more than 20 years. In that time, she was able to position HR policies and practices in a strategic manner that enabled her organizations to achieve their corporate goals while creating an outstanding work environment for employees. She was able to help organizations grow from 50 to over 400 employees, locally and internationally, and has lived in the shoes of a growing business. Tina left the corporate world with a mission to help many other organizations across Central PA accomplish the same thing. Welch Performance Consulting was founded on the principals that motivated and engaged employees drive motivated and engaged customers who in turn love to buy from the company, creating success and happiness for all.
Welch Performance Consulting offers a full range of HR support for organizations that not only create great workplaces but also improve HR metrics creating a return to client’s bottom line. Services fall into 3 categories:
• Corporate Strategy Development which includes development of organization’s vision, mission and values, corporate governance structure, and facilitating strategic planning.
• HR Process Assessments of HR functions from recruitment and selection, through on-boarding and orientation, performance management and employee development programs, compensation and benefit assessments, and reward and recognition programs.
• HR Legal Compliance which includes HR audits, handbook development, policy review, employment law compliance, coaching and guidance regarding difficult employee issues.
Growing organizations frequently do not have dedicated HR professionals on staff and benefit from WPC’s guidance and coaching of the company’s leaders and staff assigned this important role. HR departments in need of outsourcing projects to keep on task also find value in WPC’s assistance.
WPC approaches HR from a strategic perspective and a customized approach. Any work done for an organization must be tailored to align with the goals of the organization. This comes from listening to the company to understand what they want to achieve and then delivering the work in a manner that helps them achieve their goals.
WPC’s work has helped our clients achieve numerous awards such as Best Places to Work in PA, the Wall Street Journal’s Best Small Workplace award, awards recognizing healthy workplaces and outstanding workplaces for women to name a few.
Tina and her family are new to Bloomsburg and have a legacy of supporting their community. They have every intention of contributing significantly to the local area as well. In their previous community the Welch’s were active with the YMCA, United Way, Boy Scouts and youth sports leagues, the local school board, volunteer fire department, the Chamber of Commerce, and Leadership Centre County. This year both Tina and her husband, Steve, are continuing that tradition by participating in the 2015-2016 class of Leadership Central Penn; and WPC has already become active in the Chamber’s events and local professional groups.
WPC serves businesses in the entire central PA area and in any industry. They are passionate about helping organizations and teaching them how they can be great places to work.
To learn more about Welch Performance Consulting visit welchperformanceconsulting.com
Barletta Breakfast: Congressman Lou Barletta spoke to members of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce and Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau at a breakfast meeting held Thursday, August 27, 2015 at the Greenly Center in Downtown Bloomsburg. Barletta discussed the Iran Nuclear Deal, transportation funding, a proposed increase to the minimum wage, and Pennsylvania’s budget impasse.
Click here for audio.
The Chamber will be welcoming Xtreme Row to 131 W Front Street in Berwick on Saturday, August 29th. The celebration begins at 9 a.m. with a Training For Warriors Hurricane. The Chamber will be on hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10:15 a.m. and Xtreme Row will be holding four more training sessions throughout the day.
For a tentative Grand Opening training schedule click here. Space is limited for each class, so please register to reserve your spot!
All sessions will be $10 per person with 100% of those fees donated to the Berwick Food Program!
The Berwick Food Program, provided by For The Cause NEPA (FTC) collaborates with local organizations to distribute food items to students, families, and individuals-in-need. Partnerships with local schools, soup kitchens, and charities have helped FTC serve more than 25,000 supplemental meals since the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
Additionally, Xtreme Row will be holding a basket raffle featuring great prizes from many local businesses! If you would like to donate a gift for this raffle, please email info@xtremerow.com.
Xtreme Row will be making a matching donation of up to $500 raised on this day!
Bason Coffee Roasting will host a formal ribbon cutting ceremony on August 28 at 8:30 a.m. The Columbia Montour Chamber, Danville Business Alliance and Central PA Chamber will be on hand to welcome the business to 14 Rear East Mahoning Street in Danville. Enjoy fresh roasted coffee, light refreshments and a free sample of ground coffee with any purchase.
John H. Sykes founded Sykes Enterprises, Inc. in 1977 as a small technical engineering firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s initial purpose was to provide design and engineering services to Fortune 500 companies. Business was strong and the firm grew rapidly. The company expanded into New York in 1983 and Colorado in 1985. By 1990, Sykes Enterprises had branched out into Texas and established an Information Services Division in Tampa, Florida, which was later to become the company headquarters. In 1991, many companies were having a hard time weathering the recession. Leaner business years, however, worked in Sykes Enterprises’ favor. Many companies were looking to outsource support services, and employment at Sykes actually rose during the early 1990s. In 1991, the company had 1,150 employees at 23 offices in the United States, Canada, and Europe.
In 1994, Sykes opened a customer support call center in Sterling, Colorado, providing technically skilled job seekers with an alternative to low-paying jobs with little future. The call center marked the beginning of what was to become the most profitable division of Sykes Enterprises. Software and hardware manufacturers were realizing that customer service was a vital part of retaining brand loyalty among buyers of their products, but found it difficult to maintain efficient and reliable call centers of their own. Sykes decided to target those companies with a cost-effective option for outsourcing customer support. When a customer had a question about a recently purchased product, a call to the manufacturer would be seamlessly directed to a Sykes call center. Sykes provides customer contact management solutions and services in the business process outsourcing (BPO) arena.
Sykes has taken leaps and bounds in getting involved with the community and helping in any way they can. For the past two summers they have done a donation drive for the Women’s shelter on supplies/personal hygiene needs. They participated in Berwick’s Week of Caring and had about 15 staff members spend 2 hours cleaning up the Berwick Theater. In March, they had a large drive for games/books/craft supplies for the Big Brother/Big Sister after school programs as well as had a team bowl at their annual Bowl for Kids’ Sake. Staff members also did a spring cleaning and they had a donation of clothes and toys that were donated to the Save Berwick Pool fund. They have become a part of the community watch awareness walks in Berwick. Currently they are gathering School supplies to help the local area “Stuff the Bus”.
Sykes has received commendations from the Mayor of Berwick, Outstanding Community Business Award and Letter of Recognition from the Women’s Center in Bloomsburg, a thank you Letter from the Big Brother’s Big Sisters of the Bridge, a thank you letter of Participation in the 2014 Heartbeat of Sykes (annual fundraiser for the American Heart Association). Within the next 90 days they anticipate adding an additional 90 employees with a new business coming to the site.
For more information visit www.sykes.com.
The subject of each month’s Member Spotlight is selected from attendees of Chamber events.
Learn more about current legislation that could affect your business at a Legislative Breakfast with Congressman Lou Barletta on Thursday,
August 27 at 8 a.m. at the Greenly Center 50 E. Main Street, Bloomsburg. During this Chamber and Visitors Bureau sponsored event you will meet the person representing your business in Washington.
The cost for Chamber members is $20 per person, $30 for non-members, and includes a full buffet-style breakfast. Registration is required before August 21. For more information download the registration form, call Eleanor at 784-2522 or email estokley@cmpartnership.org