PS Bank Hosts Chamber Business Card Exchange The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce held its Business Card Exchange at PS Bank’s South Abington Twp. location. Business members joined to network and enjoyed food from local restaurants and bakeries. Tony Gabello, president and CEO of PS Bank, and Bob Durkin, president and CEO of The Chamber, announced the Disaster Relief Fund for those affected by the flooding from the past weekend. The Scranton Area Community Foundation established the fund. Check out more photos in The Chamber’s photo album. No Caption No Caption No Caption No Caption
2023 Small Business Advantage Grant The 2023 Small Business Advantage Grant is now accepting applications for at least $1 million in available funds. This grant program is offered through the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The purpose of this grant is to provide small businesses in Pennsylvania with grant funds for projects that increase energy efficiency, reduce pollution, or protect our waterways. Many different types of small businesses, from manufacturing to retail to agriculture, may be eligible for funding under this program. Funding is awarded first-come, first served so interested applicants should act fast! You are receiving this email because your agency, office or team may have clients, customers, or other constituencies that may be interested in applying for this funding. All program documents, including Program Guidelines and a Grant Calculator, are available on the Small Business Advantage Grant Website. There is also a link on the website to the online application system used to apply for the grant. Additionally, there are tutorial videos available for everything from an overview of the program to using the Grant Calculator for specific project types. Maximum grant awards will vary based on the attributes of a project as shown in the chart below. Projects will be eligible for more funding if they are located in Environmental Justice areas or reduce CO2e by at least 20 tons (as calculated by the Grant Calculator). 2024-2024 Funding LevelsProject AttributesWhichever is less, up to:All Eligible Projects50%or$5,000Eligible and located in Environmental Justice Area65%or$6,500Eligible and significant environmental savings65%or$6,500Eligible, located in Environmental Justice Area, and significant environmental savings80%or$8,000 Please share this information with your clients, customers, or other audiences. If you or they have any questions, feel free to contact me or my staff with any questions (Forest Edwards, foedwards@pa.gov 717-783-9640 or Caroline Zepp, czepp@pa.gov 717-772-5160). You can also send an email to RA-epAdvantageGrant@pa.gov.
Beware! Scam to Chamber Members. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce was made aware of a person and/or company communicating with our members an offer for you to “purchase” our membership or event attendee list. Emails or communications like these are NOT from The Chamber. If you receive an email from a third-party company about buying contact information of our membership or event attendees, and the communication states “from The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce”—disregard the email or communication. The Chamber does NOT sell our membership lists or use any third-party companies to sell anything on our behalf. If you are interested in communicating directly with fellow members, it is safe and free for you to do so through the member portal. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Mari Potis (mpotis@scrantonchamber.com).
Applications Open for the 2023–24 TechCelerator Program A technology business idea in Lackawanna County could lead to $10,000 to jump-start an entrepreneur’s dream. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is announcing the second program year of TechCelerator @Lackawanna County: a collaborative effort of Lackawanna County, the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern PA, The Chamber and its affiliate IGNITE, and tecBRIDGE. “Lackawanna County is thrilled to help facilitate the funding for entrepreneurs to see their dreams get started right in our county. Individuals who are even considering starting a tech-base business should apply to the TechCelerator @Lackwanna County program. Our goal is to see our community’s base diversify and new businesses be successful from start to finish in their entrepreneurial journey,” shared Jerry Notarianni, Chairman of the County Commissioners. TechCelerator @LackawannaCounty returns this fall. The program is a ten-week, in-person experience where participants have access to mentors, educational opportunities, and access to subject matter experts on topics like business formation strategies, customer discovery, marketing, financial planning, and risk management. The result of the ten weeks is to build, share, and pitch for their early-stage start-ups. The program is presented in collaboration with the University of Scranton’s Small Business Development Center, Carbondale Technology Transfer Center, Penn State Scranton’s Launchbox, and the Venture Lab at Lackawanna College. “Supporting entrepreneurship is at the core of the Chamber’s mission—to Attract, Sustain, and, in this case, Grow in our region. This is a natural extension of our ongoing efforts to assist business start-ups through the IGNITE program, where our regional network of partners is working together to provide the platform for entrepreneurial success,” says Bob Durkin, president of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. TechCelerator @LackawannaCounty is a competitive application process. All Lackawanna County residents with tech and for-profit business ideas or early start-ups are encouraged to submit applications, but not all will be selected to participate. To apply, visit the Chamber’s entrepreneurship and incubator affiliate, IGNITE, website, www.IGNITE.ScrantonChamber.com/TechCelerator. Applications will remain open until Thursday, September 14, 2023. About The Greater Scranton Chamber of CommerceThe Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the area’s economic environment and quality of life by offering programs and services which stimulate economic growth, promote business prosperity and nurture educational opportunities. For more information about The Chamber, visit www.scrantonchamber.com.
