Call to Action: Comprehensive Tax Reform

ATTENTION CHAMBER MEMBERS:

The Chamber needs your help. Call one or many of the following SC House members before Tuesday, April 28. Please urge them to pass Comprehensive Tax Reform (A study committee established to look at the whole tax system – property, sales, income), which is Senate Bill 12.

This vote is up on Tuesday and is vital to the well being of the Upstate economy. The following is a list of Upstate legislators who voted to support comprehensive tax reform in the past.

Please call one or many now.

Paul Agnew (864) 366-8348
Karl Allen (864) 235-9049
Rita Allison (803) 737-1929
Eric Bedingfield (864) 230-7044
Derham Cole (864) 591-2030
Chandra Dillard (864) 294-2503
Jeff Duncan (864) 833-7700
Mike Forrester (864) 592-6204
Dan Hamilton (864) 527-7685
Keith Kelly (864) 582-3770
Lanny Littlejohn (864) 706-5565
Joey Millwood (864) 384-5885
Harold Mitchell (864) 583-2712
Dennis Moss (864) 761-6353
Wendy Nanney (864) 269-4690
Steve Parker (864) 978-0195
Rex Rice (864) 616-5657
Tommy Stringer (864) 877-9511
Michael Thompson (864) 222-1753
Mark Willis (864) 369-2000
Bill Wylie (864) 419-3698

Questions? Email John DeWorken at jdeworken@greenvillechamber.org or Sunnie Harmon at sharmon@greenvillechamber.org

Congrats to the March 2009 Ambasssador of the Month

Congrats to Bridget Stalvey, the Greenville Chamber's Ambassador of the Month for March 2009.

About Bridget Stalvey

Bridget Stalvey’s educational background includes a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Hospitality and Tourism Management from College of Charleston. While at the College of Charleston she became a recipient of the 2003 South Carolina Tourism Student Award presented by Governor Sanford and founded the Club of Hospitality and Tourism. As an eight-year veteran of the hospitality industry, she has specialized in the management of multiple food and beverage outlets, corporate catering events, and corporate sales. In February of 2008, Bridget was selected as the 2007 Sales Person of the Year for Hawthorn Suites. Bridget was also the recipient of the 2007 Ambassador of the Year for the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce. Presently, Bridget is a sales manager for the Hyatt Regency Greenville.

Congrats to the April 2009 Small Business of the Month!

This morning, during the Greenville Chamber's Board of Directors meeting, HR Experts On Demand, a division of JMV Management Services, LLC, was recognized as the April 2009 Small Business of the Month.

About HR Experts On Demand:
JMV Management Services was founded in March 2006 by Jill M. Vales. Over the years the firm has added four part-time employees who enjoy flexible hours, telecommuting privileges, paid time off and paid holidays. All professionals have achieved national certifications in their fields. The firm is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and is an investor in the Greenville Area Development Corporation. It was awarded a Campaign Premier Award for First Time Campaign by the United Way of Greenville County in 2008.

Prior to starting JMV Management, Jill was Vice President of Human Resources at ScanSource. She has over 25 years of senior level finance, accounting and human resources management experience. Jill moved to Greenville seven years ago from Boca Raton, Florida, with no job, and is a self-described “poster child” for Greenville. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources and is a licensed Florida CPA. She has been quoted and featured in several local Greenville publications.

JMV Management provides HR and finance and accounting management and consulting services through its HR Experts On Demand and CFO Services On Demand operating divisions. The HR Experts On Demand division offers a customizable HR Director On CallSM program as well as consulting services in the areas of legal compliance, recruiting and selection, employee relations, performance management and compensation management. The CFO Services On Demand division provides part-time CFO and Controller services.

Clients are typically small businesses with 15 to 100 employees, in virtually any industry, as well as nonprofit organizations. Representative clients include Godshall Staffing, South Carolina Technology & Aviation Center, N&H Enterprises, Trendset, Deltex Medical, Rescom Construction, The Puckett Group, United Way of Greenville County, American Leprosy Missions, Meals on Wheels of Greenville, Pleasant Valley Connection and Presbyterian Communities of South Carolina. The firm provides services to nonprofit organizations at a 10% discount.

