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Banking & Finance

Fledgling venture fund makes first investments

After raising roughly $10 million, a startup venture fund in York has disclosed an inaugural round of investments.Martin Fedorko, left, and Alexa Born founded White Rose Ventures in 2020 (photo/submitted).White Rose Ventures has plowed $1.73 million into companies in Lancaster, Harrisburg and YorkThe firm also unveiled a nonprofit, Braided River Collective, designed to support entrepreneurs around the region.They […]

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Investor wants new board members for PeoplesBank parent

The war of words over a regional bank is morphing into a war over board seats.An activist investor is nominating three members to the board of Codorus Valley Bancorp, a trio of executives the investor believes would better represent the interests of shareholders.The investor, Abbott Cooper of New York hedge fund Driver Management, has been pushing since last summer for […]

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A look back at M&A in Central PA

The past year has been a busy one for mergers and acquisitions in Central Pennsylvania. Take a closer look at the action in this month-by-month recap for 2021. Unless otherwise indicated, the deal terms were not disclosed.January:U-GRO Learning Centres, a Derry Township-based preschool chain, was purchased by Michigan-based Learning Care Group, one of the country’s […]

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West Shore firm partners with Wells Fargo to distribute new credit-application tech

For nearly two decades, Cumberland County tech company Versatile Credit has been making it easier for businesses to offer in-store credit. Its latest device, called Snap Sign, makes it as easy as pointing a mobile phone at a plastic sign.The signs are a secure, contactless alternative to in-store kiosks, tablets or paper applications that typically […]

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Construction

Economy

entrepreneurship

Food

West Shore engineering firm acquired

Aiming for a bigger slice of business in Pennsylvania, an Ohio-based engineering firm has acquired Dawood Engineering, a firm based on the West Shore.The deal brings together two companies with complementary services and creates opportunities to build on them, according to Neil Churman, president and CEO of the Ohio-based buyer, Woolpert. Woolpert, for example, has a team that […]

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Investment Real Estate Group of Companies

Marq Agboyani has been named revenue manager at the Investment Real Estate Group of Companies, the York-based operator of Moove In Self Storage properties.The role entails streamlining back-office operations and providing management with the analytical support needed to make key business decisions. Other responsibilities include conducting market research, analyzing customer segments and implementing strategies as […]

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Utz Brands

Trevor Martin has been named senior vice president of investor relations for Utz Brands, the Hanover-based snack food company. Martin, who has nearly 20 years of investment management and consumer research experience, worked most recently for Victory Capital/RS Investment Management, a diversified global asset management firm. He has also worked as a research analyst at […]

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Ephrata National Bank

Jeffrey Stauffer is retiring from his role as president and CEO of Ephrata National Bank and its holding company, ENB Financial. Stauffer, who has led the bank since 2020, plans to step down effective Dec. 31, 2026. He will be succeeded by Rachel Bitner, the bank’s CFO.Bitner, 47, joined the Lancaster County bank in 2009 as a controller […]

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Where’s the data? Firms mum on York County data center plans

It’s been a week since New Jersey-based investment firm Energy Capital Partners announced it was planning a $5 billion data center in southern York County.But the precise location remains unknown, even to the manager of Peach Bottom Township, where the data center is widely expected to be built.“Your guess is as good as mine,” township manager Catherine […]

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New owners, new outlook for Lancaster contractor

Aimee Deraco hesitated when she was first approached about becoming chief executive of Brubaker Inc., a family-owned contractor in Lancaster County that was mulling a transition to employee ownership.She wasn’t sure, at first, what role would be played by the company’s then-owners, brothers Dave, Don and Gerry Brubaker. They had taken over the company from […]

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PSECU

Eduardo Santos has been named vice president of enterprise growth strategy and insights at PSECU, a Harrisburg-based credit union.Santos will oversee strategy, marketing analytics, experience analytics, market intelligence and deposit strategy in a bid to better understand the preferences of PSECU members and align growth efforts with what drives value.Santos, who has more than 20 […]

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Baüen Unlimited

Baüen Unlimited, a Lancaster County company overseeing a stable of construction firms, has promoted three executives.Samuel Ebersol has been named CEO of Baüen, succeeding Ed Ferderbar. Ferderbar had led the company since 2021.Ebersol who has more than 30 years of experience in construction and manufacturing, was most recently general manager of Mid-Atlantic Timberframes, one of […]

