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SALEM – When it launches in mid-2017, the Oregon Retirement Savings Plan will benefit hundreds of thousands of workers and businesses. To help design the plan, input is being sought from employers statewide. “This is an opportunity to help shape the best possible plan for employers and workers, and help every Oregonian build toward a more secure future,” said State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, the chairman of the Oregon Retirement Savings Board. The current opportunity to engage is an online survey, which can be found here. In addition, a sampling of employers and sole proprietors who volunteer will participate in a wide-ranging interview with researchers from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The survey is targeted toward employers who do not offer their own workplace retirement plans, and gathers information about why they don’t currently offer a plan, such as cost or complexity. Owners and any workers at those […]

The April, 2016 issues of Cessna Flyer Magazine and Piper Flyer Magazine feature an expansive and detailed article about Florence and the surrounding Oregon Coast area as a great destination for general aviation pilots, their families and business associates. The article, written by aviation author and pilot, Dan Pimentel of Celeste/Daniels Advertising and Design, makes note of the many “too much to do in just one day” activities and events that are waiting for private pilots flying into the Florence Municipal Airport. View or download as PDF here “I wanted to spotlight Florence as a great flight destination for pilots,” Pimentel said, “because as a pilot, we are always looking for new places to point our airplanes. Pilots and airplane owners have sufficient disposable income to spend at interesting destinations, and with so much to do in Florence, it was a very attractive place to suggest for pilots to visit. […]

Our beautiful city will continue to host thousands of guests for the 109th Rhododendron Festival. Every business in town has the opportunity to greet the visitors with fabulous first impression window displays at their location and enter our contest for the best display. With 108 previous Festivals, you have some great history to draw upon or be truly innovative and create your own unique theme for Catch the Wave! Entice customers into your store while we celebrate with your best window display. Need some tips, take a look here. Download the form below for all of the details. Window Display Contest Form Master  

Pose the survey question: What is the best Oregon Coast getaway and folks will respond with great enthusiasm…Florence. We know this because oregonlive.com asked that exact question and we rose to the top exceptionally fast. All of the other cities were actually entered in the survey 48 hours before Florence was, so we really needed to hustle to encourage people to let the world know how much they love Florence as a getaway. Thanks to Scott Steward of Creative Wave Marketing, a Chamber Member, the survey was brought to the attention of the Chamber’s marketing partner, Celeste/Daniels Advertising and Design. They teamed to promote the survey through social media and even with a few emails and texts to folks they knew loved to getaway in Florence. It is really fabulous to read over 115 positive remarks about how much people relish visiting Florence and how proud they are to vote […]

Portland Family Magazine author Candice Tutterrow just published a great article telling the enjoyable story of her family’s recent trip to Florence, which she calls one of the “best places” anyone can visit on the Oregon Coast. In the article, Tutterrow describes the scenic drive south down Highway 101, with a stop at Sea Lion Caves and a visit to Heceta Head Lighthouse and State Park. After arriving for their overnight lodging at Driftwood Shores where she enjoyed the indoor water feature, her family set out the next day to explore the city and surrounding area. She writes: “The town of Florence is a balanced mix of modern and classic. With a population of about 9,000, Florence is big enough to have convenient stores like Fred Meyer, but still retains its small-town feel. What a surprise it was to find a vintage A & W operating with car hops and […]

Each year, Florence Area Chamber of Commerce members meet to celebrate the most notable and influential business leaders and volunteers in the Florence, Oregon community at the Siuslaw Business Awards banquet. The 2015 awards – presented at the Florence Events Center on Wednesday, January 20th – again filled the room with a capacity crowd as the year’s winners were announced. After a dinner catered by Homegrown Public House, Chamber President Jenna Bartlett began the night’s program by presenting Key 2015 Chamber moments. During her presentation, which described the Chamber’s positive momentum in several areas, Jenna surprised Cal Applebee, the Chamber’s Executive Director, with the year’s Distinguished Service Award as recognition for his five years of service to the Chamber. Cal is retiring from the position February 26th, 2016, and following presentations by Jenna, Mike Rose, Cindy Wobbe, and Lisa Walter-Sedlecek, Cal was given a warm standing ovation for a job […]

The winners of the Commercial and Residential LED Holiday Light Display Contest have been announced. Here are the winners for both contests, along with the street addresses of all contestants so you can enjoy the displays during the Holiday season: Commercial Category: 1st Place – Premier Landscaping, 812 Quince Street 2nd Place – Edwin K Bed & Breakfast, 1155 Bay Street 3rd Place – TR Hunter Real Estate, 1749 Hwy 101 Additional commercial contestants: Old Town T Shirt Co. – 1341 Bay Street Backstreet Gallery – 1421 Bay Street Hair Works Co. – 519 Hwy 101 Residential Category: 1st Place – Terry Anderson – 04742 Sea Breeze Lane 2nd Place – J.R. Gray – 1072 8th Street  3rd Place – Simon Moore – 84367 Clear Lake Rd. Additional residential contestants: 1691 2nd St. Space 18 1710 Pine Court 3478 No. Rhododendron 638 Siano Lp 1750 16th Street 1569 Maple Street […]

The December 2nd issue of the Siuslaw News’ Business Beat section featured news about the launching of the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce’s new website at florencechamber.com, along with a full page of coverage of Chamber news and happenings. In their “New Chamber Website Debuts!” article was information for members to attend a second Tutorial training session on December 10th at the next Noon Forum, held at Best Western starting at 11:45 a.m. Click here to read this issue of Business Beat as PDF.