Washington County Chamber of Commerce

Sign up today for Session 2 of the HR Series in our Chamber YOU program! Topic: Battling Boredom in the Workplace With Don Francis, Director of Human Resources - City of Hagerstown MAY 7, 2024 11 AM - 1:00 PM At HCC's Career Programs Building (11400 Robinwood Dr., Hagerstown, MD 21742, Rooms 211 & 213) Did you know that in multiple recent nationwide studies, we’ve found that almost 70% of our employees have rated themselves bored at work? How do we recognize “Bored-Out”? And how do we battle it and get people back on task and reengaged? $25 for members | $35 for non-members *Lunch will be provided* REGISTER HERE: https://lnkd.in/eNK2Jq2Z Thank you to our sponsor, Grey Street Digital! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Chamber YOU program brings new opportunities to learn and grow with a year-long, 4-part series of seminars to help you improve your business. Series 1: Personal and Professional Development (January, February, March) Series 2: Human Resources (April, May, June) Series 3: Finance (July, August, September) Series 4: Marketing (October, November, December) *Each quarterly series will include 3 seminars. Attend all sessions in a series and receive a certificate of completion from the Chamber, with CEU credits available from HCC.* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you Hiring for Summer? Western Maryland Consortium is gearing up for another great summer work program! This program partners with local businesses to provide local youth with employment experiences. The youths are employees of the Western MD Consortium, so we pay the full wage and cover the workers compensation. We are currently recruiting businesses for the summer. If your business would like to become a partner of the summer work program please contact Misty Cubbage, Business Service Representative for more details by emailing mcubbage@westmdcon.org.

Check out an updated list of resources for businesses impacted by the Key Bridge Collapse: https://lnkd.in/exvdJ3Jf For a comprehensive list of available resources and assistance programs for Washington County businesses and workers affected by the bridge collapse, please contact Linda Spence, Business Specialist for the Washington County Department of Business and Economic Development at LSpence@WashCo-MD.net.

As you may have heard, the federal government has created new regulations for the minimum compensation levels for exempt (salaried) employees. Effective July 1, 2024, the minimum annual salary for exempt employees moves from the current level of $35,500 to $43,888. Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum annual salary for exempt employees moves to $58,566. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) will be hosting a FREE webinar at 12 noon on Wednesday, May 1st, discussing this new regulation, among other wage and hour compliance topics. Registration information is below. As small business owners, every day you are likely to encounter the unexpected, especially when it comes to employees, and it can seem like no area of employment law is trickier than wage and hour rules. Join this webinar with special guest Brad Kelley, Shareholder at Littler, to deepen your understanding of key wage and hour laws and how to stay in compliance. Topics include: - Overtime requirements as well as other common wage and hour issues, including training and travel pay for non-exempt (hourly) employees. - Deductions from wages for employee uniforms and other expenses. Wage and hour mandatory recordkeeping. - Artificial intelligence usage and benefits for small business. They will also discuss the U.S. Department of Labor’s new independent contractor classification rule. REGISTER NOW: https://lnkd.in/g9HxwBMH

PARKER PLASTICS RECRUITMENT EVENT MAY 21, 2024 (11:00 AM - 3:00 PM) At the Hagerstown American Job Center 14 N. Potomac Street Suite 100 Hagerstown, MD 21740 Parker Plastics, Inc. is hiring for two positions: 2nd Shift Production Supervisor and Bottle Packer. Come to their recruitment event prepared to interview!

Easterseals DC MD VA HOMELESS VETERANS REINTEGRATION PROGRAM OUTREACH EVENT APRIL 30, 2024 (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM) At the Hagerstown Job Center - 14 N. Potomac St., Hagerstown, MD 21740 The HVRP helps Veterans experiencing homelessness or those at risk of homelessness build a foundation for finding and keeping long-term employment. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eSbhiebj

GRAND OPENING RECAP: Congrats to the Community Foundation of Washington County MD, Inc. on the Grand Opening of their new office location at 19368 Leitersburg Pike, Ste. 203, Hagerstown, MD 21742! The Community Foundation has served Washington County for 27 years, providing over $35 million in grants and scholarships to support nonprofits and students. The Community Foundation was established in 1997, with one fund totaling $9,000. Today, the organization holds over 425 funds totaling over $65 million to support the community. The move to their new office allows the Community Foundation to expand their growing staff and provides space to host nonprofit resource training. The move also increases accessibility for their donors and the community. Their Grand Opening event included a ribbon cutting ceremony, light refreshments, and tours of the new space. Elected officials and representatives from around Washington County were in attendance to present citations commemorating the move. 

Congratulations to Horizon Goodwill Industries - their Horizon Corner Store at the ground level of Walnut Towers in downtown Hagerstown officially celebrated their Grand Opening on April 22, 2024! The Horizon Corner Store is providing an affordable option for food, toiletries, medicine, and other convenience items in the City of Hagerstown. The downtown area is considered a food desert, so Horizon Goodwill Industries has partnered with the Hagerstown Housing Authority to address the issue by making grocery items more easily accessible. The address for the Horizon Corner Store at Walnut Towers is 8 S. Walnut Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740. Photos courtesy of the the City of Hagerstown Department of Community & Economic Development

Check out Jan Colbert of Two Men and a Truck Hagerstown on a brand new episode of the Washington County ChamberCast produced by Jay Heich of Venue Media! Small businesses are invited to be featured on the show, which is providing our community with a new way to get to know the owners and leaders of our local businesses, through a ten-minute deep-dive conversation led by Jay.   Our show is part of the Listen Hagerstown network, so you can find where to stream the episodes from here: https://lnkd.in/exm3gesg A video version of the episode is also available on YouTube at the following link: https://lnkd.in/e9SS2P5N 

Check out Jan Colbert of Two Men and a Truck Hagerstown on a brand new episode of the Washington County ChamberCast produced by Jay Heich of Venue Media! Small businesses are invited to be featured on the show, which is providing our community with a new way to get to know the owners and leaders of our local businesses, through a ten-minute deep-dive conversation led by Jay.   Our show is part of the Listen Hagerstown network, so you can find where to stream the episodes from here: https://lnkd.in/exm3gesg A video version of the episode is also available on YouTube at the following link: https://lnkd.in/e9SS2P5N