January 7-11, 2008
Membership Success Highlights
Year of Achievements for State
Chamber/AIA
The
beginning of a new year offers us not only a chance to look forward to the
challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, but also an occasion to look
back over the successes of the last 12 months. The State Chamber/AIA is
making a difference in
Arkansas
because of the investment and
participation of our members, and in 2007 we were able to dramatically
expand our programming resulting in an excellent
year.
Our
membership income has increased 56 percent; the total income increase for
2007 (membership increases plus non-dues income) was 70 percent; we
graduated our first class of Leadership Arkansas and recruited an
outstanding Class II; we more than doubled our number of Pinnacle members,
closing out the year with 67; and we conducted meetings, training and
planning sessions all across the state (more than 40 different cities) to
enhance our services – and, in turn, our relationships – with local
chambers and communities.
These
activities were all crucial to our success in the 2007 legislative session
where we were able to accomplish all of our
priorities.
As
we plan for the year ahead, we will build on the success of our key
events, partnerships, affiliations and legislative affairs activities,
keeping you informed with our first printed Membership
Directory & Buyers’ Guide and two new e-newsletters – Washington Watch and Industry
Insight.
All
of these actions support our focus on legislative affairs as it relates to
business, economic development and networking of our members. Your
continued investment enables us to aggressively engage in these activities
on behalf of the
Arkansas
business
community.
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Thanks to Our New
Members
Thanks
to the following companies and organizations that have recently joined the
State Chamber/AIA.
Arkansas
Developmental Finance Authority
Consolidated Insurance
Consultants
Fairfield Inn of
North Little
Rock
Goff
Distribution
Hanson Pipe & Precast,
Inc.
Manpower
Mark V. Williamson Company,
Inc.
National
Center
for
Toxicological Research
Powers of
Arkansas
Residence Inn of
North Little
Rock
Sherwin Williams Paint
Company
Turnage Employment Services
Group
Vanadis 3 Companies,
LLC
Williams & Dean Assoc.
Architects
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Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp.,
Harps Food Stores Attain Pinnacle Status
We
are pleased to announce that Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. (AOG) of
Fort Smith
and Springdale-based Harps Food Stores, Inc. have each increased their
investments and are now State Chamber/AIA Pinnacle members. Harps is now
at the Peak level and AOG is at the Crown level.
Our
Pinnacle members are helping make the state a better place to live and
conduct business by supplying the leadership and financial support
necessary for the State Chamber/AIA to effectively represent the
Arkansas
business community.
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Important New Tax Laws Take
Effect January 1, 2008
Several
new tax laws became effective in
Arkansas
on New Year’s Day. The most
notable being the package of bills making
Arkansas
a part of the nationwide
Streamlined Sales Tax Program (SSTP), which is intended to eventually
require out-of-state vendors to collect sales and use tax on Internet and
catalog sales.
Arkansas
adopted its original package of bills in 2003, but most, if not all, of
the package has been delayed. The State Chamber/AIA supported bills in
sessions since 2003 to delay implementation of SSTP laws because they
remove local sales tax caps, which would have resulted in an unintended
tax increase to the business community. To protect businesses from this
unintended tax increase, the State Chamber/AIA encouraged the legislature
to pass Act 179 of 2007, which provides a rebate procedure for business
transactions.
The
State Chamber/AIA Tax Committee has been monitoring information provided
by the State Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) regarding
these changes to the state’s sales tax laws. DFA has not yet issued a
draft of their proposed rules but did issue a report to provide guidance
on the changes.
In
addition to the removal of the local sales tax caps, two other significant
changes are now effective. One is a revised definition of “single
transaction” and the other changes the “sourcing” used to determine the
local jurisdiction that is permitted to impose local sales taxes on a
transaction.
“Single
transaction” is now uniformly defined as any sale of tangible personal
property or a taxable service reflected on a single invoice which an
aggregate sales or use tax amount has been paid. This eliminates local
definitions adopted by each local taxing jurisdiction that, for example,
treated each daily sale of electricity through a meter as a single
transaction; and should result in tax savings for large users of
electricity.
