Top of Page

Can you help me reduce my health insurance premium
By Cain Credicott ~ National Worksite Benefit Group
Redmond, OR
     That is by far the most common question employers ask me, and the answer I give most often is “probably.”  First, you need to refine the question to “Can you help me reduce my employee benefit costs?”  We tend to think of the different components of a benefit package as independent from one another when in fact they are all parts that make up a whole. 
     It is important to start thinking not just about your benefit costs but also about your benefit cost drivers.  We all recognize that health care costs are increasing, and most people seem to accept this as something that is out of their control.  The reality is that there are some cost drivers that we can impact.  If you aren’t thinking about how you can adjust your benefit plans to put downward pressure on cost drivers, you will inevitably be at the mercy of the upward trending costs.
     Utilization habits are one of the most significant cost drivers and also the driver over which employers have the most control.  Benefit plans today need to have both incentives and disincentives that encourage certain behavior.  The average American today is completely disengaged from the true cost of their health care.  Employers need to implement incentives, as well as education, to encourage employees to take an active role in their benefits plan.   
     Most employers know what their benefit costs are, but few know how those dollars are being spent.  Many employers are not reviewing claim data, and often those that are do not know how to use the information to their advantage.   There is often a belief that you must have a self-funded medical plan to receive claim data.  It is true that self-funded plans generally provide the most comprehensive data, but as a fully insured group, data is often available.
     Yes, you can reduce your benefit costs.  Begin by looking at your entire benefit plan.  Every component has the ability to impact the effectiveness of the plan as a whole.  Focus less on cost and more on cost drivers.  Make sure your plan is encouraging the right behavior and discouraging the wrong behavior.  Try to understand how your premium dollars are being spent to provide care to your group.  The solution is not easy, but the problem is a long way from hopeless.  Change begins with a change in thinking. 

Top of Page

Travel: Have a professional help you save time
By Bernie Reumann, Getaways Travel
     With the explosion of the Internet in the marketplace and the amount of information available at your fingertips, the net result has been that a lot of employees are spending 30 percent or more of their working hours on the Internet and thus not being as productive for the employer as one would like.
     One area where employees, and even employers, are spending a lot of hours of unproductive company time is in booking travel arrangements online. How many companies can afford to waste $50-$200 per hour or more on someone looking for some flight information or hotel availability when the reality is that the time spent on such an effort is counterproductive since a phone call to a travel professional will inevitably result in time and money saved?
     What a travel professional can do in 5 to 10 minutes on the phone will take an employee three to five time as long at company expense and is able through experience to find what the passenger needs quicker and at a lower cost. That wasted time can certainly be put to better and more productive use.  The net result of booking travel online by employees translates into thousand of dollars lost in productivity and hundreds of lost hours of work.  Every business thrives to run efficiently and this is one area where you should look to the travel professionals to help you out and save time and money.

Top of Page

Entrepreneurial Committee
The Entrepreneurial Committee is coming up on a very exciting month.  The new topic of educational meetings for this quarter is Public Relations and we’re going to start things off with a workshop on writing press releases, featuring a panel of experts from print, internet and television journalism.  This workshop will be held at 8:00 a.m. on July 28 at COIC-Worksource Bend.  Another new development is in the Peer Feedback Workshops, which will now be held at the Black Bear Diner every 2^nd Friday of the month.  Join the group for this invaluable peer focus group session on August 11 at 8:00 a.m.  Lastly, the committee has just appointed an Executive Board, Kristine Pareira of Sage Insurance, Kelli Simonds of Bank of the Cascades, Nathan Fincham of New York Life and Brian Sortor of Sortor Bushido Kai Karate.  Watch the Chamber calendar for this new committee’s exciting events!

Top of Page

Brooks Resources donates more than $500,000
     Brooks Resources Corp. has announced that it has made its first contribution of this year to The North Rim Deschutes River Fund at The Oregon Community Foundation to improve stream flow and water quality in the Deschutes River Basin. The company donated a percentage of the total North Rim home sale revenue for the year, totaling $52,500. Last year, Brooks Resources donated more than $500,000 to the fund.

Top of Page

Top of Page

The Bend Community Center receives $1,000 donation
The Bend Community Center has received a $1,000 donation from the Hooter Fund II of the Oregon Community Foundation to help support its Feed The Hungry program. An average of 200 people take part in the free Sunday meal offered by the center from 4-6 p.m. every Sunday, including holidays. Participants also receive a sack lunch and a hot meal to go for Mondays. The center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to community service, education and cultural diversity. For more information and volunteer opportunities,: 312-2069 or 1036 NE Fifth St., Bend, 97701.

