Message from the CEO: Moving Business Forward

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has published its emergency temporary standard (ETS) that will require private-sector employers with 100 or more workers are vaccinated against COVID-19. If employers do not want to require employees to get vaccinated, they have the option to allow those unvaccinated employees to submit a weekly negative COVID test and follow masking requirements when working indoors. The ETS preempts state laws such as those that ban employers from requiring masks or vaccinations. For more information about the ETS order, click here. To ensure our members have the latest information related to the ETS order, and how this will impact those affected businesses, the Chamber will be hosting a Workshop on Tuesday, November 16, starting at 11:00 am. This workshop will be led by Meredith Plummer, an attorney in the Labor and Employment practice group with Gunster. To register for the workshop, click here

The School District of Palm Beach County has returned to allowing parents the ability to opt their child out of wearing a facial covering in school. Going into effect yesterday morning, parents who had previously sent in letters opting their child out of wearing a mask are not required to send in a new letter. For more information on the District’s mask policy, click here.

Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate is currently 4.1% and continues to be lower than the state and national rate. September’s data shows the number of people coming back into the workforce is up 14% compared to a year ago. In an effort to continue to keep the unemployment rate moving in the right direction, the Chamber is holding a Virtual Career Fair on Wednesday, November 17 from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm. Participating businesses will have their own virtual booth with the ability to showcase their brand and work culture by adding images, documents, videos, unlimited job postings and access to live reporting and post-event reports. In addition, each business will be able to view exactly who has visited their booth, view all attendees’ resumes and invite attendees to speak in a private chatroom or video to conduct on-the-spot interviews. For more information or to register, click here.

Boynton Beach entrepreneurs and innovators are invited to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) Entrepreneur’s Open House at Boynton Beach City Hall on November 10, from 5:30 to 7:00 pm. During the open house, visitors will have the chance to learn more about all the entrepreneurial resources available to the community as well as meet and network with representatives from FAU’s Tech Runway, The FAU Wave, National Science Foundation I-Crops at FAU and Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at FAU. To register for this free event, click here.

I look forward to seeing you Thursday at our November monthly membership breakfast at the Marriott at Boca Center. Sponsored by Florida Power and Light, join us as we hear from Mike Sole, FPL’s Vice President of Environmental Services. Mike’s background includes serving as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and overseeing Florida’s environmental regulatory programs. As a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps, serving during the Gulf War, we could not have asked for a better speaker than Mike to speak on Veterans Day. To register, click here.

Looking for a quick way to find an event, register for an event, and receive pop-up notifications of important Chamber, County, City of Boca Raton, and City of Boynton Beach information? Download the Boca Chamber App – found on the App Store and Google Play Store. Keep your Chamber at the tip of your fingers! You can also stay up to date on all Chamber activities by visiting us at bocachamber.com.

We continue to provide you with valuable in-person and virtual experiences. Most virtual programs are recorded and available for you to access on the Boca Chamber’s YouTube Channel. Hit the subscribe button to find out when new content is posted on our channel.

Below is a list of our upcoming in-person and virtual experiences:

11/11 – 7:45 a.m. In-Person Monthly Membership Breakfast