Spring is a fitting time for property owners in our area to revisit their flood insurance policies. On April 1, FEMA will begin implementing a new flood risk rating system, known as Risk Rating 2.0.

FEMA’s early estimates project that National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) policyholders in Pennsylvania could see their premiums decrease by as much as 30%.

Risk Rating 2.0 will provide a more accurate reflection of an individual property’s flood risk by including considerations for:

• the property’s elevation
• location within the flood zone
• distance from a source of potential flooding
• the dynamics of the watershed drainage area
• flood history
• design and type of foundation
• cost of repair
• mitigation efforts

“On behalf of the communities that we represent, we applaud FEMA for launching Risk Rating 2.0 and for taking steps to strengthen the program’s ability to support flood survivors. Given our region’s flooding history, it’s a much-needed policy that is long overdue,” says Teri Provost, Director of SEDA-COG’s Flood Resiliency program.

SEDA-COG’s Flood Resiliency Program offers services related to flood resiliency and mitigation assistance both within and outside of its 11-county region. Its goal is to help break the damage cycle and stop its drain on people and communities. For more information, visit http://seda-cog.org/departments/flood-resiliency/

Each year the IRS makes cost of living adjustments to many of the limits on contributions to, and benefits from, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans. As we approach the end of the first quarter of 2022, we thought it would be helpful to recap the new limits for the year.  Note that all have been increased from the 2021 limits except for the catch-up contribution limit, which remains at $6,500.

401(k) and 403(b) Elective Deferrals

• A plan participant may defer up to $20,500 from their salary into a defined contribution retirement plan in 2022 (excluding catch-up contributions). Note that this amount includes both pre-tax and Roth contributions in aggregate, and it applies to all 401(k), 403(b), and SIMPLE IRA plans that an individual participates in for the year.

Catch-up Contributions

• If plan provisions allow it, an individual who is 50 or older in 2022 may make additional “catch-up” contributions of up to $6,500 over and above the $20,500 limit discussed above.

Defined Contribution Plan Limit

• The maximum annual contribution to an individual’s account in a defined contribution plan (a money-purchase, profit sharing and/or 401(k) plan) cannot exceed the lesser of 100% of the individual’s compensation or $61,000. This amount includes employer contributions, employee 401(k) contributions, and forfeitures.

Annual Compensation Limit

• The maximum amount of an employee’s annual compensation which may be used for contribution or benefit calculation purposes is $305,000.

Highly Compensated Employee (HCE) Threshold

• Employees are placed either into an HCE group or a non-HCE group for 401(k) plan nondiscrimination tests (i.e., ADP and ACP). An HCE is an employee who:
  • Owns more than 5% of the employer at any time during the year or preceding year, or
  • Earned more than $135,000 for 2022 from the employer and, if the employer elects, had compensation that ranked the employee in the top 20% of all employees.

Key Employee Threshold

• Key employee status is used to determine how employees are categorized for the top-heavy test, which measures whether plan assets are concentrated in the accounts of business owners or officers earning a certain amount of compensation. A plan is top-heavy if more than 60% of its assets are held in the accounts of key employees. The determination is made as of the last day of the preceding plan year. For 2022, the compensation paid to an officer that would cause him or her to be classified as a “key employee” is $200,000.

After reviewing the increases in the limits, plan sponsors should:

1. Review the 2022 limits with your internal payroll staff or payroll service provider to make sure any necessary adjustments are made to incorporate the increased limits.
2. Confirm that the correct definition of compensation from your plan document is being used to determine compensation for plan contributions.
   
   
3. Identify your HCEs and key employees for 2021 and determine whether the increase in compensation thresholds will reduce the number of employees in these groups. If it does, your plan might be more likely to pass the nondiscrimination tests in 2022.
   
   
4. If your plan fails any 2021 contribution limit or nondiscrimination tests, discuss potential correction options with your third-party administrator/service provider. Plan design changes may help your plan pass the necessary testing in the future.

The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome the newest member to the Chamber, Elmdale Inn. Built in 1868 by John A. Funston, this historic building is located on 503 Market Street in Bloomsburg and recently opened its doors as a bed and breakfast in 2021. The house previously served as a  private residence prior to Elmdale opening its doors.

Newly renovated, the Innkeepers wish to share this historic home with visitors to the town of Bloomsburg. The B&B offers spacious rooms with luxurious linens, while also accommodations for relaxation and social connections.

Do you need more information about this unique B&B? Eldmale Inn’s website can be found here. Do you want to get in contact with them? You can call them at 570-854-4856 or interact with them on their Facebook page, Elmdale Inn.  

Elmdale Inn joins over 425 members of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce to receive benefits and support the Chamber’s efforts to enhance the region.

