Thank you to Senator Roman Prezioso for allowing the students to use his office as a staging area for the day. Seeing young leaders get passionate about government and the legislative process is one of the bright spots of chamber work.

Topping our list was the construction of a new WV State Office Complex.  The Chamber is anxious help facilitate plans to demolish the current structure closed in 2009 and begin work on the new facility.  Workers that have been displaced throughout the county deserve to return to one location where they can serve the needs of our residents in a much more efficient manner.

Also included on our list is both the support for Fairmont State University to receive equitable funding from the state and the construction of the new Advanced Technical Training Center in Marion County.  Both of these projects are crucial to the economic growth of our county and we need to stay on top of these issues with our legislators.

Although it is not a state issue, Fairmont General Hospital is working with our Federal Delegation to ensure that they continue to receive the designation of Sole Community Provider.  With this designation comes millions of dollars and the Chamber has enlisted the help of our State Delegation and Governor Manchin to assist with this issue.

The students in both the Youth Leadership Programs and the Senior Forum are hard at work on creating legislation to support Charter Schools.  This concept, allowed in 47 out of 50 U.S states, will be a much debated issue during this Session and we are proud of our students for tackling it.  Through this blog and press releases, the MCCC will keep our members abreast of the success of this legislation.

In other news, we are not sure if many of our members realize that Senator Byrd has inserted an amendment into the U.S. Senate’s final health care reform bill that could have devastating effects on our state.  The amendment deals with black lung benefits and would change the current system to one that would give benefits without the step of obtaining a medical diagnosis and it would be retroactive to 2005.  It is estimated that this change, if enacted by Congress, could add hundreds of millions of dollars to Workers’ Compensation costs in West Virginia and would set us back years.  Worker’s Compensation Reform was a huge win for the business community and we must find ways to make our state more attractive to businesses.  The MCCC feels that coal mines and especially our miners are crucial to the state’s economy and they should be provided with every benefit that is due to them.  A medical diagnosis would ensure that the hard working miners in our state, who are entitled to these benefits, receive them.  There is much more on this issue and I urge all of our members to read everything they can about this amendment because, if passed, will change things in our state.  

 Tina Shaw, President

Our events committee has been hard at work finalizing details for the year and we will soon have tentative dates that will be posted on this website.  We begin the year with our Legislative Breakfast, scheduled for Friday, January 8^th.  We have made several changes to this event, most importantly, moving it to a date before our legislators return to Charleston for the Session.  This will give us the opportunity to share our important issues with them and ask their support while they are there.  This should be a great event and I hope all of our members know that our elected officials need to hear from them on a regular basis so they can make the right business decisions that will benefit Marion County.

ChamberChoice, a member health insurance program, is off and running and we have had many members call for information.  The Marion County Chamber has partnered with other chambers across the state to offer members numerous choices to their healthcare needs.  Please call the Chamber if you would like to receive more information.

I’d like to welcome our new Board members for 2010.  Elected to serve a three-year term are Barbara DeMary, Executive Director of Region VI Workforce Investment Board; Dr. Thomas Krepel, President, Fairmont State University; Robert Marquardt, CEO, Fairmont General Hospital; Allen Staggers, Corporate Communications, Allegheny Energy; Kimberly Taylor, WesBanco; John Dahlia, Corporate Communications, Global, Science, & Technology;  and Jonathan Rider, Rider Pharmacy and Gifts.  A Board Retreat will be scheduled this month where new members will be given a brief orientation.

Welcome to our new members that have joined in the past couple of months.  They will be listed in the next issue of the Momentum along with their contact information.

As always, please feel free to call us with your suggestions or comments on how we can make your member experience better!

Speaking of events, the MCCC Events Committee has finalized plans for the upcoming Monte Carlo Night, to be held on November 20^th at the Elks Lodge in downtown Fairmont.  Tickets are currently on sale, and I’d like to thank R&E Electric, Time Warner Cable, 94 Rock, Wholesale Carpet, I-79 Honda-Mazda, and Biafore Landscape Development for sponsoring the event.  I think this will be a very exciting evening where we can have lots of fun.  The evening will begin at 6:30 pm with Vegas style table games, entertainment, dining and dancing.  Tickets are $40.00 each and everyone will have the chance to win great prizes, such as 4-night stay at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas (airfare included), 40” Sony LCD TV, Laptop, and much more.  Just call the MCCC for more information.

ChamberChoice is up and running so if you are interested in obtaining more information on our new healthcare initiative, please call us.  – Posted from Tina Shaw, MCCC President

Our thanks go to Angela Jackson-Leedy and Lindsey Wiles from the new PRstore, located in Morgantown.  They have worked very hard in designing the site to our specifications and we are extremely grateful for continued patience and expertise.

We hope that you will enjoy the new features, such as the blog, our new Facebook page and also a LinkedIn connection for the MCCC.  We understand that technology is moving faster that the speed of light these days, so we are trying to catch up!

The MCCC has kicked off a new healthcare initiative called ChamberChoice.  Local agents will be selling healthcare products to members and educating on their healthcare needs.  We hope to save our members money on their healthcare costs; however, it is not a discounted program.  As with many of you, we are watching the national healthcare scene and will be ready to make adjustments and changes as needed.  Member benefits are the key to any successful business and we are very proud to partner with 16 chambers throughout the state of WV to offer ChamberChoice.  If you would like more information, please click on the ChamberChoice tab which will give you additional information.

We have many events planned for the upcoming months, so please check back often for Chamber news.