Active in the Greenville Chamber, Jill currently serves on the Board of Governors and the Small Business Council and is chair of the Small Business Owner’s Forum Steering Committee. She has served as Chair of the Sales Roundtable Steering Committee and the HR Leadership Forum Steering Committee. She has been a frequent presenter at meetings of the Nonprofit Alliance. JMV Management and HR Experts On Demand have sponsored many Chamber events and programs including all March 2009 Small Business programs, the 2008 CEO Summit, and the inaugural Small Business Insider newsletter. HR Experts On Demand is an exhibitor at the May 2009 Grow Conference and was also an exhibitor at the inaugural Grow Conference in 2007.

Jill also serves on the boards of the Greenville County Workforce Investment Board, The Rotary Club of Greenville, Centre Stage Theatre-SC and Dining for Women. She is on the Steering Committee for an Employment Support Group at her church. She is a member and former board member of the Greenville Professional Women’s Forum. She is a member of the Greenville and national chapters of the Society for Human Resource Management. Jill and the firm are involved in the SC Association of Nonprofit Organization’s April 2009 Annual Conference in Spartanburg as planner, sponsor, presenter and exhibitor. The firm is also a member of Greer and Spartanburg Chambers of Commerce.

Legislative Update

While the Legislature is in session, the Greenville Chamber sends out a Legislative Update each week to those members interested. Not receiving the updates, but interested? Contact Sunnie Harmon or John DeWorken at 864-242-1050 or by e-mail (sharmon@greenvillechamber.org or jdeworken@greenvillechamber.org).

Below is last week's update from Columbia:

House Passes 50-Cent Cigarette Tax Increase
Thursday, the SC House of Representatives passed a 50-cent cigarette tax increase by a vote of 97-22. Representative Gary Simrill (R-York) proposed an amendment that would decrease the tax from a 50-cent increase to a 30-cent increase. Simrill and other supporters of his amendment were trying to protect the border counties’ convenience store business by keeping South Carolina’s tax below Georgia and North Carolina’s. After the amendments failure, the 50-cent increase passed with flying colors. Revenue generated is estimated to be approximately $150M. Seventy percent will go towards premium assistance for small businesses, 20 percent will be put aside for high risk individuals who currently cannot obtain health insurance and the remainder will fund smoking cessation programs and the Department of Agriculture’s marketing efforts. Speaker Harrell’s bill will be debated in Senate Finance before moving to the Senate floor.

Debate Adjourned on Comprehensive Tax Reform
The SC House heard the business community’s cry for true comprehensive tax reform loud and clear this week. Thanks to all of you who sent e-mails and made phone calls to House members in support of comprehensive tax reform last week. A watered down tax reform bill that would look solely at sales tax exemptions was supposed to be up for debate Wednesday or Thursday of last week. Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell requested that the House adjourn debate on the bill until the House returns from a two-week furlough. During this time House leaders are going to work on a compromise that will satisfy both the House and the business community. Please continue to make phone calls to your House members and urge them to take a holistic approach to tax reform.

Point of Sale Eliminated
After a lengthy debate, the House passed a piece of legislation Thursday that eliminates the point of sale assessment. Reassessment of property will take place every five years just as it did prior to the passage of Act 388 in 2006. The SC Realtors have been working to get this bill passed the entire year and stressed that its passage is vital to the real estate climate and to South Carolina’s economy. House bill 3272 will now move to the Senate for debate.

Port Restructuring Bill Passes out of House Subcommittee
A House Judiciary Subcommittee took up Senate Bill 351, a SC State Port Authority restructuring bill that is intended to add stability to the port. The subcommittee amended the Senate’s bill to give more power to the governor. Under the House’s amended version, the governor will have the power to remove board members for any reason he deems fit. S. 351 will warrant a lengthy debate after it passes out of full committee following the House furlough.

Speaker Introduces SC Entrepreneurial Success Fund Act
This entrepreneur friendly bill will incentive private investors to invest into a seed capital fund. The fund manager will then invest in select South Carolina pre-start up and start-up high-impact companies. H. 3870’s goal is to grow SC grown headquarters and to increase the state’s per capita income. Investors will receive a tax credit equal to 30 percent of their investments into the seed capital fund. The bill was referred to a House Ways & Means subcommittee Thursday.