Retailers,
service providers, lessors and other similar businesses should be aware
that as of Jan. 1, local sales taxes must be charged based upon the point
of delivery (destination sourcing) rather than the point of sale. This
will require sellers to be prepared to apply local sales taxes based on
where the customer takes possession of the items
purchased.
We
join DFA in encouraging businesses to familiarize themselves with the
recently effective changes in
Arkansas
law that affect their business.
Here is a list of business operations from DFA that will have their
reporting impacted by the changes:
·
Delivery
of merchandise to customers
·
Sales
by meter and route delivery
·
Florists
·
Taxable
services performed in
Arkansas
·
Rental
or lease of tangible personal property
·
Rental
or lease of motor vehicles, trailers, semi-trailers or
aircraft
·
Taxable
services purchased from out-of-state vendors for use in the state of
Arkansas
·
Elimination
of city and county local tax caps
·
Rebates
or refunds of local tax paid to the seller
·
Refunds
for tax collected for construction contracts when there is a rate
change
·
Refunds
for tax collected for eligible timber harvesting
equipment
·
Bad
debt write offs
If
you have additional questions, please call DFA’s Taxpayer Services Unit at
501-682-7104. You may also contact the Department of Finance and
Administration for a written legal opinion concerning specific
transactions if needed. To request a written legal opinion, contact the
Office of Revenue Legal Counsel at
P.O. Box 1272
,
Little
Rock
,
AR
72203
. You should also consider
whether the changes create a situation so complex that you will need to
seek advice from a tax attorney or other tax
professional.
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State Chamber/AIA Tax
Committee Files Comments with DFA on Act 185
In
early December the state Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)
issued draft permanent rules for Act 185 of 2007, which reduces the sales
and use tax rate on natural gas and electricity purchased by
Arkansas
manufacturers for use directly in their manufacturing
process.
The
State Chamber/AIA Tax Committee met on Dec. 12 to discuss issues with the
draft rules. State Chamber/AIA Executive Vice President
Kenny Hall
and Tax Counsel Mike Parker were
authorized to draft comments and present them to DFA. Hall and Parker
presented the comments in person to John Theis, Assistant Revenue
Commissioner for the DFA, and again at a public hearing hosted by Theis
and DFA on Dec. 18.
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State Chamber/AIA Forms
National Issues Committee
The
State Chamber/AIA has formed a new National Issues Committee to review and
prioritize issues that we will address on the federal level as we develop
a national agenda. The committee will hold its first meeting at 1:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 24, in the Bob Lamb Conference Room of the State
Chamber/AIA Building in
Little
Rock
.
Ray
Bracy, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Wal-Mart Stores,
Inc., has agreed to serve as chairman of this committee. Some of the
issues we expect the committee to help us consider include labor
relations, immigration taxes, tort reform, global economics, energy,
healthcare, transportation and infrastructure, and human
resources.
If
you have an interest in national issues and how they affect your company,
please consider becoming a part of this group and make plans to
participate in the first meeting. Let us know by contacting
Deb Mathis
at 501-210-4212 or dmathis@arkansasstatechamber.com.
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Reserve an Ad in the 2008 Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide
There’s
still time to reserve an ad in the 2008 State Chamber/AIA Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide. But time is of the essence. The
deadline to reserve an ad is Jan. 15.
The
2008 State Chamber/AIA Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide will be an excellent resource guide
for the
Arkansas
business community. It will
feature a full-color section with important resource information about
businesses in
Arkansas
, governmental affairs, economic
development, leadership and State Chamber partnerships, as well as
services and benefits to members.
Each
member will be listed along with the type of business and contact
information. This is your opportunity to promote and market your business
to more than 1,000 businesses and organizations throughout
Arkansas
, and it
will be a prime method for members to utilize
referrals.
For
information on advertising, call the State Chamber/AIA office at
501-372-2222 or contact one of the following:
Jeff Thatcher
at jthatcher@arkansasstatechamber.com;
Bill Watson at bwatson@arkansasstatechamber.com;
Marcus Turley
at mturley@arkansasstatechamber.com or
Susie Marks
at
smarks@arkansasstatechamber.com
.
