Central Penn Business Journal back issues from July 2006:
DRIVING FORCE
Jul 07, 2006; ... For years, Keen Transport Inc. has encouraged its drivers not to idle their trucks, citing the unnecessary wear-and-tear on the engines and added fuel expense. Now the Middlesex Township company is pushing its no-idling rule for environmental reasons. Keen Transport executives became ...
Pollution-cutting device debuts at midstate stop
Jul 07, 2006; ... The yellow tubular structure with dozens of large, extended hoses may confound some motorists passing through the Petro Travel Plaza in Middlesex Township. But state environmental officials and an increasing number of transportation firms recognize the new equipment as an effective way to save ...
Bosnian refugees make start with credit union's assistance
Jul 07, 2006; ... David Becirovic arrived in the U.S. with his family, a few bags of luggage and about $10. He needed a loan. On paper, his prospects were not good. Becirovic was a refugee from war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina. He had a remarkable history- but not the kind that shows up in a credit ...
Campaign pushes health-care improvement
Jul 07, 2006; ... The success of a national patient-safety program has spurred several midstate hospitals to accelerate their quality-improvement efforts. The result could be faster relief for companies and employees struggling with high health-care costs. In late 2004, the Institute for Healthcare ...
Insurers debate hypnosis coverage
Jul 07, 2006; ... Looking for a way to experience a natural birth without the pain? Looking to lose weight or quit smoking? Regional hypnotists say they can help - and they're pushing insurers to acknowledge their treatment. Jamie Tyndall opened Healthy Hypnosis Center in Hampden Township in January 2006 ....
Taking it to the street
Jul 07, 2006; ... Dr. Harold Paz wants the business community to help turn Penn State's Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine into elite institutions among the nation's academic medical centers. But the assistance he's seeking does not involve executives donning stethoscopes or peering into ...
After flurry of activity, Eastern Insurance emerges a bigger player
Jul 07, 2006; ... Here's a recipe you won't find on Food Network: Mix the products and expertise of two insurance companies, add a stock offering, and end up with a new company poised for growth. That's what executives at Lancaster-based Eastern Insurance Holdings Inc. believe will be the end result of a ...
No idle boast
Jul 07, 2006; ... The trucking industry is a vital component of Central Pennsylvania's economy. It's also a big reason why the midstate has some of the unhealthiest air in the U.S. In an admirable display of unity and community awareness, 15 Cumberland County firms have signed a resolution to reduce ...
Busyness is their business
Jul 07, 2006; ... Free time is in tight supply for Dr. Amy DeLuca as she raises two small children while working as a pediatrician at PinnacleHealth System in Harrisburg. Megan Hershey's job is to make that life a little less hectic. Hershey owns Dish it Up, a make-ahead meal business near Elizabethtown ...
EXTREME EXECUTIVES
Jul 07, 2006; ... Many business executives' favorite sport is golf. Not so for Larry Bashore, Rich Eichelberger and Bob Long. They prefer to fly aerobatic aircraft, race sprint cars and hunt big game, respectively. Bashore, president of Edwin L. Heim Co., darts toward the ground at 250 mph before ...
Luxury-home market continues to attract potential buyers
Jul 07, 2006; ... Angela and Brad Baxter had many reasons to make the move last year from Rockville, Md., to Franklin Township, near Dillsburg. The couple grew up in Dillsburg, and their parents are there. They have two sons and felt it was a nicer place to raise children than the Washington, D.C., suburbs. But ...
60 seconds with CEYLON R. LEITZEL
Jul 07, 2006; ... TITLE: President of Leitzel's jewelry a third-generation independent retail jeweler that has been in business since 1949 PERSONAL: Married to wife, Karen, for 28 years; son, Jonathan, 24, and daughter, Allison, 21 WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF DOING BUSINESS IN CENTRAL PA? ...
BUILT WITH SPEED
Jul 14, 2006; ... The Graystone Bank story is a fast-moving tale. Last summer, Andrew Samuel quit Sovereign Bancorp Inc. In November, he cut the ribbon on Graystone's downtown Harrisburg headquarters. One year after his resignation from Sovereign, Samuel is sitting atop a $152 million ...
Budget garners mixed reviews
Jul 14, 2006; ... Midstate business representatives fretted about the bottom line in the 2006-07 state budget: a spending increase of $1.4 billion, or about 5.8 percent. But while some leaders saw misplaced priorities and a lost opportunity to slash business taxes, another called the pact a good ...
