Volume 6, No. 2
February 2014
Business Kelso Longview
Calendar Monday Mondays through March 17 7 to 8 a.m. Legislative Briefing Breakfast Red Lion, Birch Room, Kelso
Tuesday February 11 – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Business After Hours Estetica Day Spa 1146 Commerce Ave., Longview $15 advance/$20 at door Register at: www.kelsolongviewchamber.org
Wednesday Every Wednesday – 3 to 4 p.m. Chamber Connection KEDO AM 1400 Contact the Chamber to schedule your 10-minute business spotlight
Connection Chamber of Commerce
CEO’s Message
Weekly Legislative Briefing gives local business owners a forum with lawmakers By Bill Marcum Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce CEO The Legislative session is under way and so is the Legislative Briefing conducted by the Kelso Longview Chamber of Commerce. This year, due to the Monticello Restaurant closing, we are holding our Legislative Briefing Breakfast at the Red Lion Hotel, in the Birch Room, from 7 to 8 a.m. every Monday through March 17, when the session is scheduled to end. This past Monday morning we had 16 people in attendance. The group included members of our city council, retail businesses, educational community, trucking companies, manufacturing industry and the Council of Governments, as well as a lobbyist. Also in attendance was District 19 Legislative Representative Dean Takko. During the briefing we were also able to dial in through a conference call other local Olympia representatives who were unable to attend in person. This way they had
an opportunity to address the group as well. We plan to provide this opportunity at all our briefings. We had a full house via phone that first Monday as State Senators Brian Hatfield and John Braun and Representatives Brian Blake and Ed Orcutt joined us. Gary Chandler, Vice President of Government Affairs for the Association of Washington Business (AWB), also attends via conference call. He generally leads off the Briefing by giving the group attending a review of the past week’s issues, bills and discussion that directly affect your business. If you are not following the bills listed below you need to attend our Monday morning Briefing to keep up to speed on what is happening that could directly affect the success of your business. Here are a few that were discussed and need your attention: • HB 2238 – Mandated vacation leave for any company with more than 25 employees working 20-plus hours.
Please see Briefing, page 3