Top of Page

Umpqua Bank releases Discover Local Music: Vol. 1 Sacramento to Seattle
Umpqua Bank, the largest independent community bank in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California, will release the first compilation album from its popular Discover Local Music Project on July 11. The album, titled Discover Local Music: Vol. 1: Sacramento to Seattle, is a diverse mix of some of the West Coast’s best music, featuring songs by independent artists including Ohmega Watts, Rye Hollow, Stephanie Schneiderman and Hank Hirsh.  The CDs are being sold for $12 each in Umpqua’s 127 stores throughout Oregon, Washington and California, including in Central Oregon. In the coming weeks, the album will also be available online at the iTunes music store for 99 cents per song and at CDBaby.com for $14.

Top of Page

Please submit information by the 10th of the month. Photos need to be at least 300 dpi. Contact Jeff Nielson, 382-3221 or jeff@bendchamber.org

	People      Mike Schmidt, President & CEO of the Bend Chamber, has been elected as the first Chair of the Bend Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMPO) Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC). This marks the third transportation agency Mike has served on as either a Board member of Co-Chair in his over 20 year involvement with transportation planning. The CAC reports to the BMPO and is responsible for advising them on policies, programs and project priorities for the Metropolitan Planning area, which includes all of Bend an a small portion of Deschutes County.      David Rosell has received a certificate in retirement planning from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has been awarded the title of Retirement Planning Specialist from Axa Equitable. Rosell owns Rosell Financial Group and is on the board of directors of the Bend Chamber.      Diane Harrild has joined Umpqua Bank as Commercial Deposit Relationship Manager. She previously worked for 13 years at Bank of the Cascades. Information: dianeharrild@umpquabank.com.      Kristee Chick has been named Senior Vice President and Manager of Commerecial Banking in Central Oregon for Umpqua Bank. She works at the bank’s Osprey Point location. Information: 312-4811.      Al Eastwood has earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation. He is a broker at Coldwell Banker Commercial, Morris Real Estate in Bend.      Darius Whitten, president of Whitten Design advertising agency in Bend, recently received his CTM (Competent Toastmaster) pin at a meeting at the Central Oregon Environmental Center. He earned the pin by completing 10 speeches from the Toastmasters Speech Manual.      Chad Koeller has joined NorthWest Crossing Realty. He has 11 years of experience in real estate sales and most recently was regional sales manager with John Wieland Homes.      Two new employees have joined David Evans and Associates, Inc. They are Jon Burgi, P.E., a civil engineer; and Crystal Hutchins, who has joined the landscape architecture team. Burgi has five years experience in water resources, public works and general civil engineering. Hutchins has a love of the outdoors and extensive experience in all facets of landscape design.      Lisa Johnson has joined Sublime Design Group as marketing director to handle media and public relations. She owns her own consultancy and has managed campaigns for a long list of clients. She also co-launched Cascade Reader, a literary publication.      Scott Steele, President of Steele Associates Architects, recently participated in the fourth annual CEO Conference for Architecture and Design & Construction Management Firms in New York City at the Harvard Club.      The Bend accounting firm of Jones & Roth, P.C., has named Phil Sutton the firm’s new Director of Business Development. He has 30 years of marketing, business development and business operations experience and previously was the President of the Oregon Center for Applied Science in Eugene.      Michelle Loftsgard is a new Sales Manager at Mid Oregon Credit Union. She will be responsible for promoting and ensuring a sales and service culture throughout the organization. She previously worked at Umpqua Bank and at Columbia River Bank.      Michelle Shooks of the financial services firm Edward Jones recently won the firm’s Triple Crown Award, which recognizes brokers for outstanding performance.      Bend Fire Department Deputy Chief Gary Marshall recently won the 2006 Golden Sparky Award from Oregon State Fire Marshall Nancy Orr. The Golden Sparky is the highest award given to fire service personnel by the State Fire Marshall and honors outstanding achievement in fire prevention and fire safety.      Connie Brooks and Daymond Lowdell have joined Spectrum Building & Restoration. Brooks is administrative assistant and has 13 years of experience in office management and retail accounting. Lowdell is an estimator. He has 10 years of experience in the construction industry in labor and management.      Colleen Armer recently joined the local office of the financial services firm Edward Jones, as a branch office administrator. She has lived in Bend for 20 years.      