The Chamber Hosts its Annual Summer Festival The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce and the economic development marketing affiliate, The Scranton Plan, is hosting its annual Summer Festival at The Country Club of Scranton, Clarks Summit, on Monday, August 21. Summer Festival, sponsored by Lackawanna County, Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, UGI, Sordoni Construction, FNCB Bank, Quandel Construction, Colwell-Naegele Associates, Penntex Construction, Peoples Security Bank, Stevens & Lee, Barry Callebaut, and Greenman-Pedersan, Inc. welcomed more than 80 attendees including real estate brokers, consultants, and site selection specialists from neighboring states to a round of golf at The Country Club of Scranton, followed by dinner and networking. “Summer Festival is a signature event for The Scranton Plan and continues to be an impactful economic development marketing tool said AJ Cimahosky, economic development specialist. “The event provides an opportunity to showcase the many business opportunities available in northeastern Pennsylvania.” The festival aims to introduce corporate executives and real estate professionals from neighboring states to the quality of life and business opportunities available in the greater Scranton region. About The Greater Scranton Chamber of CommerceThe Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the area’s economic environment and quality of life by offering programs and services which stimulate economic growth, promote business prosperity and nurture educational opportunities. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.scrantonchamber.com. About The Scranton PlanThe Scranton Plan, the economic development marketing affiliate of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, has helped more than 350 companies relocate to northeastern Pennsylvania and assisted in creating more than 42,000 jobs since its inception in 1945. The Scranton Plan, in conjunction with The Chamber affiliates Lackawanna Industrial Fund Enterprise (LIFE) and Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company (SLIBCO), has developed 15 industrial office and technology parks and cultivated more than $650 million in real estate investments. For more information, visit www.scrantonplan.com
Leadership Lackawanna Invites Regional Nonprofit Organizations to Submit Project LOIs The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce community leadership and professional development affiliate, Leadership Lackawanna, invites greater Scranton regional nonprofit organizations to submit a Service Project Letter of Intent (LOI) as the first step in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process for the 2023-24 Core class community service project. The Leadership Lackawanna organization will select multiple projects for the incoming class to work on throughout the program year (October 2023—June 2024). For nonprofit organizations and community groups, this invitation to submit an LOI presents an opportunity to use the services of a talented team of professionals. The group can help you with a project you have had in mind but lack the human resources to accomplish. At the same time, you can expose a group of established and emerging leaders to your organization’s mission and goals. This is a mutually beneficial experience for your agency and these emerging professionals. Projects must have a reasonable scope and budget and cannot include capital campaigns, rebranding/branding/marketing campaigns, or raising large sums of money. For more information on submitting a LOI to Leadership Lackawanna, visit www.leadershiplackawanna.com. Questions may be directed to Leadership Lackawanna Executive Director Nicole Morristell at (570) 342–7711 or nmorristell@scrantonchamber.com. The deadline to submit a LOI is August 18, 2023. About The Greater Scranton Chamber of CommerceThe Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the area’s economic environment and quality of life by offering programs and services which stimulate economic growth, promote business prosperity and nurture educational opportunities. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.scrantonchamber.com. About Leadership LackawannaLeadership Lackawanna, an affiliate of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, is a 501(c)(3) charitable, nonprofit organization in northeastern Pennsylvania dedicated to community leadership and professional development. Leadership’s six programs: Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, Leadership Collegiate, Core, Leadership Fundamentals 2.0, Executive, and Welcome Scranton!—enhance the skills, connections, and knowledge of emerging and established leaders, enabling them better to serve our communities, workplaces, and organizations. Established in 1982, Leadership Lackawanna has created more than 2,500 community leaders. For more information, visit www.leadershiplackawanna.com.