Comprehensive Tax Reform Up for Vote

A Comprehensive Tax Reform bill that studies just sales tax revenue passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee last week. That bill could be up for a vote TODAY!!

Please call one of the following Upstate House members ASAP TODAY to tell them that we need true comprehensive tax reform, studying income, sales, and property tax revenues and to support any amendments to H. 3415 or S. 12 that support a comprehensive study with one comprehensive report!

Please call one or more of the following:

William R. "Bill" Whitmire [R] (803) 734-3068
William E. "Bill" Sandifer III [R] (803) 734-3015
B. R. Skelton [R] (803) 734-3036
David R. Hiott [R] (803) 734-3323
Phillip D. "Phil" Owens [R] (803) 734-3053
W. Brian White [R] (803) 734-3113
Michael W. "Mike" Gambrell [R] (803) 734-2947
Don C. Bowen [R] (803) 734-3038
Michael D. Thompson [R] (803) 734-3014
Daniel T. "Dan" Cooper [R] (803) 734-3144
Paul L. Agnew [D] (803) 734-2993
J. Anne Parks [D] (803) 734-3069
Lewis E. "Gene" Pinson [R] (803) 734-2821
Michael A. Pitts [R] (803) 734-2830
Jeff D. Duncan [R] (803) 734-3022
Mark N. Willis [R] (803) 212-6882
Harry F. Cato [R] (803) 734-2701
Tommy M. Stringer [R] (803) 212-6881
Dwight A. Loftis [R] (803) 734-3101
Daniel P. "Dan" Hamilton [R] (803) 212-6795
William T. "Bill" Wylie [R] (803) 212-6883
Wendy K. Nanney (Mrs. Timothy Lee) [R] (803) 212-6877
Chandra E. Dillard [D] (803) 212-6791
Bruce W. Bannister [R] (803) 734-3009
Karl B. Allen [D] (803) 734-3006
Rex F. Rice [R] (803) 734-3035
Garry R. Smith [R] (803) 734-3045
Eric M. Bedingfield [R] (803) 734-2962
Dennis C. Moss [D] (803) 734-3073
Harold Mitchell, Jr. [D] (803) 734-6638
J. Derham Cole, Jr. [R] (803) 212-6790
Lanny F. Littlejohn [R] (803) 734-3141
P. Michael "Mike" Forrester [R] (803) 212-6792
R. Keith Kelly [R] (803) 734-3008
Merita A. "Rita" Allison (Mrs. William Ronald) [R] (2002) (803) 212-6788
Steve A. Parker [R] (803) 212-6878
Joseph B. "Joey" Millwood [R] (803) 212-6876

For more information contact Sunnie Harmon at 864-337-1584.

Congrats to Rick Lenz!

Congratulations to the Greenville Chamber's Ambassador of the Month, Rick Lenz.

Rick is the owner of FASTSIGNS of Greenville. Prior to purchasing FASTSIGNS, Rick spent twenty-five years honing his customer service skills in various positions with some of the top companies in their respective fields. His past employment includes management positions with Marriott Hotels, Outback Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Home Depot and Lowe’s.

Rick had spent eighteen months looking for the right opportunity for a FASTSIGNS center when the Greenville store became available. One visit to Greenville and he was sold.

Rick feels that both Greenville and FASTSIGNS have a great potential for growth. He has spent the last year and a half reorganizing and expanding the capabilities of his FASTSIGNS center. “We have rededicated ourselves to top notch customer service and providing a variety of superior products” said Rick.

Rick looks forward to making FASTSIGNS the premier sign company in Greenville, getting more involved in the community and to spending many years here in Greenville with his wife and two children.

Greenville Chamber Releases First Update to the Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard

The Greenville Chamber announced today, during its first quarter Advantage Greenville Luncheon, the results of the first update to the Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard.

