The Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce has begun accepting nominations for annual awards which will be presented at the November 17, 2010 Annual Awards Gala. Please take a few minutes to help us recognize outstanding businesses and individuals. Visit www.huntingdonchamber.com to print nomination forms. Forms are also available at the Chamber office at 500 Allegheny Street, Huntingdon. The deadline to submit nominations is August 20, 2010.
Archive for the ‘Business News’ category
Business and Community Award Nominations Being Accepted
August 9th, 2010Key points missing from current unemployment compensation debate
August 2nd, 2010The attention given to the ongoing back and forth over unemployment compensation, while making good fodder for election year pundits and newspaper headlines, is not directed at the real issue: how to restore solvency to a system woefully in debt and make improvements so that it can meet the needs of recipients truly in need.
General Assembly adopts 2010-11 state budget without broad-based tax increases; but unfinished business remains
July 1st, 2010Last evening, the General Assembly adopted a state budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, the first time since Gov. Ed Rendell took office that the budget was approved by the June 30 deadline.
The $28.05 billion budget was adopted without broad-based tax increases, as lawmakers rejected new taxes on smokeless tobacco and cigars, as well as the implementation of combined reporting, which would have been a tax increase for many Pennsylvania businesses. The governor’s proposal to lower the state sales tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent while expanding the base to include business services, had been taken off the table prior to the recent weeks’ budget negotiations. The final budget also maintains the sales tax vendor collection allowance, which reimburses businesses a portion of the costs associated with essentially serving as tax collector for the state.
Chamber Delivers Guaranteed Savings On Electric Generation To Local Members- Deal with FirstEnergy Solutions Locks in Electric Discount
June 8th, 2010The Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce has secured for its members an electric discount program with FirstEnergy Solutions (FES), a leading electric generation supplier based in Akron, OH. According to the terms, participating small business chamber members will receive guaranteed savings on electric generation from January 2011 through May 2012, always paying less than the electric utility’s price for generation. This program is a limited time offer and is scheduled to end on June 15, 2010, or once the program is fully subscribed, whichever occurs first.
SBA Disaster Assistance Available
April 27th, 2010The U.S. Small Business Administration announces certain Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low-interest rate disaster loans. These loans are available following a Presidential Disaster Declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by severe winter storms and snowstorms that occurred on Feb. 5-11, 2010.
PNPs located in Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland and York counties in Pennsylvania are eligible to apply to SBA. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.
Competitiveness study: another poor showing for Pennsylvania
April 25th, 2010Pennsylvania continues to lose ground in the economic competitiveness race, raising the stakes even higher in the upcoming debate over the 2010-11 state budget.
According to the 2010 ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Pennsylvania ranked 46th for economic performance (no change from 2009) and 43rd for economic outlook (a one position drop from last year). Since 2008, the Commonwealth has dropped seven positions in the economic outlook category.
The annual study examines 15 policy variables that have a proven impact on the migration of capital — both investment and human — into and out of states. The state rankings are an equally weighted combination of these variables, and each of the factors is influenced directly by state lawmakers through the legislative process.
