Martin Fedorko did not cross the finish line the first time he tried to create a venture fund in York County. But he came away with valuable lessons he is applying to his latest effort: White Rose Ventures Most importantly, he learned that York County’s would-be investors are indeed interested in backing local companies. They […]
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 […]
The Pennsylvania Builders Association doesn’t oppose standards that ensure buildings are accessible to people with disabilities. It opposes the most-recent revision process, which could raise construction costs for multifamily buildings going forward,
In fall 2018, Dan Laird was crouching in a duck blind on Maryland’s Eastern Shore when a banker friend asked him about his plans for Commonwealth Fire Protection Co. Laird had taken over the Lancaster County company in 2017 after the death of his business partner and longtime friend, Paul Hoffnagle, in a chain-saw accident. […]
When the first cases of coronavirus in Pennsylvania were announced March 6, schools and businesses were open. A holiday photo of the Keystone Contractors Association staff, from left: Seth Kohr, safety director; Jon O’Brien, executive director; Melody O’Brien, office manager. PHOTO/SUBMITTED But as the virus spread over the next week, the Keystone Contractors Association decided […]
Column by Richard Randall Businesses are witnessing a lot of economic and political chaos lately. Between on-again, off-again tariffs and
Harrisburg Dairies Inc., which reportedly ceased operations last fall after losing a key contract, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week and is in the process of selling its business. Indeed, the Harrisburg-based dairy processor and distributor has already entered into a sales agreement for its business and real estate, and the company hopes to […]
Jake Lewis has been named vice president, government programs and strategy, for Harrisburg-based dental insurer United Concordia Dental. In this new role, he will oversee the strategic direction and execution of the company’s government relations and contracting efforts. Lewis worked most recently as the acting deputy assistant administrator for acquisition and business services at the […]
An RV park in northern Lebanon County has new owners. Twin Grove RV Resort & Cottages in Union Township was scooped up by Nashville, Tennessee-based Streamside Parks. The price for the 105-acre destination was $5 million in cash and $9 million in “other consideration,” according to county deed records. A Streamside spokesperson declined to comment on the financial […]
A pair of companies providing water-related services have become one. HQ Water Solutions, a Lancaster-based company that sells water testing services and treatment systems to residential and commercial clients, has acquired PA Water & Energy Solutions, a similar company based in Manheim Township, Lancaster County. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1984 by […]
In a regulatory filing, Weis Markets disclosed that it overstated some of its inventory and plans to restate its financials going back to 2022. As a result of the accounting miscue, the Sunbury-based grocery chain said investors could no longer rely on its financial reports covering fiscal years 2022, 2023, 2024 and the first three quarters of […]
With fewer employees reporting the office, Lancaster-based Fulton Financial Corp. sold its administrative services building in East Petersburg and is leasing back a little less than half of the space. The building at 1695 State St. in the Lancaster County borough spans about 100,000 square feet, according to Fulton spokesperson Steve Trapnell. It houses a range […]
Dominique Hall has joined the Frederick, Maryland, office of Harrisburg-based McNees Wallace & Nurick as part of the law firm’s litigation group. Hall previously worked at a law firm Washington, D.C., where she focused on trial-level disputes for corporate and consumer protection cases. She has a law degree from Howard University School of Law and […]
Column by Jayamohan Ecosystems aren’t designed. They emerge. We learn this early in biology (thanks to my son who is
Grotto Pizza is buying a liquor license for its new location at 1515 Lititz Pike in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, its first spot in Central Pennsylvania. The license — attached to a shuttered eatery in Lancaster city called Queen 6-Pak Restaurant — is currently in safekeeping, which allows a licensee to hold onto a license that is […]
Regional contractors have settled a lawsuit over allegedly defective concrete used during construction of a new hospital tower in York. York-based Kinsley Construction initiated the lawsuit in York County court last spring, claiming that other contractors refused to pay the company after it provided concrete for the foundation of a surgical tower under construction at WellSpan York Hospital, the […]
As tariffs went up throughout 2025, sales went down for JLS Automation, a York County company that assembles automated packaging lines for the food industry. The company is expecting a rebound in 2026. But the comeback faces renewed uncertainty after a Supreme Court ruling Friday that struck down the bulk of President Donald Trump’s tariff regime. […]
Jessica Cicali has been named senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Armstrong World Industries Inc. effective April 1. Cicali, who also will oversee Armstrong’s sustainability and government relations efforts, is succeeding Austin So. He is leaving the company in April after a four-year tenure. Cicali has more than two decades of legal and […]