“The results of the Scorecard demonstrate that much work remains to be done to achieve the Chamber’s vision of creating a premiere business community,” said Advantage Greenville Chair Irv Welling of Elliott Davis. “But the first step is complete. We’ve identified our challenges, and will continue to tackle those issues most pertinent to the Upstate.”

“A number of peer communities were identified through a statistical methodology created by Clemson University researchers,” said Greenville Chamber Vice President, of Economic Development Hank Hyatt. “By including these cities in our Scorecard, Greenville's leadership can get a feel for how we are advancing in creating a world-class community vis-avis these other communities. We cannot afford to remain satisfied with our past success. These other communities are moving ahead at a fast clip. The Scorecard helps us remain focused on doing what matters most."

Critical Findings Include:

· Education is the most important driver for creating higher levels of prosperity.
· Greenville has made strides in almost all areas of the Scorecard, but has not improved enough to improve our rankings vis-à-vis other communities.
· All of the Scorecard communities are actively seeking ways of improving their own prosperity. The target we seek is not static. Greenville must continue to look for new ways of enhancing those factors identified as drivers of per capita income.

To view the complete 2009 Economic Scorecard, visit www.greenvillechamber.org/pdfscorecard.pdf. For more information, contact Chamber Vice President of Economic Development Hank Hyatt by email at hhyatt@greenvillechamber.org or by phone at 864-239-3714.

About the Economic Scorecard
In 2007, the Greenville Chamber's Advantage Greenville program asked a team of distinguished, nationally prominent researchers at Clemson University to create an econometric model that would assist Advantage Greenville in bringing the attention of local and state leaders to activities that would have the greatest benefit for Upstate citizens. The Economic Scorecard model is based on a statistical analysis of objective data from select peer communities. The Greater Greenville Economic Scorecard provides a framework to facilitate discussion among community leaders regarding issues that are critical to building one of the premier business communities in the world.

About Advantage Greenville
The role of Advantage Greenville is to champion the Greenville Chamber’s drive to build one of the premier business communities in the world by growing, informing, connecting and engaging our members in the strategic initiatives and activities of the Chamber. For more information on Advantage Greenville, visit www.greenvillechamber.org/chamber/advantage.aspx.

About the Greenville Chamber
The Greenville Chamber is the largest business organization in the Upstate, serving more than 2,200 members. The Chamber's mission is to build one of the premier business communities in the world by: Leading through collaboration, building community prosperity, being the voice of business and enhancing quality of life. For more information on the Greenville Chamber, call 864-242-1050, or visit http://www.greenvillechamber.org/.

Legislative Update

While the Legislature is in session, the Greenville Chamber sends out a Legislative Update each week to those members interested. Not receiving the updates, but interested? Contact Sunnie Harmon or John DeWorken at 864-242-1050 or by e-mail (sharmon@greenvillechamber.org or jdeworken@greenvillechamber.org).

Below is last week's update from Columbia:

Point of Sale Assessment Eliminated
The Full House Ways & Means Committee passed out H. 3272 with a favorable report Thursday afternoon. H. 3272 eliminates the point of sale assessment and applies a 15% increase cap on reassessments. Before being amended the bill included a retroactive provision that would require counties to reimburse property owners for the inflated taxes paid 2006 to 2008. Representative Annette Young (R-Charleston) offered an amendment to this provision deleting the retroactivity to save counties from suffering through another loss in revenue. The amendment was adopted with a vote of 14-11. Those legislators opposed to the amendment were worried of the effects it would have on taxpayers, who bought homes from 2006 to 2008. It now moves to the House floor for debate.

Watered Down Comprehensive Tax Reform Passes Ways & Means
Movement of a truly comprehensive tax reform study commission came to a halt Thursday during a House Ways and Means committee meeting. The Tax Realignment Commission created in Senate Bill 12 would look at sales tax exemptions, property tax, income tax and fees, fines and forfeitures. That commission was charged with recommending to the General Assembly what changes needed to be made to South Carolina’s tax structure to make the state more competitive in attracting businesses and residents. The Upstate Chamber Coalition supported the TRAC bill in its form leaving the Senate. House leadership wishes for the commission to look solely at sales tax exemptions and then at a separate time study the remaining components of the current tax code. The Upstate’s Representatives Rex Rice (R-Pickens) and Dwight Loftis (R-Greenville) voiced their concerns during the meeting of such a piecemeal approach to studying the state’s tax structure. Please call your House delegation members and urge them to speak up on the House floor when Senate Bill 12 and House Bill 3415 are debated and promote comprehensive tax commission, one with a holistic approach.