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FirstEnergy

Karen Kinslow has been named vice president of Pennsylvania operations for FirstEnergy, which has more than 2 million customers in the state. It is a mew position for the Ohio-based utility.She will oversee electricity delivery to customers and lead strategies designed to improve the customer experience, and she will report to John Hawkins, president of […]

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Demo approved, sites confirmed for Lancaster data centers

The dust is still settling on the flurry of announcements for massive data and energy projects proposed this week for Pennsylvania. Actual dust could soon start flying on one of those projects — a $6 billion data center investment in Lancaster.The city has issued demolition permits for the first phase of the project, according to city […]

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Harrisburg offices slated to become apartments

Harristown Enterprises, Select Capital Commercial Properties and Garden Spot Communities are teaming up to convert a former office building in downtown Harrisburg into apartments for people over 55. The roughly $10 million project aims to bring 39 apartments to the eight-story building, the former Veterans’ Building at 112 Market St.Harristown, a nonprofit developer based in Harrisburg, has been […]

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Slowdown prompts more layoffs for lumber company

Less than a month after deciding to close a lumber operation in northwestern Pennsylvania, Weaber Inc. is consolidating operations in Lebanon County and laying off 145 workers.The lumber company is vacating a distribution center at 25 Keystone Drive in South Annville Township and shifting work to its headquarters location at 1231 Mount Wilson Road, also in […]

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Big tech showering billions on local data, energy projects

Major tech companies yesterday disclosed billions of dollars in new investment in Central Pennsylvania, though some key details remain to be filled in.Data center giant CoreWeave said it plans to sink $6 billion into developing a data center in Lancaster in partnership with a company that recently acquired two former printing plants in the city. A New Jersey-based […]

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Stevens & Lee

Kevin Acklin has joined Stevens & Lee as a shareholder as part of the Reading-based law firm’s expansion into Pittsburgh. Acklin, who worked previously as president of business operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the firm’s first attorney fully based in the Steel City, where parent company The Stevens & Lee Companies opened an office earlier this […]

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Outdoor storage site on West Shore sold

Realterm, a real estate investment firm specializing in logistics and transportation-related properties, paid $5.1 million for a property at 6330 Basehore Road in Hampden Township, Cumberland County, according to county deed records. The seller was an affiliate of New Jersey-based Vineland Construction. The 8.1-acre site is used for outdoor storage and includes a 6,960-square-foot maintenance shop with […]

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Former manager sues Live over commissions

A company that managed the rock band Live during its 1990s heyday claims in a York County lawsuit that band members owe it tens of thousands of dollars in commissions.The company, Bethlehem-based Media Five, alleges it’s due more than $250,000 under agreements signed in 1990 and 1994, according to the lawsuit, filed in early July.The agreements allow Media […]

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Harrisburg University boosts tuition to meet rising costs

For the first time in 11 years, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is upping the cost for its undergraduates. Tuition is rising this fall to $12,300 per semester, up nearly 3% from the previous cost of $11,950. Why is this happening: The increase will help the university keep up with rising expenses, according to Ryan Riley, the university’s […]

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Government

Health Care

Inch appeals decision that nixed industrial development

An affiliate of real estate developer Inch & Co. is challenging a decision that reversed the zoning on a parcel of land it owns near Route 30 and Pennsylvania Avenue in Manchester Township, York County. Township officials rezoned the property in 2021 for industrial development. But after fierce public outcry and a challenge from the owner […]

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Court voids PA carbon-emission rules

A state court has tossed aside regulations that would have enrolled Pennsylvania in a multistate carbon-cutting program, regulations that were a climate-change priority for the former administration of Gov. Tom Wolf.At issue was whether the heart of the program — a market in which companies must buy credits to emit carbon — represented a fee or […]

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Court sides with solar firm in zoning battle

Gratz borough in Dauphin County failed to properly advertise a meeting where it set stricter zoning standards for solar energy systems even as a company was seeking permission to build a 17-megawatt project there.That was the ruling last week from a three-judge panel of Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, which upheld a 2022 decision by Dauphin County […]

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Developer loses appeal over denial of mixed-use project

