The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce (formerly the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce) serves the following counties in the Wyoming Valley – Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming Counties.
The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce is a non-partisan organization. It will identify challenges and potential solutions to problems faced by businesses in the community that they serve. Solutions will be derived from public policy analysis, data, and best practices in other states or communities. Solutions will not be based on party ideology or partisan politics.
The Council will not advocate or support any elected official at any level of government in any way in their attempt to seek elected positions. The Committee will not engage in lobbying, fundraising or any other activity that may appear partisan in nature or outside the scope of advocacy and information sharing.
The goal of the Government Affairs Council for 2021 is to provide quality information to the members of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber through online applications and events, customized to meet the demands identified through segmented surveys. In addition, the GAC will continue to work with the Scranton Chamber, and other chambers, to provide regional programming that benefits the entire region of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern PA.
The sole purpose of the council is to support its members by voicing the challenges and opportunities the face doing business in the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania to the appropriate elected officials, seek to identify potential legislative solutions, and to provide members with information on issues, elected officials, and information to educate themselves.
The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Council will continue to provide relevant information pertaining to local, state, and federal elected officials, departments, and agencies on the Chamber website. Information will be linked to external sites and available in one stream-lined system. The information posted will include: Legislative Multimedia News, Local Resources, State Resources, Federal Resources, and a Meet Your Legislator tab. Chamber members will have the opportunity to access this information to remain current on issues and topics concerning the region and/or industry.
The Chamber will host quarterly meetings with the other chambers beginning in March 2021. This regional collaborative approach is a benefit to our members since most local businesses draw employees, customers and vendors regionally. The meetings will include discussion on issues, relevant policy changes, developing the 101 series and initiating appropriate follow up information and advocacy. Finally, it will include the development of the survey, review of findings and development of next steps including a formal agenda.
In addition, the Chamber will invite members of city and county councils, their respective administrations, and our state and federal delegations to participate. Â Members and their designees will be invited to participate in all government affairs meetings to hear about the issues and to discuss current legislation and potential solutions. These elected officials and their designees are ex officio members of the committee and are not voting members.