Paul Landers has been named CFO of Cumberland County. A resident of Mount Holly Springs, Landers succeeds Dana Best, who was elected county controller for a four-year term starting in January. Landers worked most recently as budget services director for Lancaster County. Before that, Landers worked as a resource analyst/accounting chief while serving in the […]
After more than two years operating under a shared nonprofit umbrella, WITF and LNP Media Group are poised to go their separate ways. Parent organization Pennon has agreed to donate LNP LancasterOnline and its sister publications covering Ephrata and Lititz to a new nonprofit, Always Lancaster, headed by veteran journalist David Greene. The name Always Lancaster reflects a tagline previously used by […]
A federal lawsuit is scaring away potential investors in a controversial hydropower project proposed along the Susquehanna River in southern York County. That’s one of the takeaways from a report on the project’s progress since it was awarded a preliminary permit just over a year ago. The lawsuit, filed by environmental groups critical of the project’s […]
Craig Kauffman has been named to the board of western Pennsylvania-based CB Financial Services Inc. and its chief operating subsidiary, Community Bank, effective Nov. 20. Kauffman is the former president and CEO of York-based PeoplesBank parent Codorus Valley Bancorp, which he led through an acquisition in 2024 by Orrstown Financial, based in Swatara Township, Dauphin County. Kauffman was in line to become CEO […]
Robert Ortenzio is looking to put the rehab company he cofounded with his late father back into private hands. Ortenzio proposed this week to buy out shareholders in Select Medical Corp., which is based in Mechanicsburg but operates healthcare facilities around the U.S. In a letter to the company’s board, Ortenzio described himself as “uniquely positioned” […]
Lancaster-based Fulton Financial Corp. has agreed to buy a New Jersey bank in a deal poised to expand Fulton’s business in lucrative markets outside New York City. The all-stock deal for Rutherford, New Jersey-based Blue Foundry Bancorp is valued at $243 million and expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. The combined bank would do business […]
Trucking company Keen Transport is laying off at least 50 workers from its terminal at 1951 Harrisburg Pike in Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, due to a business restructuring, according to a notice filed last week with state and local officials. The layoffs are slated to begin on or after Jan. 20, according to Keen, which […]
When Brian Carson moved on this year from Lancaster County-based flooring manufacturer AHF Products, a press release described his six-year tenure as “highly successful.” The former CEO’s departure is proving highly litigious. Carson, AHF Products, the company’s current private equity owners and its former owner are embroiled in a series of lawsuits filed in the wake […]
Victoria Perez has joined accounting and advisory firm Brown Plus as an audit senior manager. Perez worked most recently at a Big Four accounting firm, where she was involved in a range of audit, assurance and advisory engagements, including Sarbanes-Oxley readiness and internal control assessments. She specializes in accounting and audits of property and casualty […]
The U.S. Department of Transportation is threatening to withhold $75 million in federal highway funding earmarked for Pennsylvania after accusing the state of illegally issuing commercial driver’s licenses to what the agency describes as “dangerous foreign drivers.” The warning comes days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested an illegal immigrant from Uzbekistan who was […]
Couscous manufacturer US Durum Products is shifting operations from a facility in suburban Lancaster to a plant in Harrisburg that it bought last year for $4.25 million. The company is also spending on new equipment to boost volume and streamline its supply chain for a total investment of just over $8 million. The Pennsylvania Department of […]
A York-area warehouse with several tenants changed hands this week at a price of $13.2 million. The seller was an affiliate of Stewart Properties, part of the York-based Stewart Companies group. The buyer was Opes Capital, a Camp Hill-based real estate investment fund that formed at the beginning of 2025. The off-market deal was facilitated by Michael Curran, president and […]
Morgan Harker has joined Boyer & Ritter as a senior associate in the State College office of the accounting and professional services firm. Harker previously worked as a staff auditor for a statewide accounting firm, where she evaluated clients’ internal controls, prepared returns and audited financial statements. She also managed the firm’s social media and […]
Travis Oot has been named a partner at Lancaster-based accounting and professional services firm Trout CPA effective Dec. 1. He brings the firm’s partnership group to 20. Oot joined Trout in 2015 after earning a bachelor’s degree from York College. He has worked in the firm’s advisory group for hospitality, funeral homes and crematories, as well as its transaction […]
