Attention Members! Find Chamber news online!
Fox Cities Business UPDATE is a printed resource from the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry, produced every month to bring news and event information to the membership.
FCB UPDATE will soon be coming to you electronically in the form of an e-newsletter. For members who currently do not have an email address listed with the Chamber office, you must provide us with an email address to continue to receive UPDATE and vital information about Chamber events.
To continue to receive UPDATE in its new format, complete the Opt In form. Return the form by mail to the address or fax number listed below. If you need room for additional email addresses, please feel free to copy the form.
Making the most of your membership investment can be as simple as attending monthly Business Connections or Morning Business Advice presentations. Of even greater benefit are the affinity programs the Chamber make available only to its members. Designed to meet member needs at cost efficient pricing, these programs enable members to provide affordable health care, telecommunications services and employee assistance options for their employees.
The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce recently entered into a unique partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called Federation Partnership. Federation Partnership allows firms to access benefits provided through the U.S. Chamber as long as membership is maintained in the Fox Cities Chamber. Members can take advantage of new benefits available through the U.S. Chamber from solutions to help run their businesses more efficiently to grassroots tools and information. To start taking advantage of the new U.S. Chamber membership, contact the Fox Cities Chamber office at (920) 734-7101 to obtain your member number. Once you have your member number, create an online account by clicking on the banner above or at www.uschamber.com/service/fed_membersonly and follow the necessary instructions.
Chamber Announces Collaborative Health Care Initiative
The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently announced that it is launching a new effort to help mid-sized employers — those with 50 to 500 employees — control their health insurance costs. The effort is being called the Fox Cities Chamber Health Care Collaborative.
"Employers consistently tell us that managing ever increasing health insurance costs is the single biggest challenge they confront," said Chamber President/CEO Bill Welch. "We believe that by working together it will be possible to reduce insurance premiums by adopting a health cost management model that will restrain costs going forward."
The strategy the Chamber plans to employ involves aggregating a number of area employers, all of whom are willing to make a commitment to adopting health plans with a strong wellness component. The design of plans to be offered will feature a high deductible health plan tied to a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). Participating companies will agree to mandatory health risk assessments, as well as an emphasis on prevention and efforts to promote wellness within their organizations.
"All of the studies we've examined suggest the model we're pursuing holds the greatest promise in helping us promote the best health outcomes, while at the same time making it possible to restrain health care costs—now and in the future. Helping our members devise effective health care solutions through the collaborative is a very important service we can offer area firms," Welch concluded.
The Fox Cities Chamber is the second largest local business association in Wisconsin with more than 1700 business members. The Chamber has offered a very successful insurance product to more than 550 area firms through its provider partner, Network Health Plan. It sees the Chamber Health Care Collaborative as a logical next step in efforts to help its members.
Health Plan
For more than 10 years the Chamber has added value to membership in the organization by aggregating small companies in a pool for the purposes of providing cost effective quality health care. Today, the ChamberPlus Health Plan has more than 700 firms enrolled and taking advantage of lower than average priced health care coverage, and an Employee Assistance Program.
Since this arrangement was put in place, plan participants have experienced lower increases in the price they pay for health care benefits — lower than the average for similar sized groups.
The plan is provided in cooperation with the Chamber's provider partner, Network Health Plan. Contact the Fox Cities Chamber for more information and how to take advantage of this program.
Communications Plan
The Chamber works with TDS Metrocom as its preferred local telecommunications and data provider. This agreement enables members to sign up for these services and products at highly competitive prices. TDS offers local telephone service and telecommunications and solutions tailored to individual company needs, and offers an array of products including long distance, high-speed Internet, and an expanded local calling plan.
Wireless
The Chamber also offers its members a comprehensive package of wireless telecommunications services through an agreement with Cellcom to be the preferred provider of these services.
Office Depot Discount
The Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce and Office Depot Business Services have aligned to offer a national program to Fox Cities Chamber members. The program offers members the buying power for online, phone, fax and in-store Office Depot purchases as if your business bought in volumes as large as all national chamber members combined. In addition to office supply discounts, participating Chamber members are entitled to discounts on in-store copy and print services and Tech Depot technology purchases.
Chamber members who currently use Office Depot's Business Service Division will automatically be enrolled in this program. Chamber members currently using Office Depot's retail stores, Advantage Club Card holders, and Retail Business Card holders must sign up to receive the benefits of this new program.
Participants may take advantage of special discounts on a list of nearly 320 items from Office Depot, a discount off Office Depot Commercial Catalog prices, and, for larger companies, the flexibility to customize catalogs and pricing based on their purchasing patterns. The program includes discounts for Chamber members at all stores with Store Purchasing Card or Procurement cards on copying and printing services.
Office Depot now offers Tech Depot, a wholly-owned fully-integrated subsidiary. This virtual tech warehouse offers more than 100,000 items from cables to software to servers. Tech Depot offers a 20 percent additional discount for members on 25 most popular items in addition to general discounts on a wide range of items through Tech Depot.
Members also will benefit from next day delivery, strong customer support and significant time savings.
Fox Cities Chamber members will be contacted with information on this special program. For more information, e-mail Tony.Duval@OfficeDepot.com