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Reach the Top Total Resource
Campaign Update
Thanks
to recent sales efforts as part of our Reach the Top Total Resource
Campaign, we have passed the $40,000 mark in sales for our 2008 State
Chamber/AIA Membership
Directory and Buyers’ Guide, and we’re at 60 percent of our
goal in sponsorships for the Leadership Arkansas Class II session at
Pine
Bluff
.
We
really appreciate all the terrific work by everyone involved in the
campaign on sales of memberships, advertising, sponsorships and membership
investment upgrades, and we are grateful for the response from our members
in making this campaign successful.
If
you have questions about the campaign or the products and sponsorship
opportunities being offered, please don’t hesitate to contact
Susie Marks
(smarks@arkansasstatechamber.com)
or
Bill Paddack
(bpaddack@arkansasstatechamber.com).
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Pine
Bluff
Next Stop for Leadership
Arkansas
Class II
Members
of the curriculum committee have outlined an informative agenda on
agriculture and the Southeast Arkansas economy for the next Leadership
Arkansas Class II session, which is scheduled for Jan. 31 - Feb. 1 in
Pine
Bluff
.
Sponsorships
for the session are still available. Partner sponsorships at $1,000
include an invitation to a reception and dinner with class members,
signage at the event and inclusion in the promotional and printed
materials for the session. Presenting sponsorships at $2,500 include all
of the above plus an opportunity to present during the session and an
opportunity to place a company brochure or message in the participants’
notebooks.
We
wish to thank the following companies for already committing to sponsor
this session: Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Arkansas Farm Bureau,
Entergy
Arkansas
,
Jefferson
Regional
Medical
Center
,
National
Center
for Toxicological Research,
the Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission, Pine Bluff National
Bank, Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel and Simmons First National
Bank.
Leadership
Arkansas Class II is sponsored by
Southern
Bancorp
.
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Make Plans Now for Our
Washington
Fly-In
The
State Chamber/AIA’s annual Washington Fly-In and Congressional Dinner is
scheduled for April 26-29.
This
governmental affairs activity provides an excellent opportunity for
productive contact with members of our congressional delegation and their
staffs. We meet and greet our senators and representatives at their
offices, at luncheons and at the reception and dinner on Monday evening,
April 28.
The
Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in
Arlington
,
Va.
, will once again serve as our
headquarters. Click here for our calendar and to access hotel and contact information for the
event.
Room
reservations at the Crystal Gateway may be made by calling 703-920-3230 or
1-800-228-9290. We have an excellent rate of $195 (single or double). Be
sure to mention the special rate and that you are with the Arkansas State
Chamber of Commerce group when calling. The deadline to make hotel
reservations is on or before April 3.
Registration
materials will be sent soon and posted on our Web site.
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2008 Board Meeting Schedule
Announced
The
State Chamber/AIA has scheduled the dates for board meetings in 2008. All
board meetings will be held in the State Chamber/AIA Bob Lamb Conference
Room unless otherwise indicated.
2008
Board Meetings:
Thursday,
Jan. 24, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday,
March 27, 3:30 p.m.
Monday,
April 28, in conjunction with the Washington Fly-In, Crystal Gateway
Marriott,
Arlington
,
VA
Thursday,
June 26 in conjunction with Leadership Arkansas in Northwest Arkansas,
Holiday Inn /
Northwest
Arkansas
Convention Center
,
Springdale
Thursday,
Sept. 25, 3:30 p.m.
In
conjunction with the Annual Meeting in October
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Attorney General Offers
Interpretation of New Workers’ Comp Law
In
response to a request from State Senator Bobby Glover, an opinion from
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel offers interpretation of a new
law from the 2007 legislative session affecting workers’ compensation
coverage requirements of residential building contractors. As reported in
the Arkansas
Legislative Digest, McDaniel said that residential building
contractors are required to maintain a basic worker’s compensation policy
to be licensed, even if they have no employees and have elected to exclude
themselves from coverage.
