Coronavirus Information, Rescheduled & Canceled Events & Much More!

Chamber Staff Working Remotely

The Chamber staff will be working remotely and only going to the office as needed until further notice. We can still be reached by calling (814) 643-1110. Please leave a voice message and we will return your call. You can reach us by email as well.

Business Survey Needed on the Effect of Coronavirus on PA Businesses

The Governor needs to have a Disaster Declaration for Pennsylvania in order for businesses who are being affected by the Coronavirus to have access to U.S. Small Business Administration low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In order for the state to receive this designation we need to get surveys completed from businesses to demonstrate that businesses in PA have been impacted.

Please click here for the survey. This is not a loan application, no loan applications can be accepted until Pennsylvania is awarded this Disaster Declaration.

SBA Disaster Assistance in Response to the Coronavirus

The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Upon a request received from a state's or territory's Governor, SBA will issue under its own authority, as provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act that was recently signed by the President, an Economic Injury Disaster Loan declaration.

To continue reading, please click here .

Tips for Small Businesses to Plan for and

Respond to Coronavirus

Health and government officials are working together to maintain the safety, security, and health of the American people.

Small businesses are encouraged to do their part to keep their employees, customers, and themselves healthy.

For guidance and tips for your small business to plan and respond, please click here.

The Wall Street Journal Wants to Hear from Your Business

We were contacted this morning by The Wall Street Journal. They are inquiring about the health of our business community and their plans during this pandemic. If you have anything at all you want us to share with them, please email [email protected] . We will keep your business name confidential.

Combating the Coronavirus Toolkit

Guidance for Employers - Click here to download guidance for employers to plan and respond to the Coronavirus.

Workplace Tips - For workplace tips and resources for employers to combat the virus, please click here .

Corporate Aid Tracker - Click here to view our corporate aid tracker for details on how businesses are helping nationwide.

Survey on Business Impact - To view business impact survey results from the American Chamber of Commerce in China, click here .

Resilience in a Box - If your business needs help putting a plan in place, click here to use the U.S. Chamber Foundation's toolkit created in partnership with the UPS foundation.

More Resources - For more resources, including consolidated, business-specific guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), please click here .

Click Here to See More Tools.

Employer Response to the Coronavirus Webinar

Employers across Pennsylvania are inquiring about the practical and legal considerations in responding to the Coronavirus, and labor and employment law attorneys are receiving a wide variety of questions and calls on this worrisome topic. In response, the Pennsylvania Chamber Educational Foundation is presenting a free 1 1/2 hour webinar as a public service to review the facts, legal aspects and the many employment considerations that surround the potential of employee exposure to the Coronavirus.

Webinar Highlights

We will cover two important areas of information for employers. First, Dr. Rachel Levine, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health will explain the facts about Coronavirus and how realistic it is that the United States, and Pennsylvania, could have a pandemic, as well as how the state is preparing. Then top employment law attorney Johnathan Segal, Partner of Duane Morris will present the legal perspective on what employers need to do to prepare, and if different rules apply to employment laws should a pandemic occur. We will discuss:

The facts: the symptoms of Coronavirus, how is it spread, what healthy habits employers should be advising their employee to follow, how Pennsylvania is preparing should a statewide epidemic be announced.
What employers should be doing now to prepare and to protect their employees - travel restrictions, reporting requirements, employee education, and more.
Actions employers should take if an official pandemic is announced - protocols for employees working from home, temporary workforce reductions, and more.
Employment laws that may be modified if an official pandemic is announced - employers still need to comply, but modifications and new rules may apply to the Family Medical Leave Act, ADA and other laws during a pandemic.
Best Practices - employers need to follow to prepare and to protect their workers.

The speakers will open up the last few minutes of the webinar to answer questions from participants.

Click here to continue reading about the webinar.

Click here to register for this webinar.

School to Business Speed Dating

ENGINE of Central PA STEM Ecosystem, along with the Pennsylvania Career Liaisons, invite you to join us for School to Business Speed Dating for an exciting opportunity to develop and enhance partnerships to better prepare our future workforce in Central PA!

You will hear from successful school-business models that are preparing our youth for tomorrow and have the opportunity to "speed date" with schools or business/industry in order to ignite new collaborations. We will also share how to get on the ENGINE Influencers Map to help connect you with others that align with your work and address similar grand challenges in STEM!

Please click here to see the dates and locations as well as additional information.

Postponed: 2020 Spring Jam

We have decided to to postpone the 2020 Spring Jam that was scheduled for April 5 to June 14 based on the new guidance from the CDC to postpone or cancel events with 50 or more people in attendance.

Other events are in the process of being rescheduled as well. We will email the new details once we have them.

Cancelled: Huntingdon County Planning Commission Dinner

Friends and Partners of the Huntingdon County Planning Commission:

This serves as notification that the March 26, 2020 Huntingdon County Planning Commission annual dinner meeting has been cancelled due to the coronavirus. This decision has been made based on guidance from the County Commissioners Office, for the best interests of the residents of Huntingdon County and those who were planning on attending.

Huntingdon County Humane Society After Hours Recap

On Wednesday, March 11 we had a Business After Hours at the Huntingdon County Humane Society. They proudly unveiled their new Katz Adoption Center. This new addition has come with some changes for the Humane Society. The cats and dogs are now separated. The addition also provided them with space for a meet and greet room, a staff break room, a room for cats that are recovering and three separate rooms for the cats. They have more room for administration as well. Not only did they build an addition, they have redesigned their brand. Check out their new logo below!

Partners In Excellence

Platinum

Fulton County Medical Center

Gold

Stern Insurance Agency

Silver

Community State Bank

Mutual Benefit Group

Bronze

Bumgardner & Flasher Oil, Inc.

Orbisonia Hardware, Inc.

Royal

Ace Fix-It Hardware

BottomLine Pros LLC

FirstEnergy Corporation

Helpmates, Inc.

Jeff Tate Paving, Inc.

Juniata College

Keller Engineers

Lincoln Caverns, Inc. and Whisper Rocks

McDonald's

MDB Drafting & Design

Stiffler, McGraw and Associates, Inc.

Interested in learning about becoming a Partner in Excellence?

Contact Yvonne at [email protected] or 814.643.1110

Packages range from $125 to $1,000.

Featured Benefit

Members are invited to attend Lunch & Learn events for FREE! You can either bring your own lunch and attend at no cost or we can order lunch for you for $10.

If you have a topic that you are interested in learning more about, please contact [email protected].

Click here to register.

After your free trial period expires you qualify for a special discount because you are a member of the Huntingdon County Chamber of Commerce. If you prepay for six months, you receive a 20% discount. Prepay for a year and save 25%! There's no better time to try email marketing.