More Than Networking

 

While Congress continues to grapple over education and health care, local chambers of commerce and their members are leading a quiet revolution that is changing the way small companies buy health insurance and prepare the future workforce.

 

Businesses Team Up for Health Care
Chambers of commerce in Lubbock, Texas, and in Sheridan and Gillette, Wyoming, have discovered a way to make health insurance more affordable-giving small firms the kind of group purchasing power long enjoyed by large companies.

 

The Sheridan chamber joined forces with the Gillette chamber in July 2007 to create a health insurance pool for its members. Since then, 300 of the approximately 1,200 members of the two chambers have signed up. The chambers expect that number to double this year, and four other area chambers are considering joining the plan. "We can show growth, which is the only leverage you have in dealing with the insurance industry," says Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Janelle Martinsen. "The more we grow, the more underwriters will want to talk to us."

 

Under the Wyoming plan, the chambers function as the insurance company, with an outside underwriter and consultant. They offer seven plans and require that 75% of a company's employees participate, with employers paying at least 50% of the employees' premiums. Rates range from $100 to $600 per employee per year. "We're not the cheapest, but we're far from the most expensive," Martinsen says. "This system also provides a bit of predictability for employers." Benefits consultant Brad Johnson with Covenant Insurance Group Inc. estimates that employers in the Wyoming plan have saved 15% to 30% in the first year. That's in a state facing annual increases of 12% to 14% each year, according to Johnson.

 

Since teaming up with Covenant Health System two years ago to start a health plan, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce in Texas has seen its membership grow up to 70%-growth that Lubbock Chamber President Eddie McBride attributes to the health plan's popularity among small businesses.

 

The Lubbock plan, which offers four types of coverage, now covers more than 10,000 chamber members, their employees, and family members. Before signing up for the plan, 20% of those members had no insurance at all, McBride points out. "Our plan compares well with other options," he says, noting that the typical savings for a 15-employee business was $12,000 in 2007. "The long pole in the tent is to find an insurance provider, but ours was ready made." He adds, "Other Texas chambers are trying to create their own health co-ops, but they are struggling to find an insurance provider."

 

 

The chambers of commerce in Salem and Keizer, Oregon, and their members are working to ensure that area employers have qualified employees in the future. The two chambers have partnered with the Salem-Keizer School District as well as with E3: Employers for Education Excellence to create the Ready to Learn-Ready to Work initiative.  

 

"Our goal is to prepare the workforce of tomorrow to become ready-to-work adults," says Cori Clausen, director of workforce development for the Salem and Keizer chambers.  "Ready to Learn-Ready to Work has provided a means for our chambers and local employers to be engaged in a meaningful way in helping prepare our youth for success in the workplace and college."

 

Ready to Learn-Ready to Work has matched more than 150 local businesses, nonprofits, and state agencies with high school students to prepare them for the workplace. The initiative includes job shadowing, career mentoring, workplace tours, classroom presentations, meeting with local business leaders, and learning firsthand about various careers. Business leaders teach students about the types of skills that are valuable in the workplace including problem solving, communications, teamwork, a strong work ethic, and appropriate behavior.

 

Since its launch in January 2007, 5,000 students in nine high schools have participated in the program, and the local business community has volunteered 780 hours. In addition, 166 career-related guest speakers have been invited into classrooms, and five internships have been placed.

 

Visit www.workandlearnnow.com/.