In fall 2024, Doug and Sara Taylor traveled to Philadelphia to open the first of two stores in the city for their Lancaster-based cookie company, Taylor Chip. The stores were opening 18 months later than expected, and the Taylors had taken on seven–figure debt to keep things moving. But they were hopeful it would all work […]
Carlisle-based The Giant Co. said yesterday it agreed to buy Everett Foodliner and Saxton Market, a pair of Bedford County grocery stores owned by brothers Bob and Joe Appleby. Giant is buying the real estate and related grocery and fuel business assets for what will become its first stores in the county. Terms of the transaction, expected to close […]
Building products manufacturer Armstrong World Industries Inc. said yesterday that it acquired a Chicago-based company called Eventscape Inc., which specializes in designing, making and installing complex architectural features. Terms of the transaction — which continues a multiyear string of deals for Armstrong — were not disclosed. Based in Toronto and New York City, Eventscape employs 150 […]
Over the last three years, Robin Stauffer has overseen a dramatic growth in resources at one of Lancaster’s County’s largest charities. Effective Jan. 1, she has a new role to match. Stauffer, the longtime executive director of the High Foundation, has been named its president and CEO. “For more than two decades, Robin has led High […]
Cody Goss has been named executive director of Harrisburg Young Professionals, a professional networking and city improvement group known as HYP. He succeeds Meghan Bachmore, who led the organization since 2022. A graduate of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, Goss joined HYP as an intern and became communications coordinator in 2024. He is expected […]
Lawmakers are floating legislation they argue could lead to better results for Pennsylvania residents and businesses that challenge their state tax bills. The legislation would allow taxpayers in certain situations to file appeals past a statutory deadline. And in an effort to settle disputes more quickly, the legislation would create a new, independent mediation process. […]
A new survey claims to show that three-quarters of Pennsylvania’s small-business owners support the creation of a state-backed retirement plan that would automatically enroll workers — the kind of plan that was approved earlier this year in the state House. Nearly a quarter, or 26%, “strongly support” the idea, according to the survey, conducted by The Pew Charitable […]
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 […]
Under an executive order signed yesterday by Gov. Josh Shapiro, the state plans to marshal government and private-sector resources to help small, diverse businesses win a bigger share of state spending. The order builds on efforts by Shapiro’s predecessor, former Gov. Tom Wolf, to diversify the ranks of state contractors. The efforts have made progress but […]
Tired of waiting for that professional license? If it takes too long, Gov. Josh Shapiro wants to give you your money back, a pledge outlined in an executive order he signed on Jan. 31. First, state agencies have to figure out what is “too long.” The order directs state agencies to catalog all the licenses, certificates and […]
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 […]
Pennsylvania has many of the ingredients for an economy powered by innovation and entrepreneurship, according to a report released today by Brookings Institution, a prominent think tank in Washington, D.C. However, the state has struggled to bake them into a dynamic, high-growth economy, putting large swaths of Pennsylvania at risk of stagnation, said the report, which offers […]
Pennsylvania is home to two of the most closely watched elections in the U.S. One, for a U.S. Senate seat, pits Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat, against Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Republican. They are running to replace Sen. Pat Toomey, a Republican who is retiring. The other is the race for governor, which features […]
Amid a broader push to boost the outdoors economy in Pennsylvania, a new state park is coming to the banks of the Susquehanna River in York County. The tentatively titled Susquehanna Riverlands State Park is one of three new parks unveiled yesterday by Gov. Tom Wolf and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy […]
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 officials are giving an $8.4 million boost to plans for an innovation park in Columbia. The Lancaster County borough is collecting a grant of nearly $3.4 million and a loan of just over $5 million to help cover the costs of developing the McGinness Innovation Park on the site of a former airport in the […]
Pennsylvania’s small businesses are in line for a capital infusion of nearly $268 million under a program announced July 18 by the Wolf Administration The money is coming from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan ActBut it will be distributed by the state, specifically the state Department of Community and Economic Development.Other hands […]
State lawmakers last week delivered a tax cut long sought by Pennsylvania’s business community. But in adopting a $45.2 billion budget on July 8 for the current fiscal year, they left out other sought-after provisions. The headline news is the immediate cut and subsequent phase-down of the state’s corporate net income tax, which had been […]
Pennsylvania’s statewide business chamber has tapped a local banking executive as its next leader. Luke Bernstein, an executive at Shippensburg-based Orrstown Financial Services, is poised to become the next president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. As of June 15, he will be taking over for Gene Barr, who announced his retirement last fall after […]
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 […]
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.
