NJAPEO
The New Jersey Association of Professional
Employer Organizations
Year 2003
Self
Assessment:
The New Jersey Chapter (NJAPEO)
has made tremendous strides during the past several years concerning employer
recognition and registration. Our registration bill was passed in December
2001, and in 2002 the legislation was enacted. (Read
Newsrelease) Members have worked extremely hard in complying with the
legislation, and have filed their Initial Registrations for 2002. Our
continued efforts must now focus on seeing through the proper implementation
of the registration bill.
Our
website at www.njapeo.org is up and
running. You will find our Mission Statement, by-laws, a schedule of events,
and current information on specific issues affecting the PEO industry.
You may email us at info@njapeo.org.
The
chapter now needs to set its sites on new goals for 2003 and beyond.
Strategic Plan:
NJAPEO, although not large, has
matured as a chapter and includes approximately twenty (20) members. We are
large enough to accomplish our goals through the committee process. Government
Affairs will continue as a committee to monitor activities in the state and
provide any offensive and defensive postures. This will include continued
meetings with the Department of Banking and Insurance and the Department of
Labor. As you are aware, our industry faced a serious threat with
the new classifications in New Jersey Corporate Business Tax. Our team of
professionals was successful in resolving this very complex issue. Recently,
the State of New Jersey Department of Treasury confirmed the position that
PEO’s which file under the agency approach federally, will also be permitted
to do so for the New Jersey Alternative Minimum Assessment (AMA).
However, we still have concerns that the NJCBT/AMA may be extended to S
Corporations so we will be monitoring this area very closely.
There is much to be accomplished,
but most importantly, NJAPEO must narrow its focus to those specific areas
that will most benefit our industry. First, the Chapter has determined that continued growth and
increasing the recognition of the industry in New Jersey is important. Second,
increasing member participation and recruiting new members is critical to our
future efforts. Finally, there is growing concern among NJAPEO members that
healthcare insurers may be restricting the availability of coverage and
unreasonably increasing the cost of large group health care coverage for New
Jersey PEOs. NJAPEO needs to
concentrate its efforts on changing this direction.
The “Funding / Education / Public
Relations” Committee will continue to investigate and recommend alternate
sources of income for the Chapter. Since
we recognize that continuing education provides value and enhanced credibility
for our members, we will work with other regional associations to expand the
scope of our programs and training. Member education will take the form of
mini-courses and educational seminars. Our public relations focus will be to
improve the awareness, recognition and authenticity of the PEO industry in the
state. A strong public relations effort is crucial to combat any negative and
competitive stance against PEO’s. We
will form a Political Action Committee (PAC) this year to assist in
representing our industry in Trenton and Washington.
The Membership Committee will
focus its attention on increasing the participation of current members. A
concerted effort will be made to recruit new members, as well as Associate
Members, who do not participate in NAPEO or NJAPEO. The Membership Committee
will work closely with “Education” to provide incentive and value for
those considering membership.
The “Health Insurance Policy Committee” will work with our regional
counterparts to consider the likelihood that the health insurance industry may
lobby the new administration to force PEO’s to utilize the Small Insurance
Health Program. If this movement
were successful, PEO’s would be forced to rate each company individually and
to provide individual administration of each policy. This plan would have
tremendous impact on the economies of scale and buying power provided by the
PEO. This committee will also
closely monitor the efforts by insurance agencies looking to require the
licensing of our business development representatives.
In summary, the year 2003 promises to be very busy for the New Jersey Chapter.
Our Strategic Plan will:
1.)
Identify additional sources of revenue.
2.)
Expand our current member participation and attract new members.
3.)
Expand our PEO education program to members.
4.)
Establish a competitive health care environment for New Jersey PEO’s.
5.)
Work with our regional partners in New York and Pennsylvania to
accomplish the aforementioned goals.
Respectfully Submitted,
Thomas J. Cioffe,
President
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