Events

May Mixer at Elements Therapeutic Massage

Thursday May 17, @5:30pm - @7:30pm

Environmental Committee

Wednesday May 23, @8:30am - @9:30am

Yellowfin Signature Mixer

Thursday June 7, @5:30pm - @7:30pm

Small Business Sounding Board (SB2)

Tuesday June 12, @8:00am - @9:00am

Multi-Chamber Breakfast at The Annapolis Sheraton

Tuesday June 19, @7:30am - @9:30am

News Digest

  • May 14 2012

    Feds approve more BWI upgrades

    The Capital - As BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport officials prepare for a $100 million terminal expansion this year, they also have received federal approval for a massive airfield improvement project. Read more ...

  • May 14 2012

    O’Malley wants fast action from Md. gambling work group

    Washington Post - In a bid to resolve some of the most difficult gambling issues left over from the last legislative session, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said Friday that he would assemble an 11-member work group on casinos to undertake “a fact-driven process, aided by expert analysis.” O’Malley said the group would be charged with making public recommendations by June 20, in preparation for a possible second special session in July devoted to gaming issues. Read more ...

Small Business Digest

  • April 05 2012

    GSA scandal sheds light on small business contracting fraud

    Washington Post - Buried in the laundry list of misconduct claims against the General Services Administration is further evidence of what at least one federal official and one trade group call a critical problem for small employers: improper contracting that diverts government spending to large corporations instead of small businesses.

    Recent analysis of government data that showed that 72 of the 100 companies receiving the highest amount of federal small business contracts in 2011 were firms that exceeded the Small Business Administration’s size standards for small companies. Read more ...

  • April 05 2012

    What you can learn from Southwest Airlines’ culture

    Washington Post - A consciously developed customer-centered culture is a business advantage that will serve you for years — and inoculate you against competitive inroads. Consider for a minute Southwest Airlines and the lengthy list of would-be category killers that have tried to imitate it: United Airlines’ United Shuttle, Continental Airlines’ Continental Lite, Delta’s Delta Express and US Airways’ Metro-Jet.

     What did these companies lack: Money? Name recognition? Hardly. They lacked Southwest’s relentless focus on culture, which none of its pop-up competitors was willing to slow down to emulate.  And all are now bust. Read more ...

Legislative Digest

  • May 14 2012

    Maryland budget bills outline tax increases

    The Capital - The budget package to be adopted during the legislature's special session that starts on Monday will increase the income taxes some residents pay, and will shift some of the cost of teachers' pensions from the states to the counties, according to draft bills the General Assembly posted online on Friday. Read more ...

  • May 14 2012

    Gov. O’Malley touts low taxes as he calls special session to raise them

    Maryland Reporter - Maryland has some of the lowest taxes in the country, Gov. Martin O’Malley said Wednesday officially announcing plans to call a special session of the legislature to fix a budget impasse — partially by raising taxes. Read more ...

  • May 14 2012

    Group: Maryland too reliant on income taxes

    The Capital - While Gov. Martin O’Malley has touted Maryland’s comparatively low tax burden on its high-income populace, some groups are concerned that the income tax hikes proposed for this week’s General Assembly special session will harm the state’s national rankings on taxes and business climate. Read more ...

Economic Digest

Print Email

Chamber Environmental Initiatives

The increasing degradation of the Chesapeake Bay has generated well-founded concerns over the environmental impact of past land development activities and future land development plans in jurisdictions bordering this important body of water. Some advocates supporting restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, and protection of its coastal land and wildlife habitats, defend their concerns with well documented scientific studies, while others are no growth advocates who mask their intentions with the cloak of environmentalism and diminish the credibility of well intended groups seeking solutions to the Bay’s present predicament.

The environmental stress on the Chesapeake Bay has its origins from use and misuse over many decades, and even centuries. Recently, the Bay’s health has focused on new development and redevelopment around the Bay and its tributaries, and on nitrogen content and discharge concerns.  Business and industry have stepped forward to assist in this effort and are actively a part of the solution to improving the quality of the Chesapeake Bay and not the source of its stress. Our quality of life in Anne Arundel County is dependent upon a healthy Bay, and our ability to retain and attract new business to the area is dependent upon our quality of life.

Restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed is everyone’s responsibility in Maryland and our home county of Anne Arundel. Businesses and residential communities have joint accountability in protecting the environmental health of our Bay. Failure to address the existing environmental stress on the Chesapeake Bay from past residential and agricultural development is ignoring a large contributor to the Chesapeake Bay’s unhealthy condition. Imposing excessive fees and restrictions on new development and redevelopment projects in an effort to restore the quality of the Bay, while ignoring past inequities, is engaging in a fruitless effort that will lead to disappointing results.

Below is a link to the Chamber of Commerce Environmental Committee:

Chamber of Commerce Environmental Committee

Chairman: Susan Ford, Attorney - Council, Baradel, Kosmerl & Nolan, P.A.

 

2012 Membership Directory

 

 

 

Annapolis by Linda Roberts