The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry was appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell as the business community's representative on the Governor's Working Group for Stimulus Accountability.

Gene Barr, PA Chamber Vice President of Government and Public Affairs, is representing the Chamber on the 11-member commission.

The governor announced the creation of the commission on Tuesday, March 31. Following the formal announcement, the group met for the first time.

The commission is charged with reviewing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act guidelines and reporting responsibilities to ensure the state's compliance with federal requirements for tracking and publicly reporting how the funding is spent.

In addition to the PA Chamber, the commission includes members of the four state legislative caucuses; the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation; and representatives of the AFL-CIO and United Way Pennsylvania.

Rendell also announced the appointment of Ronald Naples as Chief Accountability Officer for Pennsylvania, and chairman of the commission.

Naples has more than three decades of business and civic leadership experience, most recently at Quaker Chemical Corp. in Conshohocken, where he served as chief executive officer for 13 years.

The PA Chamber did not take an official position on the federal stimulus package, but welcomes the opportunity to serve on the oversight commission.

Pennsylvanians can track federal stimulus expenditures through a new website, www.Recovery.PA.gov. The online tracking system will be linked to the state's accounting system. Visitors to the site will also be able to offer input. Pennsylvania will receive about $16 billion in federal stimulus funding.