A Note from our President, Lynn Ward |
Dear Chamber Member,
On Tuesday, April 25 at the Country Club of Waterbury, we'll be hosting our 133rd Annual Meeting and Economic Forecast. The luncheon will feature a look back at the last year, the presentation of our Annual Report, the election of new and returning Board of Directors, and acknowledge companies for their membership milestones. Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Steven P. Lanza, an Associate Professor in Residence at the UConn Department of Economics. There's still time to register; click here.
Is your company hiring? The Chamber is hosting a job fair on Wednesday, May 3 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott Waterbury Downtown. Space is limited and spots always fill up. Get in front of hundreds of area job seekers and receive promotion for your company on the radio, on social media, and in newspaper and digital ads. For more information, click here.
Save the date for Tuesday, May 2. I'll be participating in the Mattatuck Museum's Inaugural Brass City Bake Off, putting my famous cheesecake up against culinary creations from other local business leaders. During the event, you'll get the opportunity to sample each baked item and vote for your favorite. This will be a fun evening and proceeds go towards supporting the museum's educational and family programs, as well as exhibitions. For more information click here.
A warm welcome to all our new Chamber members and a special thank you to Membership Director Laura Brown and to all the volunteers and businesses who helped to make our March campaign a success! As you will see later on in this email, we have many new members!
As we look towards the summer months, consider participating in the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board's Summer Youth Program, which allows youth in the area to gain valuable work experience for six weeks, all while getting paid. For more information, visit: https://www.nrwib.org
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You can reach me, as always, at (203) 757-0701 or lward@waterburychamber.com. Keep scrolling for this month’s updates and events to take full advantage of what our Chamber has to offer.
Thank you, more than ever, for your continued membership,
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In This Issue:
- President's Note
- Upcoming Events
- Benefit Spotlight
- A Message from Newsletter Sponsor: Post University
- HR Corner
- HR Council
- Welcome New Members
- Spring HealthMatters
- Watertown Oakville Chamber
- Southbury Chamber News
- Hiring and Training Programs Available
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Join Us! - Upcoming Chamber Events |
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133rd Annual Meeting & Economic Forecast
Tuesday, April 25
12 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Country Club of Waterbury
1 Oronoke Road, Waterbury
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Regional Job Fair
Wednesday, May 3
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Courtyard by Marriott Waterbury Downtown
63 Grand Street, Waterbury
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Wake Up Your Business
Friday, May 12
8 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Raymour & Flanigan
410 Reidville Drive, Waterbury
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18th Annual Naugatuck Chamber Duck Day
Sunday, June 4
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Downtown Naugatuck
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Travel to Greece Fall 2023
October 27 to November 4
Optional Satorini Island Extension: Nov. 4-6
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Chamber Member Benefit Highlight |
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As a member of the Waterbury Regional Chamber and our affiliate Chambers, you benefit from a wide array of connections, resources, programs, events, marketing opportunities, and other perks. Stay tuned over the next several months to this corner for how you can get the most out of our Chamber membership.
Save 35% on Your Monthly Parking Bill with the Waterbury Regional Chamber Affiliate Parking Program
Are you a business in downtown Waterbury that needs monthly parking for yourself or your employees? Park at the Buckingham Garage and save over 35% on your monthly parking bill! The garage has 1,400 parking spaces and three convenient entrances, including on Bank Street, Cottage Place, and Field Street, which is just seconds off I-84 West (Exit 21/Meadow Street.)
The details:
- Available to Chamber members only
- Save 35% on your monthly parking bill
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Regular monthly rate:
$75; Chamber member only rate: $47.50 per month per card
- Let the Waterbury Regional Chamber do the administrative work for you
- $10 deposit per card
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To sign up, contact Finance and Member Relations Director Mandy Allen-Fischer at 203-757-0701 or by email.
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Message From Newsletter Sponsor: Post University |
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University Announces Recipients of Four-Year, Full-Tuition Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship |
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Post University is pleased to announce Alexa Philippi and Meredith Mischke as this year’s recipients of the four-year, full-tuition scholarship to study at The University’s Malcolm Baldrige School of Business.
Each year, Post awards outstanding high school students who wish to pursue a degree in business from The Malcolm Baldrige School of Business with a scholarship to cover tuition-related expenses, valued at $113,000.
A senior at Watertown High School in Watertown, Conn., Philippi demonstrated academic excellence and maintained strong extracurriculars, serving as the Watertown Varsity Cheerleading captain. With the scholarship, Philippi plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Post.
Mischke, a senior at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, Conn., was enrolled in Post’s High School Academy, a program provided to eligible high school students of participating high schools to take undergraduate courses and earn valuable college credits. Mischke has already earned three college credits at Post and plans to pursue a degree in accounting.
“I consider The Malcolm Baldrige Scholarship as the most prestigious scholarship awarded at the University. Only two incoming freshman business majors each year are selected to receive this scholarship,” said Dr. Jeremi Bauer, Dean of The Malcolm Baldrige School of Business. “Alexa and Meredith are joining an elite group of scholars who came before them, and I am looking forward to all they are going to accomplish.”
To qualify for the scholarship, students must enroll as a full-time residential student, have a high school GPA of at least 3.65 and meet other requirements including two letters of recommendation from teachers and a 500-word essay to be eligible for this scholarship. Students are selected by the Admissions Committee and Business Faculty Readers based on academic excellence and commitment to quality.
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HR Corner: ChatGPT and Other AI Services in the Workplace, Employers Should Be on Alert |
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ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that launched in November 2022. Since then, ChatGPT and other AI tools have exploded in popularity.
