Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, now part of Greater Fort Wayne Inc., honored two Northeast Indiana legislators with an annual award introduced this year.

The Greater Fort Wayne Inc. Legislator of the Year award is given to a state legislator from Northeast Indiana that has shown his or her commitment to Fort Wayne, Allen County and business in general. In addition, given the unique situation of having four new House of Representative members in the Northeast Indiana Delegation, GFW Inc. believes it was important to highlight their efforts for the community and businesses.

The awards are as follows:

• 2013 Legislator of the Year Award: Senator David Long, Fort Wayne 
• 2013 New Legislator of the Year Award: Representative Martin Carbaugh, Fort Wayne

The awards were presented by Mike Landram, President and CEO of The Chamber, at the 2013 Legislative Wrap-Up breakfast on May 8, 2013.

"These two elected officials have gone above and beyond on behalf of our Members and we felt it was very important to acknowledge their commitment to our legislative principles," Landram said following the award presentation.

What are the changes? What are the penalties?
Find out what you must know at this essential forum 

The Affordable Care Act was passed, the Supreme Court made its ruling, and the election sealed the fate of the healthcare reform law. Now, employers need to prepare for the requirements and responsibilities that will soon take effect.

Join us Thursday, March 28, from 8-10 a.m. at the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce for this informative and practical Healthcare Issue Forum, covering issues employers will face regarding the Affordable Care Act including:

• The potential changes to employers who already offer health coverage
• The penalties for employers who do not offer health coverage
• How the state health insurance exchange will operate

Take this opportunity to learn what your business will need to do to be prepared for the changes required by the Affordable Care Act. 

The industry experts speaking at the forum are:

• Logan Harrison: Chief Deputy Commissioner for Health, Legislative and Public Affairs for the State of Indiana
• Doug Powers: Beckman Lawson, LLP
• Deb Overcash: COO of Fort Wayne Radiology
• Leigh Smith: Senior Vice President at Hylant
• Jon Albright: Compliance Officer for Physicians Health Plan
• Joel Sauer: Sauer Consulting

Cost for the event is $10 for members and $20 for non-members and includes a continental breakfast and materials. Register today!

Sponsorship opportunities are still available; please contact Melissa Beber for more information.

In only one year of existence, STARBASE Indiana academy has educated more than 800 local students in valuable STEM-related programming.

Now, STARBASE needs our help.

On March 13, Sen. John McCain added an amendment to the FY13 Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 933) to defund Department of Defense STARBASE, which includes STARBASE Indiana. If passed, this amendment would immediately dismantle a nationwide education program, which has turned thousands of young students over its 20+ year history onto future STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers.

STARBASE Indiana is one of 76 STARBASE Academies in the United States. Located at the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, STARBASE Indiana proudly serves the schools and students of Northeast Indiana. STARBASE Indiana has graduated 820 students since its inception just over a year ago. The pre- and post-tests reveal an astonishing 42 PERCENT increase in STEM knowledge as a result of this program.

STARBASE Indiana is also very involved in outreach to the Fort Wayne area. Each month the staff of STARBASE Indiana provides age appropriate STEM activities to patients at the Lutheran Children's Hospital. In addition, we offer a robotics after-school program to the Fort Wayne Urban League youth.  

The Chamber supports STARBASE Indiana and recognizes its contribution to engaging students in STEM-related programming. Our community benefits from more students getting interested in STEM-related careers. We encourage you to take action today by contacting your elected officials.

The STARBASE program needs your help today. We encourage you to contact your elected representatives and inform them that STARBASE Indiana should be able to continue to provide a solid STEM education to the youth of Indiana.Consider using this letter that The Chamber has posted on our web site as a template for your use (Word doc).

Please consider contacting: 

• U.S. Senator Dan Coats (R), IN
• U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly (D), IN
• U.S. Representative Peter Visclosky (D), IN: 1st Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Jackie Walorski (R), IN: 2nd Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Marlin Stutzman (R), IN: 3rd Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Todd Rokita (R), IN: 4th Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Susan Brooks (R), IN: 5th Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Luke Messer (R), IN: 6th Congressional District
• U.S. Representative André Carson (D), IN: 7th Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Larry Bucshon (R), IN: 8th Congressional District
• U.S. Representative Todd Young (R), IN: 9th Congressional District

For additional information:

• STARBASE Indiana Website: www.starbasein.org
• National DoD STARBASE Website: www.dodstarbase.org

The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

What are the changes? What are the penalties? 
Find out what you must know at this essential forum 

The Affordable Care Act was passed, the Supreme Court made its ruling, and the election sealed the fate of the healthcare reform law. Now, employers need to prepare for the requirements and responsibilities that will soon take effect.

Join us Thursday, March 28, from 8-10 a.m. at the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce for this informative and practical Healthcare Issue Forum ;covering issues employers will face regarding the Affordable Care Act including:

• The potential changes to employers who already offer health coverage
• The penalties for employers who do not offer health coverage
• How the state health insurance exchange will operate

Take this opportunity to learn what your business will need to do to be prepared for the changes required by the Affordable Care Act.

The industry experts speaking at the forum are:

• Logan Harrison: Chief Deputy Commissioner for Health, Legislative and Public Affairs for the State of Indiana
• Doug Powers: Beckman Lawson, LLP
• Deb Overcash: COO of Fort Wayne Radiology
• Leigh Smith: Senior Vice President at Hylant
• Jon Albright: Compliance Officer for Physicians Health Plan
• Joel Sauer: Sauer Consulting 

Cost for the event is $10 for members and $20 for non-members and includes a continental breakfast and materials. 

Click here for more information and to register. Sponsorship opportunities are still available; please contact Melissa Beber for more information.

Sign up for the March 28 event at fwchamber.org/healthcare!

City Council will be introducing several bills during Regular Session including the 2013 contracts for the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance for professional marketing and economic development services and the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership for direct marketing services. 

Also up for introduction are two bills to update the tax abatement process for the city. Community stakeholders and personnel from the city and the county have been working to align the county and city’s tax abatement processes. 

During committee session, the City Council will be holding a final vote on a resolution amending the parking meter fees to 10 cents per twelve minutes, 20 cents per twenty-four minutes, and 50 cents per hour.

The Chamber's Government Affairs staff is here to help our members stay up to date with local, state, and federal government. Follow us on Twitter @FWGovConnect to get the most recent news.

You can catch this evening’s Fort Wayne City Council meeting in several ways:

• In Person - Attend the meeting at Citizen’s Square beginning at 5:30 p.m.
• TV - Watch live on Channel 58 (Comcast) or Channel 28 (Frontier)
• Streaming - Watch live online on the city's web site
• Online - Catch up by watching past council meetings online