Columbia River Bank has promoted two persons to Vice President. They are A.J. Losoya, former Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of the Wall Street branch; and Kim Luckman, former Assistant Vice President and Branch Manager of the Third Street and Revere Avenue Branch. Both will continue to manage their respective branches.      Steve Shepherd of Smart Solutions is the recipient of the 2006 President’s Award presented by the Advertising Federation of Central Oregon. Business      For the seventh consecutive year, Sunriver Resort has earned the AAA Four Diamond designation as awarded by the American Automobile Association. Sunriver Resort is one of only 12 lodging properties in Oregon, and the lone one east of the Cascades, to receive the AAA Four Diamond rating for 2006. The AAA designation is the most recent honor to be bestowed on Sunriver Resort, which earlier this year was named a “Gold Medal” resort by GOLF Magazine, one of the “Top 50 Ski Resorts” by the readers of CondČ Nast Traveler, and one of the country’s “Top 10 Getaways for Family Togetherness” by Family Travel Forum.      Sortor Bushido Kai Karate congratulates Anna Schmitt, the July Student of the Month. She is a professional photographer and a college student studying general science and chemistry. She also is the mother of three boys, two of whom take karate as well. She will be tested for her yellow belt on July 8. Information: www.SortorKarate.com.      With the goal of increasing access to health care services, PacificSource Health Plans has donated $500 each to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon to sponsor “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” and to Healthy Beginnings to sponsor the Grin and Bear It Family Fun Run. PacificSource’s Healthy Communities Giving Program is designed to benefit nonprofit organizations that serve the Oregon communities in which PacificSource has members.      After conducting a request for proposal search, Deschutes County has chosen BestCare Treatment Services to fulfill services for its Drug Court program. The approximate contract amount will be $190,000.
Mount Bachelor Village Resort has implemented high-speed wireless Internet access throughout its property, including guest rooms, the pool and the convention center.      Umpqua Holdings Corporation, the parent company of Umpqua Bank and Strand, Atkinson, Williams & York, Inc., has completed the acquisition of California-based Western Sierra Bancorp. The merger adds the former Western Sierra Bancorp’s 31 Northern California branches to Umpqua Bank.      BendBroadband’s COTV-11 has launched “Cooking, Central Oregon Style” on Basic Cable Channel 11. The program is hosted and produced by Donna Britt, a nationally recognized broadcaster and published cookbook author. Each episode will air three times a week.      Northwest Crossing, Bend’s largest mixed-use community, has announced that Craftsman Homes will develop a townhome project called “Compass Park townhomes” on NW Crossing Drive.      Visuality, a design and print company, has published the 2006 edition of Central Oregon’s Best Map, providing the most up-to-date inventory of streets in Bend, Redmond and Sunriver in full color. The map is designed and produced locally and does not contain advertising. It is available at many convenient area locations.      Martha Murray Design now offers interior design services in addition to graphic design. It also has moved to a new location in the Old Mill District. Information: 330-5899.      Smart Solutions launched an average of one Web site every four days in 2005 and has increased that pace dramatically this year. Information: steve@smartz.com.      Ann Gates has purchased Coffee News of Oregon. For information regarding advertising in the publication, she can be reached at ann@coffeenewsoforegon.com or 480-9676. Organizations United Way of Deschutes County has added two new community partners, Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers and El Programa de Ayuda. Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers provides volunteers to help seniors and persons living with disabilities whose needs are unmet due to the absence of family, friends or funds. El Programa de Ayuda serves the Latino community in Deschutes Coounty by facilitating cross-cultural appreciation and understanding.      Awbrey Glen Golf Club recently hosted a pro-member fund-raiser that raised more than $3,000 for the Central Oregon Junior Golf Association. During the event, 10 local PGA golf professionals and 40 members of Awbrey Glen Golf Club played a scramble format golf tournament.      RE/MAX Equity Group Inc., with the help of the 2006 Leadership Bend class, raised $100,000 for Sparrow Clubs from their Central Oregon Wing Ding Gala and Golf Classic.      The Family Access Network has received a commitment from Brooks Resources for a $143,000 corporate sponsorships, to be used to sponsor a FAN site over the next five years at Bear Creek Elementary School.

Top of Page