​The overall health of your business is a priority, so you require a health insurance plan that keeps your employees safe and healthy. It’s important to choose a carrier that offers the products, access and benefits you’re looking for, who also looks out for you. That’s why The Toledo Regional Chamber has partnered with the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) and Medical Mutual to offer the multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) to help small businesses receive the big-business benefits they deserve.

​By Tim Schneider, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce

An ordinance that would approve a new lead-safe program for residential rental properties with one to four units and childcare homes built prior to 1978 is expected to be given first reading at Toledo City Council’s regular meeting at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6. Ordinance 397-20 would require such properties to obtain a lead-safe certificate by passing a visual lead hazard and dust wipe inspection. The certificate would be valid for five years, but fully-abated properties would be eligible for a 20-year certificate. The ordinance would task the Department of Neighborhoods with coordinating the program, the Division of Code Enforcement with enforcing the program, and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Departments with issuance of certificates. The compliance deadline for properties in high-risk census tracts would be June 30, 2022, and a five-year phase-in schedule would be established for remaining properties.

By Amanda DePerro, communications manager

On Sept. 30, the Toledo Chamber sat down with Sheila Eason, founder and CEO of Elevate People Solutions, for webinar “Did I Say That?” Recognizing and Combating Microaggressions in the Workplace. Eason covered everything from what microaggressions might look like and the various types of microaggressions, how to respond to a microaggression from the point of both a bystander and the victim, and what to do if someone tells you that you’ve said something that has made them uncomfortable.

This may come as a surprise, but September is over, and October has begun. As we continue into fall and look toward the leaves changing, the weather getting cooler and the upcoming holiday season, we, of course, must reflect on the changes and everything that we've done in the last month. That means reflecting on – and celebrating – the new members who joined us in September 2020.