Chamber Email Delivery Issues The cyber world has forced businesses to employ extreme efforts to guard electronic communications and operations with multiple layers of firewalls and filters. Unfortunately, this may have unintended consequences. In the case of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, it appears that many emails to our members are being blocked by Spam or Junk filters. This situation is more than a bit disturbing, as we want you to receive the communications and information that maximize the value of your Chamber membership. This includes your membership renewal. Membership invoices are sent via email, and we are finding that in some cases those electronic filters prevented delivery. If you or your organization did not receive your membership renewal via email, please reach out to Tina Bechaver at tbechaver@scrantonchamber.com, or (570) 342-7711, extension 132, and she can help rectify this situation. Thank you for your continued support of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.
The Chamber Launches New Workforce Development Resource Skills in Scranton, the workforce development affiliate of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, has launched a new video series promoting career awareness and highlighting high-priority occupations in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Chamber and its affiliate, Skills in Scranton, are focused on implementing resources to the greater Scranton region as it promotes high-priority jobs. The mission of The Chamber is to attract, sustain, and grow businesses—the new set of career awareness videos will assist in attracting and sustaining employment in the community. The eight videos in the series are told from employees’ perspectives in diverse industries such as logistics, transportation, healthcare, and elementary education. Viewers will gain valuable insight into the qualifications, training pathways, and employment opportunities for the high-priority careers. “Career awareness is crucial for empowering individuals to make informed decisions about their professional journey. By shedding light on the occupations available in our area, The Chamber and Skills in Scranton hope to address the skills gap and support a robust talent pipeline in northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Emily Pettinato, workforce development specialist at The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. The career awareness video series is made available at SkillsinScranton.com. The videos are supplemented with additional resources, such as a career guide about key tasks and skills, local educational programs, training opportunities, and local employers. Watch the Videos About The Greater Scranton Chamber of CommerceThe Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the area’s economic environment and quality of life by offering programs and services which stimulate economic growth, promote business prosperity and nurture educational opportunities. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.scrantonchamber.com. About Skills in ScrantonSkills in Scranton, an affiliate of The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, focuses on workforce development in the greater Scranton region. For more than 25 years, Skills in Scranton has worked with local employers, school districts, higher education institutions, and Pennsylvania data experts to implement strategies that help ensure our regional workforce is aligned with high-priority jobs of the future. For more information, visit www.SkillsinScranton.com
The Chamber Welcomes Summer Interns Scranton, PA— The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome four summer interns to the team. Owen DiAngelo, a senior business administration major at The University of Scranton, is the economic development intern for The Chamber’s affiliate, Scranton-Lackawanna Industrial Building Company (SLIBCO). His duties include contributing to the economic development plan by supporting the director of facilities and asset management and the economic development team in updating their database of properties and associated databases. Noah Leety, a senior industrial labor and relations student at Cornell University, is one communications intern at The Chamber. His duties include creating the weekly member news eBlast, writing press releases, and assisting with The Chamber’s social media presence. Molly Morgan, a recent graduate in corporate communication with a minor in business administration from Penn State University, is the second communication intern at The Chamber. Her duties include creating the weekly Chamber news eBlast, writing press releases, and generating content for Momentum, The Chamber’s monthly magazine. Kiera Priest, a junior business student at Lackawanna College, is the entrepreneurial development intern for The Chamber’s affiliate, IGNITE. Her duties include engaging with IGNITE program clients, researching, assisting the IGNITE program manager with curating content, and promoting clients, the program, and the community. The Chamber participates in The University of Scranton Small Business Development Center’s Small Business Internship Initiative and is now accepting applications for the Fall. Interested students can view the job description at https://www.scrantonchamber.com/small-business-internship/ or email Stephanie Juarez-Ventura, communications manager at sjventura@scrantonchamber.com. About The Greater Scranton Chamber of CommerceThe Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the area’s economic environment and quality of life by offering programs and services which stimulate economic growth, promote business prosperity and nurture educational opportunities. For more information about the Chamber, visit www.scrantonchamber.com. About The Small Business Internship InitiativeThe Small Business Internship Initiative is a collaborative program created to help small businesses learn about, attract, and host high-value internships and connect area small businesses and college students. Internship opportunities are shared with Career Development partners at Clarks Summit University, Johnson College, Keystone College, Lackawanna College, Luzerne County Community College, Mansfield University, Marywood University, Misericordia University, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Penn State Scranton, The University of Scranton, and Wilkes University. The initiative is a collaborative program created to help small businesses learn about, attract, and host high-value internships and connect area small businesses and college students.