Speaker’s Cigarette Tax Bill Moves to House Floor
A 50-cent cigarette tax increase was sent out of Ways and Means with a favorable report. The tax is estimated to generate approximately $150 million for the state. The bulk of this revenue would provide premium assistance to employers with low-income employees, as well as to high-risk individuals. It is estimated that about 17,000 would benefit from the passage of this legislation. An amendment was proposed during the committee to lower the tax to 30-cents in an effort to keep South Carolina’s tax below Georgia and North Carolina’s failed with a vote of 14-10. Many border counties are concerned that convenience store revenues will decrease greatly if SC’s tax on cigarettes is greater than its neighbors. H. 3584 is sure to attract a lengthy debate on the House floor.

LCI Committee Hearings Held on Red Tape Regulations
Labor, Commerce, and Industry Chairman Bill Sandifer (R-Oconee) along with his committee members heard testimony Wednesday and Thursday from business owners regarding red tape regulations and procedures hindering their competitiveness. A myriad of concerns were voiced including DHEC regulations and business license fees. Sandifer and his subcommittee intend to gather all information heard this week and draft legislation to be introduced next week. The subcommittee’s intent is to improve the business climate in South Carolina by eliminating unnecessary, burdensome and redundant state and local government regulations and policies.

Bedingfield Scores Large Victory for Business Community
The business community is one step closer to protecting workers’ rights to a secret ballot in union elections thanks largely to Representative Eric Bedingfield (R-Greenville) who lead the fight in the SC House in passing H. 3305 with a vote of 88-25. H. 3305 is a constitutional amendment that would guarantee a worker’s right to a secret ballot in the event of a union election. Since this legislation does amend the constitution, a two-thirds majority is required for passage. South Carolina, along with 39 other states is moving this legislation through its General Assembly. The bill moves to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee for discussion before moving to the floor for debate. Thirty-one votes will be needed for passage in the Senate. If both bodies pass it, it will be up to the citizens of South Carolina to vote for a referendum in November 2010 to amend the constitution.

State House Breaking News: Workers Rights Bill Passes House

A bill sponsored by Representative Eric Bedingfield that guarantees workers rights to a secret ballot when voting for unionization passed the House today. This bill (3305) is a constitutional amendment that provides that when employees votes whether to unionize or not they would be guaranteed secret ballot voting. The bill passed with 88 votes supporting the bill, well above the two-thirds needed to pass a consitutional amendment.

This bill not only guarantees workers rights, but also combats the Federal Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that eliminates secret ballot voting and provides forced contractual mediation on employers. The Federal version of the bill was introduced in the US House and US Senate last week.

Employee Free Choice Act Update

Today, Sen. Arlen Specter announced that he would oppose the Employee Free Choice Act, and vote against the bill as well as a cloture motion. This is a major development as Sen. Specter was the only Republican to vote in favor of cloture in 2007. Many supporters of EFCA have argued that they would have the necessary votes this year by assuming all Democrats would support cloture, that Al Franken would become the next Senator from Minnesota, and that Sen. Specter would again support cloture. This announcement means that supporters must find another way to get to 60 votes.

This announcement does not mean that the battle over EFCA is over. One of the many decisions that EFCA supporters need to make is whether they will try to find some other way to pass EFCA this year, whether they will instead try to elect more EFCA supporters in 2010, or whether they will instead push some other alternative bill (indeed, Sen. Specter left the door open to potentially supporting EFCA in the future should the economy improve and no amendments were made to the NLRA).

Your help has been critical in getting us to this point and we will continue to call upon you and we strive to ensure that EFCA and similar legislation is taken off the table for good.

Needless to say, other bills (such as the RESPECT Act related to supervisory status) that would ease organizing are out there or may be introduced that we must also be prepared for.