BizWord May 2010
From the Desk of Laura Crawford
Want to see the golf shot of the
century? -
At the Masters every year they have a practice
round (every tournament does). The 16th hole is a par three with water from the
Tee box all the way to green. The tradition during the practice round is for the
pros to try and skip their ball over the water onto the green. The ones who
don’t try to skip their ball over the water get booed. This is a clip of Vijay
Sing skipping his ball over the water on Hole #16 during the practice round.
Click here to watch the
video!
Now picture yourself on Hole #11 at Ruffled Feathers on May 13th,
playing in the 2010 First Swing! Golf Classic. No, it won’t be the Masters, but
it sure will be fun. How about skipping your ball over the pond at
that par three? Or you can go for ‘closest to the keg or play the chip
game. The putting contest is one of the favorite traditions – who will
beat the standing champion??
I’ve seen the Members of this Chamber working very, very hard this last year. I
suggest you take a break for half a day, join us at Ruffled Feathers. Reconnect
with your colleagues and all those other business owners and operators that
support this Village.
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What is "Make it Mine on Monday?"
Make It Mine on Monday is a special BUY CHAMBER weekly
deal extended to Chamber Members from Monday to Friday. Each week the deal is
different it may be from the Chamber, it may be an auction item or (even better)
a deal offered by YOUR business! The past two weeks the Make It Mine on Monday
program has featured a White Sox Ticket Auction and Downers Grove Chamber Golf
Shirts!
When your business participates, the program mutually
benefits you and the Chamber. Here are some specifics on the program! Please
email
Lauren if you are interested in participating
or learning more!
Click to see Today's Make It Mine on Monday.
Here's how it works
1.
Sign-up, give us a call at (630)
968-4050
2. Give us some ideas about
your proposed offer and we'll do the rest.
3. We create your offer page.
Then we launch it in BizWord on an agreed upon date (Monday).
4. Customers purchase your
offer, but their cards are not charged until the required number of customers
(set by you) have purchased. (example- 5 deals must be sold in order for
promotion to take effect).
5. Get
paid! We process all the transactions and mail you a check, minus our
commission. Customers are emailed a certificate for the "deal" they purchased.
6.
Vouchers are redeemed at your business.
Make It Mine on Monday FAQS
1. Is this
free for me as business owner?
Yes! We
make money by taking a percentage of the sales generated. So there is no risk
for you and your business.
2.What type of deal should I put together?
We find
that the more exclusive the deal, the faster it spreads. So we suggest at least
a 50% discount.
3. How do
buyers redeem the offer they purchase?
Buyers will receive an email certificate from us
that can be redeemed at your location.
3. When do
I get paid?
We take a percentage of the gross sales from the
day we run the offer and send you the rest.
4. I'm concerned about discounting my product or
service.
Look at it as an acquisition cost. A 'deal'
helps you acquire new customers, win back old customers, and sometimes reward
existing customers. The discount provided will help spread the word about your
business as well as get people to BUY CHAMBER!
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Now that health care reform legislation with a
true price tag of nearly $2 trillion is the law of the land, many small business
owners are asking how they will be impacted. The answer is to expect higher
costs and more mandates.
 Mandates.
The new law forces small businesses to provide health insurance whether or not
they can afford it. Beginning in 2014, employers with more than 50 employees
will be required to offer coverage or pay a $2,000 fine per employee if just one
employee receives a subsidy to purchase insurance through newly created state
health insurance exchanges. A firm’s first 30 employees will be subtracted from
this penalty payment calculation.
Even businesses with more than 50 employees
that do offer health benefits will face a $3,000 fine for each full-time
employee who opts out and receives a subsidy to purchase coverage through an
exchange. Part-time employees are taken into account as full-time equivalents,
defined as working 30 hours per week. The total employer penalty is capped at
the maximum penalty amount it would face if it did not offer any coverage at
all. An employer plan must cover a specific set of services to be determined by
the government and meet actuarial standards laid out in the law.
It is estimated that nearly 220,000 small
businesses employing more than 26 million workers could be subject to the
employer mandate. As premiums rise, some businesses will decide that it makes
sense to drop coverage and pay the fine. The Joint Committee on Taxation
estimates that employers will pay $52 billion over 10 years in penalties for
noncompliance. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that 3 million
fewer Americans will be covered through employer plans in 2019.
 Exchanges
and Tax Credits. By 2014, states are required to offer insurance
exchanges where small businesses and individuals can purchase coverage. Through
2016, the exchanges are restricted to small businesses with no more than 100
employees, but states will have the option of limiting pools to companies with
50 or fewer employees. State benefit mandates will apply to plans sold through
the exchange.