Beware! Scam Involving Employee Retention Credit The law office of Ufberg & Associates recently sent out communication regarding a scam surrounding the employee retention credit. Below is the text from Ufberg & Associates. Employee Retention Credit The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was designed to provide a refundable tax credit for businesses that continued paying employees while shut down during the COVID-19 Pandemic, or for businesses that had a significant decline in gross receipts during the eligibility periods. However, with this resource came the opportunity for misuse and abuse. Schemes and Scams The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has learned that third party promoters have developed schemes to entice businesses to apply for the ERC, who may otherwise not be eligible for the ERC. Third party promoters are continuing to engage in marketing campaigns designed to have businesses enlish their services to apply for ERC and then charging businesses 10%, 20%, 30% for more of the amount of the ERC for their services. The IRS reacted to these developments by adding the ERC to its “Dirty Dozen” list in March of 2023. The IRS’s “Dirty Dozen” list is an annual list generated by the IRS listing potential scams and schemes that put taxpayers and the tax professional community at risk. The list is aimed at helping raise awareness to protect honest taxpayers from potential bad actors. The IRS Commissioner made the following statement on this issue: “The aggressive marketing of these credits is deeply troubling and a major concern of the IRS. Businesses need to think twice before filing a claim for these credits. While the credit has provided a financial lifeline to millions of businesses, there are promoters misleading people and businesses into thinking they can claim these credits. There are very specific guidelines around these pandemic-era credits; they are not available to just anyone. People should remember the IRS is actively auditing and conducting criminal investigations related to these false claims. We urge honest taxpayers not to be caught up in these schemes.” Warning Signs The aggressive marketing from these promoters can come in a variety of forms, such as radio, television, and online advertisements. Additionally, promoters have been sending out fake letters from non-existent groups, such as the “Department of Employee Retention Credit” urging businesses to take immediate action in applying for ERC. The IRS has provided some warning signs of an aggressive ERC marketing that businesses should be wary of. These included: Unsolicited calls or advertisements mentioning an “easy application process.”Statements that the promoter or company can determine ERC eligibility within minutes.Large upfront fees to claim the credit.Fees based on a percentage of the refund amount of the ERC claimed.Aggressive claims from the promoter that a business qualifies for the ERC before any discussion of the group’s tax situation. In reality, the ERC is a complex credit that requires careful review before applying.The IRS also sees aggressive suggestions from marketers urging businesses to submit the claim because there is nothing to lose. In reality, the IRS would expect those improperly receiving the credit to repay the credit — along with the potential assessment of substantial interest and penalties. How to Protect Yourself Work with a Trusted Tax Professional — Employers who believe they may be eligible for the ERC should contact a trusted tax professional and not rely on the advice of any individual or company soliciting these credits.IRS urges employers not to apply for ERC if the employer does not have a reasonable belief that the employer is legitimately qualified for this credit. Lastly, if you wish to seek further information about the ERC, you can find additional information from the IRS by following the link: Employee Retention Credit Resource. Disclaimer: This communication from the law office of Ufberg & Associates provides a general overview of new legal developments. It is not intended to provide legal advice. If you have questions or would like more information about how these developments may affect your businesses, please contact Ufberg & Associates at (570) 341-8800.