A Lancaster County developer has lost its bid to overturn a zoning decision blocking a mixed-use development in Manheim Township.In a ruling this week, a county judge upheld the township’s denial of plans for Oregon Village, a proposed development that would bring housing, offices, shops and a hotel to a nearly 76-acre tract that currently […]

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Defamation claim raised in suit over fraud loss

Mid Penn Bank is firing back at claims it did not adequately protect a nonprofit from fraud.In a legal filing this month, the Harrisburg-based bank alleges that the Center for Independent Living of Central Pennsylvania harmed the bank’s reputation in a press release issued in February announcing a lawsuit against the bank. In the press release, the center claimed that […]

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October sale sought for beleaguered Harrisburg apartments

The bankrupt owners of an uptown Harrisburg apartment complex want to hire a firm that specializes in real estate liquidation to sell the property in an auction.In a motion filed in bankruptcy court, apartment owners Uptown Partners LP are seeking court approval to hire Hilco Real Estate LLC to oversee a sale of the complex, known as Governor’s Square.According to […]

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Suit aims to stop Centric merger

A shareholder of Centric Financial is seeking to block the Harrisburg-area bank’s planned merger into a western Pennsylvania bank.In a class-action lawsuit filed this month in Cumberland County court, shareholder Charles Reinhardt claims the $144 million deal undervalues Centric, which is based in Lower Paxton Township, Dauphin County.The lawsuit also takes aim at other terms of the deal […]

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Court ruling could prompt millions in corporate tax refunds

Thanks to a recent court ruling, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania could be on the hook for more than $100 million in tax refunds to businesses.The ruling came in a case that arose over provisions outlining how companies can use past losses to lower their tax bills.Some corporate taxpayers have claimed, successfully, that provisions that have […]

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Court rules local stormwater fee is a tax

West Chester University and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education do not have to pay an annual six-figure stormwater fee imposed by West Chester Borough.Why? Because Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court ruled yesterday that the fee is a tax — and state entities don’t have to pay taxes.In a lawsuit filed in 2018, the borough argued that the assessments are a […]

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York law firms link up

Three York-based law firms are becoming one in a merger slated to close Oct. 1.The firms are Blakey Yost Bupp & Rausch; Griest Himes Herrold Reynosa; and MPL Law Firm.“We all have great respect for each other and we have always worked well together even when on opposing sides,” said James Sanders, an attorney at MPL. “We decided that working […]

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Online retailers win sales-tax fight

A state court has sided with online retailers who say they are being unfairly targeted by Pennsylvania tax collectors.In a ruling Friday, Commonwealth Court blocked efforts by the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue to collect state sales and personal income taxes from the retailers, which sell their products through Amazon.At issue are back taxes the state had […]

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State ends appeal in medical cannabis recall

State health officials have dropped a legal action seeking to reinstate their controversial recall of medical marijuana vapes.The move before the state Supreme Court doesn’t end the legal fight. It simply means the Department of Health is no longer appealing a lower-court ruling that put the recall on holdNonetheless, it was welcomed by the medical cannabis […]

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Banks seek more time, info on Welkowitz deal

Local banks are telling a Lancaster County court that they need more time and information to assess a deal that would settle debts from the estate of the late developer Richard Welkowitz.The estate has proposed selling off its stake in ventures that own more than 5,000 ATMs for $13.8 million to a Lancaster-based private equity firm, Heller Capital […]

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Ollie’s hit with overtime lawsuits

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has joined a string of retailers accused of improperly denying overtime pay to people who hold management jobs in their stores.Two salaried employees in New York have filed lawsuits claiming Ollie’s should have paid them overtime since their duties were “virtually indistinguishable” from those of hourly workers.The suits, filed in a federal court […]

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Court rejects expanded view of prevailing-wage law

A state court has reversed a decision that could have added millions of dollars in costs to construction projects financed with bonds issued by municipal authorities.The ruling last week by Commonwealth Court revolved around interpretations of the state’s prevailing-wage law, which sets a minimum wage for workers on projects funded by public money.The case arose in […]

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Manufacturing

Marketing

Real Estate

Harsco Headquarters sold to local developer

As it gears up for a move to Philadelphia, Harsco has unloaded its longtime Wormleysburg headquarters this year for $4.3 million.However, the roughly 42,000 square-foot building will remain a corporate headquarters.A partnership that includes Lemoyne-based Rhodes Development Group bought the building and plans to move there, along with two of its operating divisions, according to Larry Kluger, president and CEO […]