The team at The Pretzel Co. almost missed the email sent in June by a producer with Oprah Winfrey. But a sharp-eyed customer service rep, Cecilia Mahon, flagged it amid the flood of marketing and other emails arriving in the company’s general inbox. Company co-owner Philip Given looked up the producer on LinkedIn and realized it […]
ENB Financial Corp., parent of Ephrata National Bank, is planning to consolidate operations in its hometown, which are spread across four locations, according to spokesperson Craig Rodenberger. The consolidation includes construction of a new office next to the bank’s existing headquarters in the Lancaster County borough. The site is home to the former Wenger Feed Mill, […]
At a press conference yesterday, Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace unveiled an agreement between the city and Chirisa Technology Parks, the Virginia-based company spearheading development of data centers on the site of former printing plants in the city. The 32-page community benefits agreement requires Chirisa to meet standards in areas such as noise, power and water usage for […]
Hanover-based food processor Hanover Foods Corp. has agreed to pay a civil penalty and take other measures to settle water pollution claims lodged by a regional environmental group and echoed by state and federal regulators. The Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association sued Hanover Foods in 2021 in federal court over wastewater discharges. State and federal regulators joined the suit […]
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 […]
A growing number of companies cannot take advantage of one of Pennsylvania’s most popular tax-credit programs.
UPMC is facing a class-action lawsuit filed by a respiratory therapist who claims she was misclassified as an independent contractor when she worked at the health system’s Harrisburg hospital in 2022. The suit, filed last week in an Allegheny County court, claims the therapist should have been classified as an employee and paid overtime when she […]
Local law firms are starting the new year with new attorneys in their top ranks. And one even has a new CEO. That would be Lancaster-based Barley Snyder, which elected Jennifer Craighead Carey as managing partner and CEO for a two-year term starting in 2024. She succeeds Jeff Lobach, who had led the firm for a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A federal court has approved a settlement in a data-breach lawsuit brought against Fulton Bank. Under the agreement, the Lancaster-based bank will pay $750,000 to set up a fund to compensate victims of the breach, which hit a Fulton Bank vendor rather than the bank itself. The bank is not admitting any liability for the breach, […]
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. […]
Companies that test, grow and process medical cannabis in Pennsylvania are suing to block a rule they say could cost them millions of dollars and ultimately raise prices for patients. The rule, which had been slated to take effect this week, alters the requirements for testing cannabis before and after it is processed into medication […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A prime Carlisle Pike property has changed hands. A New York-based partnership paid nearly $5.5 million in June for the former home of N.B. Liebman Furniture at 4705 Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township, according to Cumberland County deed records.The site — which was owned by members of the Liebman family — was once eyed as […]
Penn State trustees voted this week to move ahead with a deal to sell two on-campus hotels to a third-party operator, Ardmore-based Scholar Hotel Group. Under the proposed agreement, Penn State would keep the land and lease it, while Scholar would buy The Nittany Lion Inn and Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center in State […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A buyer has finalized the $10.01 million purchase of the Ronald Reagan Federal Building in downtown Harrisburg. However, the buyer’s
The warehouse project is still a long way from approval. But concepts floated by Missouri-based NorthPoint Development show roughly 1.5 million to 2 million square feet of warehouse space in multiple buildings, according to Tim James, manager of Manchester Township, where the project is being considered.
Bidding is scheduled to open Jan. 31 in an auction for the 129-room Comfort Inn & Suites York, which is off Interstate 83 at 2250 N. George St. in Manchester Township.
Seeded by a $1 million donation from grocery chain The Giant Co., Harrisburg University is hoping to plant a new center for agricultural research in the capital city.
The past year in Central Pennsylvania real estate was punctuated by some high-profile deals, as well as a torrid market for warehouses and other industrial properties. Here’s a look at what transpired in 2021.
A New York investment firm paid $24.4 million for a roughly 255,000 square-foot warehouse in Hampden Township, Cumberland County, continuing a string of multimillion-dollar deals for area warehouses. The property, acquired by Brickman, is fully leased, according to real estate firm JLL Capital Markets, which marketed the building at 301 Railroad Ave.The seller was a subsidiary of a […]