From 2010 to 2013, small businesses with fewer
than 25 employees who on average earn less than $50,000 per year will be
eligible for tax credits paying up to 35% of their insurance costs. This credit,
however, will do little to blunt new costs for businesses that previously did
not provide coverage. For example, a company that pays $40,000 a year to insure
its employees will still be faced with $26,000 in unsubsidized costs. The tax
credit grows to 50% of insurance costs in 2014, but it disappears completely two
years later.
 Taxes
and Fees. The bill imposes $569 billion in new and higher taxes on
businesses and individuals. New taxes on pharmaceutical companies (beginning in
2011), medical devices (beginning in 2013), and the health insurance sector
(beginning in 2014) will be passed on to every American in the form of higher
prices and premiums. Beginning in 2018, a 40% excise tax will be imposed on
employer-sponsored health premiums that exceed $10,200 for single coverage and
$27,500 for family coverage.
Upper income earners are targeted for
additional tax hikes. Beginning in 2013, the Medicare payroll tax will increase
0.9% for individuals earning more than $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples
filing jointly). That equals an extra $2,250 per year in taxes for a family
earning $500,000. Further, income thresholds are not indexed annually, meaning
that every year more taxpayers will be subject to the payroll tax increase.
Those same households will face a 3.8% Medicare
tax applied to net investment income, which captures income from interest,
dividends, capital gains, and some profits from investments in partnerships and
S-corporations.
In addition, the law curtails several positive
features of the health care system designed to promote individual initiative and
private sector efficiency. For example, caps on tax-free Flexible Spending
Accounts (FSAs), which are used to reimburse some medical bills not covered by
insurance, have been cut in half to $2,500, and over-the-counter medications
will no longer be considered a qualified medical expense.
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2010 First Swing! Annual Golf
Classic a Swinging Success
The Downers Grove
Area Chamber of Commerce & Industry is pleased to announce that the 2010 First
Swing! Annual Golf Classic was a swinging success. What began as a rainy morning
turned into a warm and sunny day for golf on Thursday, May 13th! 125
golfers set out on the course to support the Chamber in its first golf outing of
the year. For the first time in several years, the outing was held at Ruffled
Feathers Golf Club in Lemont. The golf club provided outstanding tournament
planning that added to the ease and achievement of the day.
Members enjoyed a
great day of golfing, networking and making valuable connections. The
dedication of the Members to return year after year truly makes for a memorable
experience. Adding to the value of the event was the kindness and commitment of
the volunteers, sponsors and donors; without whom the Chamber would be unable to
offer such impressive programs to its Membership.
“Thursday was a
great day made fantastic by the phenomenal members of the Downers Grove Chamber
and lots of sunshine. Everyone had a wonderful time; it was great to kick off
the season on a beautiful course with such great people,” said Chamber President
& CEO, Laura Crawford.
Winning members
included First Place Foursome of Valerie Bruggeman, John Bruggeman, Mike
Phillips and Jim Gates. Close behind in Second Place was Harry Spataro, John
Bensen, Dave Currier and Billy Longmire. Other noteworthy players were major
contest winners Juan Salada for the Putting Contest, Nick Provenzano for Men’s
Closest to the Pin, Shari Gillespie for Women’s Closest to the Pin, Tony
Conforti for Men’s Longest Drive, and Kammie Grythdahl for Women’s Longest
Drive.
SAVE THE DATE- September 15th
2010 Last Swing! Board of Directors Invitational Golf Outing
Photos taken by
Chris John Photograhpy
 
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Members in the
News!
Congratulations to the following Members:
Dream Interiors celebrates 14 years! They
welcome you to special treats and sales on June 3rd from 4:00 to 8:00pm.
Diveheart will be featured in the upcoming
Rotarian magazine which goes out to almost 3 million Rotarians around the world!
Diveheart will also have a booth at the International Rotary Conference in
Montreal in June.
Tom Kallay
of Nicor is being honored by the Naperville Jaycees with the Distinguished
Service Award recognizing his Civic Leadership.
Flint
Architects is being honored at breakfast meeting for an Intern Partnership with
Fenton High School.
Robert
Bair Services received the Best Pick Report for the Southwest Suburbs in the
categories of Plumbers and Heating & Air Conditioning.
Greg
Procopio of Farmer's Insurance received the Agent of the Year Award. He was
ranked #1
overall across 15 major categories that measure performance
the industry.
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Thank You Members!
The Downers Grove Area Chamber of Commerce &
Industry would like to Thank the following members for their generosity and
support:
Thank you to all the sponsors, donors, volunteers
and participants of the 2010 First Swing! Annual Golf Classic!
Thank you to
Events by Tommy R's for donating the
breakfast at Business BEFORE Hours.
Thank you to
Downers Grove National Bank for donating Cubs tickets to Make it Mine on
Monday.
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