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York-area office building sold for nearly $6M

Seeking a more modern office environment for its York-area staff, a Lancaster-based residential real estate firm is moving down the street.Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty bought an office building at 2600 Eastern Blvd. in Springettsbury Township and plans to move its staff there in mid to late September, according to Rod Messick, the firm’s CEO.Homesale Realty plans to […]

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Regional construction firm changes hands

When Seth Hughes first stepped onto a construction site as a teenager, he didn’t think about owning a construction company someday.But as his career advanced, it started to emerge as a goal, Hughes said.The goal is now a reality. Hughes has purchased Mechanicsburg-based Mowery Construction from its previous owner, David Cross. The pair began laying the groundwork for […]

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Former Harrisburg hospital for sale, eyed for apartments

A piece of Harrisburg history is on the market — and potentially headed for a makeover.Penn Center Harrisburg, the former Polyclinic Hospital campus, is being listed at an asking price of $22 million — and with a sketch plan showing the office property as an apartment complex.“I think that the office need in Harrisburg is low,” said Michael […]

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Regional real estate firms merge

One of the region’s largest residential real estate firms just got larger.As of July 12, Lancaster-based Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Homesale Realty has absorbed Brownstone Real Estate, adding two offices and 38 agents in Lebanon and Hershey.Terms of the merger were not disclosed.“After 51 years in business, it was important for us to join a company […]

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West Shore construction firm on the move

RLS Construction Group LLC is investing nearly $1.5 million to buy and remodel the former Hampden Township municipal building at 230 S. Sporting Hill Road.The new location in Cumberland County will allow the company to consolidate operations that are currently at two locations, said Bob Schopfer, owner, president and CEO of RLS Construction.The company has […]

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Developer lifts curtain on plans for federal building

A developer is filling in some of the details on its plans to transform the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in Harrisburg into “The Federal” — a 200-unit luxury apartment building crowned with a rooftop bar and a pair of restaurants.Developer Global Ocean Investments had already unveiled a goal of remaking the 250,000 square-foot building it […]

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New owners plan facelift for former Coakley’s

A staple of downtown New Cumberland is poised for a makeover.New owners have taken over a group of properties that include the former Coakley’s Restaurant and Irish Pub, which closed in 2014 after going bankrupt.Plans are still taking shape. But Kara Pierce said she and her partner, engineering executive Bill Tafuto, plan to invest about […]

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Brewery on tap for mixed-use project

Burkentine Builders is gearing up to finish a mixed-use project that will bring another brewery to southern York County.The Hanover-based builder held a topping-off ceremony April 25 for the roughly $5 million project, which is bringing two buildings totaling 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 20 apartments to the borough of New Freedom.Construction is […]

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Regional projects land $50M-plus in state funds

State officials on Friday unveiled more than $50 million in grants earmarked for projects around Central Pennsylvania, including a life sciences incubator in Lancaster, a hotel renovation on the West Shore and a park along the Codorus Creek in York.Other beneficiaries include Rock Lititz and the partnership developing a mixed-use apartment building near the new […]

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York-area firm buys former restaurant for new HQ

Doceo, a York-based technology services company, plans to move its headquarters this fall to a former Ruby Tuesday restaurant in York Township.The 6,000 square-foot space is larger than the 4,300 square feet the company currently rents in a multi-tenant building at 1499 S. Queen St. in Spring Garden Township, according to spokesperson Maya Miller. It […]

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York taps new developer for vacant industrial tract

A new developer is getting a crack at bringing life to a former industrial tract in York. At a meeting last week, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of York awarded a six-month option on a 4.4-acre site in the Northwest Triangle to Statewide Partners, a regional firm with offices in Harrisburg and York. Preliminary sketches from Statewide show […]

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Deal closes on Reagan building

A buyer has finalized the $10.01 million purchase of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in downtown Harrisburg.However, the buyer’s identity remains a mystery.A deed filed with Dauphin County lists the buyer as R.R.F. Building LLC,which has a tax billing address at a law firm in South Carolina.Efforts to reach the law firm, De Bruin Law, were not successful.The LLC […]

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