Archive for year: 2024

Last week the Fellows in Education group visited Wallace-Gregg Elementary School on Francis Marion Road. Principal, Ms. Alyssa Leibman and staff, shared the afternoon with a presentation about the founding of the school and its’ rich history. The group enjoyed a nice lunch and then everyone was given a walk-through of the schools various classroom offerings.

Each month the Fellows In Education program focuses on a different educational experience that is unique to the classroom. It offers opportunities for community leaders to contribute to the development of better education policies in the communities in which they live and work.

The Fellows in Education Program is a partnership between The School Foundation, Florence 1 Schools and The Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

To see more photos from the session, click here.

Chamber member, Jazzmyne Pipkins, owner and instructor at American Sign Language, was the Chamber’s radio guest on ChamberLink Radio this past weekend.

You can catch the conversation each Sunday from 12:00 – 12:30 pm on LIVE 95.3FM in Florence, SC.

This radio program is brought to you by the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce.

Score your game day delights hassle-free! Preorders now available. Secure your spot and ensure your feast is as epic as the game. Open till 10pm on Big Game Day! Give them a call today (843) 407-7298.

Tell someone about the Florence 1 Schools recruitment fair. Check it out this Saturday, February 3rd starting at 10:00 AM. The event will be held at South Florence High School and runs until 12:00 PM.

The General Assembly returned to the State House this week for another productive week in this year’s legislative session. Two notable bills that were worked on include:

• Unemployment Insurance Tax Delinquency Relief (H.3992) – On Wednesday, the House Labor, Commerce and Industry (LCI) Committee’s Business and Commerce Subcommittee advanced a bill that would provide relief to employers that are delinquent in their unemployment insurance (UI) taxes by allowing them to enter into installment plans with the Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) and avoid escalation to UI tax rate class 20. The SC Chamber is supportive of this legislation as we believe it will provide significant relief to small businesses by ensuring that they don’t have to close their doors simply because they miss a UI tax payment and spiral into a cycle of tax debt. The bill now heads to the full House LCI Committee.
   
• Maximum Unemployment Benefits (H.4710) – On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee advanced a bill that would accelerate the re-employment process of recently unemployed individuals across the state, ensuring that during times of low unemployment, individuals are not incentivized to stay on the sidelines and collect unemployment benefits when there are high-paying jobs going unfilled. Under current South Carolina law, individuals can claim unemployment benefits for a maximum rate of 20 weeks. Under this proposal, the duration of unemployment benefits will be indexed to the unemployment rate so that in times of low unemployment, the maximum duration of benefits will be 12 weeks and in times of high unemployment, the maximum duration will be 20 weeks. The bill now heads to the House floor.