As the worker shortage crisis continues to cause major headaches for small businesses, a new U.S. Chamber and MetLife poll finds that hiring challenges are causing the majority of small business owners to change the way they recruit and retain employees.  

According to new data from the Q1 2022 MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Index (SBI), over half of small businesses (56%) say they are concerned about recruiting enough new employees to fill open positions, and 57% are concerned about employee retention. 

Larger small businesses (20-499 employees), in particular, find employee retention a challenge: they rank employee retention (21%) alongside inflation (24%), supply chain disruptions (25%), and COVID-19 (26%) as their highest concerns.

The struggles that small businesses are experiencing in hiring reflect the reality of a historically tight labor market. The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that there are 11.3 million job openings in the U.S., but only 6.3 million unemployed workers. 

Small businesses make changes to retain employees

A near record-high of 37% of small businesses surveyed plan to increase staff this year, according to the poll, taken January 14 – 26, 2022. To attract workers amid a shortage of talent, small businesses are offering new benefits and opportunities to recruit and retain workers.

A majority (60%) of small businesses say they have implemented new changes over the past year to improve employee retention, including:

• increasing work schedule flexibility (37%)
• increasing wages (31%) and
• providing employees with more opportunities to learn/grow (29%).

Looking ahead, less than half (48%) of small businesses agree that worker shortages across the country will be resolved in 2022. But most small businesses feel they are well placed to win the war for talent: a majority said their business has a clear plan in place to retain their employees (76%) or find and attract new ones (68%). 

What small business owners are saying:

“Utah has performed well compared to other state economies, but the tight labor will continue to put downward pressure on growth.” – Natalie Kaddas, CEO, Kaddas Enterprises based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“The biggest challenge we’re facing right now is finding ready, willing, and able to work employees in the United States. And it’s not unique to us, it’s a challenge all of our neighbors are facing at the same time.” – Joe Shamess, Co-Founder and Owner, Flags of Valor, based in Winchester, Virginia.  

“Rising costs on everything has definitely impacted us… We are diligently working continually to cut back on unnecessary costs and reduce our monthly expenses.” – Bill Rossi, President, Rossi Enterprises based in Chicago, Illinois.

Inflation, supply chain disruptions are other top worries

According to the Index, the vast majority (85%) of small business owners are concerned about the impact of inflation. More than two in three businesses (67%) report having to raise prices to cope with inflation.

One in three (33%) small business owners now rank inflation as their biggest challenge, up from 23% last quarter. Other top challenges include:

• Supply chain disruptions (26%), jumping eight percentage points since last quarter
• COVID-19 safety protocols/compliance (24%)
• Revenue (21%)
• Employee well-being/morale (14%).

Despite the challenges, the current SBI score is 64.1, the highest score since the start of the pandemic. This score is up from last quarter’s score of 63 and the nadir of the pandemic in 2020 Q2 when the score reached a record low of 39.

For more findings from this quarter, and to explore and browse years of small business data,  visit https://www.uschamber.com/sbindex/.

The CompetePA Coalition, which includes the PA Chamber of Business and Industry, participated in days of action at the PA State Capitol last week to advocate for a reduction to Pennsylvania’s burdensome Corporate Net Income Tax. Over three days, coalition members met with numerous PA House and Senate members to advocate for the CNI reduction to better position Pennsylvania more competitively.

Few issues draw as much attention as a state’s tax climate for companies seeking to locate or expand operations. At 9.99 percent, Pennsylvania has the unfortunate distinction of having the country’s second-highest CNI tax which serves as a major red flag to potential investors. It puts the Commonwealth at a disadvantage as businesses look to more pro-growth states to open or expand operations.

Furthermore, the Tax Foundation ranked Pennsylvania 44th out of 50 states in an analysis of overall corporate tax burden. Pennsylvania has lost billions in economic opportunities as businesses have chosen to invest elsewhere, where states are more business-friendly.

This year, there appears to be increased bipartisan support for passage of a CNI reduction as many Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and Governor Tom Wolf support it.

The CompetePA coalition has over 160 members throughout the Commonwealth, including statewide and regional business groups, small businesses and Fortune 500 companies that together represent more than half of the private sector employment in the Commonwealth.

Bloomsburg Y Conducting Needs Assessment

The Bloomsburg Area YMCA is conducting a community needs assessment within its service areas of Bloomsburg and Columbia County.  The survey launched this week and based on the responses to this assessment, the Y will be designing and delivering new and enhanced programs and services that address critical issues in the areas of youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.  We are asking residents and business leaders to complete the survey so that we may respond to our community’s most critical social needs and ensure that we are doing our very best to serve our communities.