Manheim Township is firing back against a lawsuit aiming to hold it responsible for problems with the sewer system in neighboring Lancaster city. The lawsuit, filed in January by Lancaster city in Lancaster County court, argues that Manheim officials have not done enough to control stormwater from entering the city sewer system. The system serves homes […]
For more than a year, singer Ed Kowalczyk has been touring under the banner of Live, the platinum-selling rock band he co-founded more than 30 years ago in York. But the agreement allowing him to use the Live name is under fire in a York County court. Former Live drummer Chad Gracey is suing Kowalczyk […]
The legal fight continues over high-voltage power lines that would run through southern York and Franklin counties. The chief issue is whether state utility regulators overstepped constitutional bounds when they blocked the interstate project in May 2021. Proposed in 2017 by Ohio-based Transource, the $372 million Independence Energy Connection would ease congestion for power flowing from Pennsylvania to Maryland by […]
A state court has handed a preliminary legal victory to a business owner in a fight over the cost of connecting solar projects to the electric distribution system. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission had objected to the business owner’s lawsuit on procedural grounds. But in a ruling last week, Commonwealth Court overruled the objections, allowing the […]
A court hearing on the bankruptcy sale of Governor’s Square apartment complex in uptown Harrisburg had been scheduled for Feb. 29. However, it has been moved to April 2 per an order from Chief Bankruptcy Judge Henry Van Eck of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Why is this happening: The […]
A locally based company allegedly broke state law by reselling internet service in what the state attorney general described in a lawsuit as a “sham business.” The company, Davis Communications Internet Inc., subscribed to business internet plans, then advertised itself as an internet provider in its own right, specifically targeting consumers in rural York County, where […]
Pennsylvania’s top court has backed a lower court’s decision in a closely watched case involving application of the state’s prevailing wage law. The case hinged on conflicting views of the law, which sets a minimum wage for workers on publicly funded projects. What’s the issue: Whether prevailing wages should be paid on a private-sector project […]
Federal housing officials are objecting to the proposed sale of Governor’s Square, a beleaguered Harrisburg apartment complex whose owner declared bankruptcy last year In a court filing this week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development argues there are not enough guarantees that the potential deal will preserve the complex’s status as affordable housing. […]
State regulators have tweaked regulations that modify the professional licensing process for people with criminal backgrounds, following stiff pushback from critics of the original proposal. The rules implement a 2020 state law making it easier for people with criminal convictions to become accountants, barbers, nurses and real estate agents, among the many other professions that require a […]
A Lebanon County judge has sided with a North Annville Township decision shooting down developers hoping to plant a roughly 858-acre solar farm in the rural municipality west of Lebanon city. The ruling, handed down last week, upholds a 2022 vote by North Annville supervisors to deny a conditional use permit to Lebanon Solar I LLC, […]
In a lawsuit filed this month, Lancaster city is accusing a neighboring township of not doing enough to prevent stormwater from flowing into the city’s sewer system, a problem that has been brewing for years. Among other alleged failures, officials in Manheim Township have not required developers to install adequate stormwater controls or paid for […]
One of Harrisburg’s oldest law firms is winding down. Five attorneys and a team of administrative professionals from 152-year-old Nauman Smith Shissler & Hall are joining the capital city office of Philadelphia-based Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman, effective Feb. 1. The move caps conversations that started in early 2023 between the two firms, said Steven Williams, the […]
A state appeals court has sided with a local developer aiming to build a warehouse complex in Swatara Township, Dauphin County. The decision is the latest in a long-running battle over whether warehouses should be allowed on tracts along Route 322 east of Harrisburg, near Penhar Drive. State court shot down a previous developer’s efforts in […]
A state court has shelved the Red Book, a compendium of wholesale drug prices that state officials routinely use to settle disputes over drug costs in Pennsylvania’s worker’s comp program. In a ruling this week, Commonwealth Court disqualified use of the book after an insurer challenged it, claiming the book’s listed prices were not accurate. […]
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 […]
A mixed-use development is taking shape along Route 15 in Upper Allen Township, Cumberland County. Camp Hill developer Linlo Properties began site work in May for the project, dubbed The Mills at Shepherdstown Crossing.Once completed, it will bring 54 apartments, retail space, a Burger King and a Chick-fil-A to the intersection of Gettysburg Pike and South Market Street, which offers access to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
State officials are giving an $8.4 million boost to plans for an innovation park in Columbia. The Lancaster County borough
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,” […]
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 […]
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 […]
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
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.