Blogs of the LA Area Chamber

Last week, Supervisor Don Knabe announced L.A. County’s $24 million commitment to LA Youth Jobs “Earn & Learn” summer youth employment. This investment will enable 12,000 young adults ages 14-21 to develop work readiness skills and gain exposure to careers while earning wages. Each youth will earn about $1,100 and also receive special training in financial literacy.

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Health care premiums have generally increased year after year due to complex factors. As a business owner, you can still take action to lighten health care costs now for your employees. With payment reform and delivery system reform, small businesses are beginning to see a way to bring down costs. We will discuss these strategies more in the next couple of blog posts.

The average annual premium for single coverage in an employer-sponsored health plan in 2011 was $5,429 ($15,073 for family coverage). That represents an 8 percent increase for single coverage and a 9 percent increase for family coverage from 2010 (inflation based on the Consumer Price Index was only 3.2 percent in 2011).

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The teamwork, hard work and humility of the players, coaches, management and ownership of the Los Angeles Kings makes me extraordinarily proud of our 2014 Stanley Cup Champions. I've watched sporting events all my life, but I can't remember a championship team at the professional level that so completely embodies the values that I grew up with as a farm kid in Nebraska.  

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Throughout our nation's history, small businesses — with fewer than 500 employees as defined by the federal government — have been the engine of our economy. Today, America's 28 million small businesses represent the creativity and innovation that drives our economic growth.

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By adopting wellness programs, you become proactive in making your workforce healthier, which may reduce your insurance costs. The goal of wellness programs is to make and keep employees healthier by promoting proper nutrition, exercise, weight loss, stress management and smoking cessation. According to the Wellness Council of America, more than 80 percent of U.S. businesses with more than 50 employees have some sort of wellness program. But small businesses can also benefit from them.

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce promoted wellness plans and programs to its business members through a November 2013 “Health Happens Here: In the Workplace” conference targeted at increasing education and implementation of such practices. We continue to support efforts to improve employee health, control health care costs, and even increase children's health through comprehensive employee wellness programing.

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Next Saturday, June 7 will mark the one-year anniversary of Southern California Edison’s (SCE) decision to permanently shut down the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). 

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