Why is ChatGPT so popular? In short, it is free and accessible on the Internet. It interacts using natural language and, therefore, is extremely easy to use. It can process an enormous amount of text data and instantly produce written responses in a human-like manner. For example, by providing ChatGPT some basic information, the AI tool can solve coding problems, write essays, speeches or articles (this article was written by a human!), write a cover letter or CV, and summarize an article. Employees could, among other things, use ChatGPT to write job postings, job descriptions, interview questions, offer letters, employment policies, e-mails and conduct research.
It is important for employers to understand that ChatGPT is not perfect and has some significant limitations. For example, ChatGPT can produce plausible sounding but completely incorrect answers. In addition, the current version of ChatGPT only uses data through September 2021 and, therefore, is not capturing more recent, and perhaps more reliable, information. Also, ChatGPT cannot determine the reliability of, or make any qualitative assessment about, the information it accesses. Therefore, ChatGPT’s results could be biased, offensive or discriminatory. Other limitations include, the AI’s lack of common sense and emotional intelligence, the user’s inability to determine the source(s) used by ChatGPT, and the AI can produce inconsistent responses based on how a question is framed.
Employers should consider whether ChatGPT and/or other AI tools can be used by employees in performing their job duties. In doing so, employers must take into consideration the capabilities and limitations of the AI tool. Employers who allow employees to use AI should develop a policy that addresses potential legal issues. Some key policy pointers include:
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Permitted and Prohibited Uses: the policy should identify the prohibited and permitted uses of AI.
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Quality Control: as noted above, ChatGPT can produce inaccurate answers. Therefore, employees must be instructed to carefully proofread and edit all AI-generated product. Employees should understand that AI can be a good starting place, but it cannot be a substitute for the employee doing their own work and fact-checking.
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Bias and Discrimination: users should carefully review ChatGPT’s results to guard against any bias or discrimination.
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Intellectual Property: there may be questions about who owns the intellectual property rights to the work produced using ChatGPT.
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Privacy Issues: employees should not disclose confidential or proprietary information to the AI tool as the employer will not have any control over how that information may subsequently be used.
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Transparency: the circumstances in which AI is used should be transparent and disclosed to the employer.
The use of AI is here and growing quickly. Employers are well-advised to remain vigilant on the benefits and risks of using AI in the workplace.
This information is for educational purposes only to provide general information and a general understanding of the law. It does not constitute legal advice and does not establish any attorney-client relationship.
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The Human Resource Council of the Greater Waterbury Regional Chamber is a free membership benefit and offers an opportunity for business owners and human resource specialists to discuss employment related topics and concerns, and to learn about recent legislative changes, and requirements. It also provides a forum to address human-relations issues, best practices, and problem resolution.
The Human Resource Council consists of human resource professionals in chamber member businesses. The next meeting, on Zoom, will take place in May; details will be announced shortly. To be added to the HR Council email list, contact HR Council Liaison Mandy Allen-Fischer via email or at 203-757-0701 Ext. 306.
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A warm welcome to our newest members!* We encourage you to connect with them soon and see where your next partnership can be! |
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*Joined 3/15/23 to 4/19/23 |
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- Thursday, April 27 @ 3 p.m. - State Education Resource Center (SERC) - 175 Union Street, Waterbury
- Wednesday, May 3 @ 9 a.m. - Skyline Financial Federal Credit Union - 3528 East Main Street, Waterbury
- Thursday, May 4 @ 2 p.m. - Apex Exteriors, LLC - 207 Bank Street, Waterbury
- Monday, May 15 @ 2:30 p.m. - The Cottage on Main, 540 Main Street South, Southbury
Come help your fellow Chamber Member celebrate their opening, renovation completion, or milestone!
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Healthcare Council: Spring HealthMatters |
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Due to an editing error, a story, "Waterbury Community Care Team Leverages Community Collaboration to Help Those in Need," that was submitted by the Greater Waterbury Health Partnership was not included in the publication. You can read it here.
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Interested in learning more about everything that's happening in Naugatuck? Check out this month's Naugatuck Chamber Connection by clicking here. |
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Watertown Oakville Chamber News |
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Join us on Friday, May 5 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. for our free Wake Up Your Business event at The Local 63. Get a chance to chat with other members, learn more about chamber membership, make new connections, and bring visibility to your business. To register, visit: https://bit.ly/3MSGSmB
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Hiring & Training Programs Available |
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The Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board Announces Federal Job Training Dollars for Manufacturers in the Waterbury/Danbury/Torrington Region for On-the-Job-Training
In addition to Incumbent Worker Training (IWT), the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board (NRWIB) is offering funds to manufacturers in the 41 towns of the NW Connecticut workforce region (Waterbury/Torrington /Danbury) to provide on-the-job training (OJT) to job applicants referred to employers by the NRWIB.
(“Reverse referrals” from employers to the NRWIB prior to hiring,
are also welcomed. Send us your applicants.)
What’s the difference between IWT and OJT? They both involve training, but IWT is for workers you already employ who need advanced training. OJT is for job applicants that we send to you to be interviewed, hired and mentored. We welcome reverse referrals of job applicants.
Benefits of OJT to Employers:
• Receive a 50% wage reimbursement to offset on-the-job training costs for eligible new hires referred by the NRWIB to the employer
• Gain access to a pipeline of job-ready candidates
• the NRWIB will screen prospective job candidates for program eligibility
• Employer makes all hiring decisions
To Get Started:
The Connecticut Workforce High-tech Industries Skills Partnership H1-b Grant (CTWHISP) is funded by the U. S. Dept. of Labor Employment and Training Administration. Program ends November, 2024.
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