Area businesses joining the Darke County Chamber of Commerce enjoy many benefits including:
The Chamber’s Workers Compensation group rating pools save Chamber members thousands of dollars annually on their workers compensation premiums.
The Chamber pool with the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and Frank Gates Company has consistently been one of the top programs in Ohio since initiated in 1992. Partnering with Frank Gates / Avizent, the Chamber offers an impressive array of savings tiers that may lower your annual premiums up to the state maximum discount. Call today to obtain a free, no obligation savings analysis.
The Chamber pool with the Southern Ohio Chamber Alliance and Hunter Consulting has, since its inception in 1999, produced consistent savings for our members. With participation in the program, members receive access to low cost health insurance programs, and short and long term disability coverage. Members also have access to claims management services, representation at hearings, and education through Hunter Consulting seminars and newsletters.
Formed in 1994 in partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Division of Safety & Hygiene, the Darke County Safety Council provides workers’ compensation premium discount incentives for active participation by its members. Receive a 2% discount when you become an active member of the Safety Council. Receive an additional 2% by reducing either the severity or the frequency of injuries by 10%, or by keeping both at zero. The Darke County Safety Council helps you to learn techniques for increasing safety in your workplace, teaches you to better manage your workers’ compensation program, enables you to network with other area employers, and shows you how to access useful, money-saving workers’ compensation and risk management information.
ChamberChoice from United HealthCare offers benefit plans for small and medium sized businesses traditionally available only to large businesses. This includes a broad, stable network of physicians, pharmacies, and hospitals, affordable healthcare choices, and superior service. UHC’s national network of 470,000 physicians and 4,500 hospitals experience less than 2% annual turnover. For employees, UHC offers a self-service consumer Website, myuhc.com®, an interactive voice response service line, and personal customer service option. Also offered is a 24 hour nurseline and specialized transplant and oncology networks.
The Superior Dental Care ChamberChoice program offers quality dental coverage at a fraction of the cost of other coverage. SDC’s provider network consists of over 3,600 dental offices throughout Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan. Their goal is to provide the highest quality service, while still preserving the traditional dentist-patient relationship. Superior Dental Care offers SMILERIDER, a supplemental cosmetic rider, to all its dental plans. The cosmetic rider provides for elective cosmetic services including teeth whitening, veneers, bonding/porcelain facings, and other procedures. There is no additional premium cost associated with this plan enhancement. Superior Dental Care offers both standard and voluntary contribution plans for groups with as few as two enrolled employees.
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EyeMed participants save on exams, eyeglasses, contact lenses, and corrective laser surgery. Chamber Alliance Members can participate by paying a small yearly fee to cover the whole family. Save up to 40% or more and select from over 40,000 providers in 20,000 locations. EyeMed requires no claim forms and there is no limit on the number of times you can use this program.
Hearing Aid Savings are a benefit provided by the Darke County Chamber of Commerce through the Southern Ohio Chamber Alliance. Employees and their families can save 50 to 65% on name brand hearing aids. Choose from 1,600 providers nationwide. All providers are screened and credentialed to ensure that you will be seeing a qualified hearing professional who can best meet your needs.
The Rx Discount prescription drug program is available at no cost to chamber members, their employees, dependents, parents, and grandparents who do not have a prescription benefit. Over 35,000 pharmacy locations, including Darke County, welcome the Chamber prescription drug card. The program can save you 10-65% on both brand name and generic medications. There are no deductibles and no maximums to meet. The savings are immediate at the time of purchase.
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The Darke County Chamber of Commerce through the Alliance of Ohio Chambers provides members with a Long-term Care Insurance program. Long-term care insurance has been cited as the single benefit most desired by employees. The demand for long-term care insurance is being fueled by a continuing increase of public awareness that the government cannot be depended on to pay for care, and employee realization that the costs of long-term care can bankrupt families. Employers concerned with the rising costs of health care should note that most employers who do offer long-term care insurance do not pay the entire LTC premium for employees. Many offer a stipend, or premium allowance, to each employee. Some employers offer no premium allowance at all.