The survey can be found at https://survey.sogosurvey.com/r/NMgRme.  Responses to the online survey are not individually tracked and are kept confidential. The assessment should take approximately five minutes to complete, and the results will be compiled into an executive summary that will be shared with community partners.

Anyone with questions regarding the survey can contact Wayne Stump at wstump@bloomsburgy.org or 570-784-0188.

The Chamber began resuming in-person opportunities for member on Tuesday morning, welcoming in its newest members and other potential members who wanted to learn how Chamber membership could provide value to their organizations. The Chamber Orientation was held at the LCBC Church in Bloomsburg.

Those in attendance learned about the various benefits of Chamber membership and what the organization is doing on daily basis to support members and the greater employer community. The presentation focused on the five main areas of member value: Advocacy, Benefits Programs, Business Connections, Employee Development, and Strengthening Our Communities.

Couldn’t make the Chamber Orientation? Click here to view the presentation.

The Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce is excited to be holding events in-person again for members to make valuable connections. Is your organization ready to highlight or showcase what you have been working on? A perfect way to do that is by hosting a Business After Hours. The popular networking events resume in April. Business After Hours invite members to learn about the services and products offered by the host in a relaxed setting. For more information, contact Jeremy at the Chamber at jclausen@columbiamontourchamber.com. 

Let’s talk about YouTube! Are you thinking of creating a YouTube channel? Are you currently using YouTube for your business? Not sure how to get started or how to build your channel? This is the webinar for you. Get best practices for creating a YouTube channel and compelling video content that promotes your products and services and drives engagement with your brand. In this workshop, you’ll discuss the best practices for:

• Why you should have a YouTube channel
• How to set up a YouTube channel
• What’s important to fill out when uploading a video
• Making good creative, and how to target and measure the results

This event is presented by the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center and will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 27th. You can register here.

Some of the most impactful decisions a person makes during the course of a year regards those pertaining to personal healthcare for themselves and any affected family members.  For those who are employed, company benefit programs can provide a safety net that offers significant financial protection against any financial obligations arising from such medical situations. 

For employers this presents a challenge, especially in today’s work-from-home environment.  The process of communicating benefit options and boosting employee engagement can be complex and time-consuming as human resource staff must consider the mixed demographics, capabilities and diverse needs of the workforce. Complicating matters, there’s no one-size-fits all communication method to reach all employees. 

But the importance of designing an effective communication strategy cannot be overstated.  The value placed on a company benefit program is a key component in the employer’s ability to attract and retain quality talent.  And employees who understand and utilize a well-designed benefit program are typically more engaged, resulting in a workforce that is typically more productive…resulting in a win for both employer and employees.

The Columbia-Montour Chamber of Commerce offers its members access to My Benefit Advisor as a solution for employee benefits, including voluntary offerings. For more information about My Benefit Advisor, visit our website at cmcc.mybenefitadvisor.com or contact Glynis Roberts at (800) 377-3539.

 The Innovative Manufacturers’ Center (IMC) is proud to announce online voting for the 2nd year of the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” (WSCM) Central Susquehanna student video contest. Voting will commence Tuesday, March 29, 12:01AM, and remain open until Thursday, March 31, 11:59PM, on Central Susquehanna’s contest page here. The winner will be announced during an awards event to be held April 25th.

Regional school districts participating in this year’s video contest include Central Columbia, Danville, Lewisburg, Millville, Selinsgrove, Warrior Run and Williamsport.

Student videos compete for the most votes to win the coveted “Viewers Choice Award.” The videos will also be reviewed by a panel of judges for awards in three other categories, including Outstanding Overall Program, Outstanding Team Spirit and Outstanding Brand Placement.

 “We are excited to see our school districts and communities participate and support the hard work the students, teachers and manufacturers have put into this program,” said Lauri Moon, Co-Manager of the Central Susquehanna WSCM regional contest. “Online voting affords everyone the opportunity to participate and see the videos while further spreading the message about cool career opportunities in local manufacturing.”

The WSCM program was created to generate excitement that draws students toward STEM education opportunities and to consider manufacturing career paths as they engage with local manufacturers, recording and presenting their experiences in an educational and “cool” way through documentary video production.

WSCM Central Susquehanna will choose two videos to represent the region in the 9th Annual “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” PA Statewide Awards May 18th in Harrisburg.

 About “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing”:

Developed by Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC), WSCM program is a video based educational tool that increases awareness of career paths in manufacturing. MRC developed this innovative career awareness program that at its core is “peer marketing” (kids telling kids what’s so cool about manufacturing jobs). The contest is showcased on the What’s So Cool website and

This contest gives students the opportunity to connect with local manufacturers, document their experiences and present them in an educational and “cool” way. The contest was created to generate excitement that draws students towards manufacturing career paths, and CTE and STEM education.

For more information, visit whatssocool.org.