A
bulletin issued by the Residential Building Contractors Committee advises
the change in law was made to ensure that “a policy of workers’
compensation insurance is present on every job.” It further notes a
contractor with no employees and excluding himself from coverage may
purchase a “minimum premium policy” with no payroll shown. However, such
policies are still audited for payroll activity.
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Thanks to Our Pinnacle
Members
We wish to express special
thanks to all of our Pinnacle investors, the respected companies that
support the State Chamber/AIA at the highest annual investment levels. We
appreciate all that they do for us.
APEX
ALLTEL
Corporation
Entergy
Arkansas, Inc.
Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc.
SUMMIT
Chesapeake
Energy, Inc.
Cox
Communications
Cranford
Johnson
Robinson Woods
Tyson
Foods, Inc.
PEAK
ARVEST
Bank
AT&T
Arkansas
CenterPoint
Energy Southern Gas
Electric
Cooperatives of
Arkansas
FedEx
Freight - East
Georgia-Pacific
Corp.
Harps Food
Stores, Inc.
Kraft
Foods
Oaklawn
Jockey Club
Pathfinder
Exploration, LLC
Petrohawk
Energy Corporation
SemGroup,
L.P.
Southern Bancorp, Inc.
Southland
Park
Southwestern
Energy Company
Weyerhaeuser
Company
Windstream
Corporation
XTO Energy,
Inc.
CROWN
Acxiom
Corporation
AEP/Southwestern
Electric Power Co.
Albemarle
Corporation
Alta
Resources, LLC
American
Greetings Corporation
American
Insurance Association
Arkansas
Blue Cross
and Blue Shield
Arkansas
Employees
Federal Credit Union
Arkansas
Farm
Bureau Federation
Arkansas
Oklahoma Gas Corp.
Arkansas
Western Gas Co.
Bank of the
Ozarks, Incorporated
Clorox
Company
Deltic
Timber Corp.
Dynegy
Entegra
Power Group LLC
Farm Bureau
Mutual Insurance Company of Arkansas,
Inc.
Forest Oil
Corporation
Glad
Manufacturing/a Clorox Company
Golden
Ventures
International
Paper Company
Kimberly-Clark
Corporation
Lion Oil
Metropolitan
National Bank
Murphy Oil
Corp.
Nabholz
Construction Corp.
Nucor-Yamato
Steel
OG+E
Pfizer
Pharmaceuticals
Philander
Smith
College
Pinnacle
Foods
Potlatch
Forest Products Corp.
Rheem Air
Conditioning Division
Riceland
Foods Inc.
Signature
Bank of
Arkansas
State Farm
Insurance – Public Affairs
Stephens
Inc.
Storm Cat
Energy
Suez
Energy
North
America
The Clorox
Company
The Trane
Company
US
Bank
Wright
Lindsey & Jennings
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Calendar of
Events
Jan. 24 State Chamber/AIA Board Meeting
State
Chamber
Building
, 3:30
p.m.
Little
Rock
Jan. 31 – Feb. 1 Leadership
Arkansas
Class II
Session
Agriculture and
Southeast Arkansas
Economy and Issues
Pine
Bluff
Feb. 4 – 5 ACCE Mini-Institute
Little
Rock
March 20 – 21 Leadership
Arkansas
Class II
Session
Economic Development and Manufacturing
Fort
Smith
March 27 State Chamber/AIA Board Meeting
State
Chamber
Building
, 3:30
p.m.
Little
Rock
April 26 – 29 Annual
Washington
Fly-In and Congressional
Dinner
Crystal Gateway Marriott
Arlington
,
Virginia
May 22 – 23 Leadership
Arkansas
Class II
Session
Education and
Northeast Arkansas
Economy
Jonesboro/Paragould
June 3 Annual Small Business Awards Luncheon
Embassy Suites Hotel, 11:45 a.m.
Little
Rock
June 26 – 27 Leadership
Arkansas
Class II
Session
Northwest Arkansas
Economy/Infrastructure Challenges
Fayetteville/Springdale
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