The Chamber Gift Certificate program keeps shopping dollars in Darke County, and specifically within the businesses of participating Chamber members. Gift certificates are sold in $5, $10 and $25 denominations. Participating member businesses are not charged a redemption fee and receive full face value upon returning redeemed certificates to the Chamber office. This program has retained more than two million dollars in Darke County since its inception.
Workforce Development initiatives offered by the Chamber include Leadership – Darke County, Leadership Development – Skills for the Workforce, Teen Leadership Program, Business Start-up 101 seminars, and seminars on skills for employees such as customer service, professional sales skills, massive business results, and thriving in unsure times. Chamber member businesses attend seminars at reduced fees.
The Darke County Chamber of Commerce provides online presence for its members through the Chamber’s website. Housed on the web page is information about the Chamber and its services, economic development, tourism opportunities, and our on-line membership directory. Members with their own web sites may be linked to the Chamber’s page upon request through their directory listing.
Effective January 2006, the Chamber offers Greater Dayton Works.com, a free on-line posting program for jobs. This program offers a powerful regional job portal connecting employers with job seekers who want to come to our community. Employers are in control of their on-line posting capabilities, have access to local technical support, access to resume screening and query reporting. Chamber members can utilize this unlimited job posting function, at no cost, courtesy of DPL Energy.
The Chamber keeps you updated on legislative issues affecting your business through Legislative Education and Advocacy for the Dayton region(LEADer) with 23 Dayton Area Chambers of Commerce, and Grassroots Ohio Works (GROW) with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Small Business Council.
LEADer’s efforts are focused on what is best for the business community in the Miami Valley. LEADer is “informed activism.” Participants identify the issues that concern and affect them. When a bill is introduced at the state or national level pertaining to that issue, an “alert” “is forwarded to the business, giving background on the bill, its current status and soliciting the member business to contact the appropriate elected officials to voice their opinion.
GROW focuses on issues facing small business in Ohio. GROW seeks to increase small business activity and influence on legislative and regulatory matters, including initiatives to educate local, state, and federal government officials on pro-business issues.
The Chamber’s Business Referral System refers Chamber members every day. The Chamber office receives over 12,000 phone calls and visitors each year requesting information regarding the goods and services available in the area. It is Chamber policy to refer Chamber members only.
The Member 2 Member Discount Program allows members to promote their products and services to other members through monthly or annual discounts. Participating businesses select the special they wish to offer and determine how long the special will be honored. Member 2 Member discounts will be offered on our website at www.darkecountyohio.com.
The Chamber’s Membership Directory and Community Guide is given free to members and the general public. As a Chamber member, your business appears in a listing arranged by category. The membership directory is also available on-line at www.darkecountyohio.com. Members with web sites are given a free link to the directory.
As a member you are entitled to copies of all Chamber publications: Membership Directory, Industrial Directory, Darke County/City map, Clubs & Organizations Directory, Business Start-up Guide, New Resident Packet, the Chamber Newsletter, and much more. Mailing labels are provided to members at a discount. Members may also insert promotional materials into the Chamber’s mailings at a substantial savings.
Invitations to all Chamber activities and events allow members to pick those activities that meet their needs. These programs include quality business seminars, business after hours, annual meeting, member focus groups, legislative luncheons, business luncheons, committee sponsored programs, economic development forums, and much more. Meet the decision makers of member firms at these Chamber functions.
The Darke County Chamber’s membership in the Southern Ohio Chamber Alliance and Alliance of Ohio Chambers gives members access to member benefits and value-added programs normally not available to individual chambers of commerce. The alliance combines its bargaining strength of nearly 100 chambers located in southwest Ohio to provide health insurance, workers compensation, and other discount pools.
If you would like more information on any of the member benefit programs please click here, contact the Darke County Chamber of Commerce at 937-548-2102, or visit the office at 622 South Broadway in Greenville.