Continuing Care Rx seeks middle ground in pharmacy services
Jul 14, 2006; ... A Dauphin County pharmacyservices company is searching for more growth opportunities after acquiring three similar companies during the past several months. Lower Paxton Township-based Continuing Care Rx Inc., which primarily serves the long-term care industry, acquired Utica, N.Y.based ...
Weigh natural-gas deals now, advisers say
Jul 14, 2006; ... You've packed the cooler and bundled the kids in the backseat. The oven is off, and the front door is locked. Everybody's been to the bathroom. What else was there? Oh, yes - locking up a fixed-price natural-gas contract for the winter. Beach weather makes it hard to think about ...
Sunday sales boost PLCB
Jul 14, 2006; ... Sunday hours and fancy alcohol appear to be a hit among Central Pennsylvania consumers shopping at the state's wine and spirits stores. Of the 10 mid-state stores posting the highest sales in 2005, nine feature Sunday hours. Six are part of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's Premium ...
Auction Inn concept sells in York
Jul 14, 2006; ... A company formed through an innovative arrangement with a Lancaster nonprofit group expects its new partnership with a York charity to be the first step toward growth nationwide. Auction Inn is teaming with Bell Socialization Services Inc. to open an eBay trading post in late summer at ...
York plans to draw artists into downtown cultural district
Jul 14, 2006; ... Making art can be a lonely enterprise. Not so in York's Newton Square neighborhood. At meetings of the neighborhood association, it became obvious that Newton Square was home to a lot of artists. Now, about 25 of them have joined to form a new organization, Artisans of Historic Newton ...
Agricultural entrepreneurs get help reaching wider audience
Jul 14, 2006; ... In today's global marketplace, consumers can walk into their local supermarket in the dead of winter and buy apples, oranges and melons when those products are not in season locally. The international and national wholesale market for produce, dairy and meats makes stocking shelves at ...
Community Catalyst puts profitable twist on community revival
Jul 14, 2006; ... Daryl Gibson and his wife, Jennifer, were living in northern Virginia when they decided they wanted to invest in real estate. The northern Virginia real estate market wasn't a good match for the couple, but York County, Jennifer's hometown area, was. Gibson quit his job with the Federal ...
Employers cutting back on health benefits for retirees
Jul 14, 2006; ... People are living longer, resulting in happier and lengthier retirement years. For businesses that provide health-care benefits to retirees, those longer life spans mean bigger bills. The added years, coupled with increasing benefit costs and inflation, are causing employers to ...
Revitalization wave makes its way up Harrisburg's Cameron Street
Jul 14, 2006; ... Ask Harrisburg spokesman Randy King for his opinion on what Harrisburg looks like now, and he offers this outlook: "As different as it is compared to five years ago, it could be just as different five years from now as it is today." Yes, the wheels of the business world are beginning to ...
On-the-go computer users boost laptop sales, popularity
Jul 14, 2006; ... There are two things Dr. Brian Cohen doesn't work without - his white lab coat and his laptop computer. "The moment I get to the office, I start it up, and it doesn't leave my side," Cohen said. Paper files have all but disappeared where he works, at Partners in Women's ...
Barns reborn
Jul 14, 2006; ... In the late 1980s, a real estate developer asked sister companies NuTec Design Associates Inc. and JDB Engineering if a barn near York could be redeveloped into offices. The affiliates answered yes and surprised the developer with more good news: They wanted to occupy the 1819 ...
OFFICE COOL
Jul 14, 2006; ... Churches often seek donations to build schools. St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Columbia, however, donated another church in the borough to Columbia Borough School District. The district redeveloped First English Lutheran Church into its administration center and moved there in August ....
Commercial agents must work hard to raise their profiles
Jul 14, 2006; ... As available land becomes scarcer and competition among commercial real estate companies heats up, some agents are discovering they need to separate themselves from the pack. While some still rely on property-for-sale signs, others are being more creative. Art Campbell, president of ...
60 seconds with WILLIAM H. SWARTZ III
Jul 14, 2006; ... TITLE: President of York-based Sherman Property Management Inc., which manages more than 500 apartments, homes, condominiums and commercial spaces in Pennsylvania and Delaware. WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF DOING BUSINESS IN CENTRAL PA? "This area has low building prices, great ...
IN THE RED
Jul 21, 2006; ... It's no secret that York is in financial trouble. The question is whether to make it official. City leaders have been mulling whether to seek a declaration of financial distress from the state under a law known as Act 47. That would open the door to grants and loans from the state, ...
Soft-pretzel franchiser gives brand new twist
Jul 21, 2006; ... Auntie Anne's Inc. is putting a new twist on how it markets its famous pretzels. This summer, the Lancaster County-based franchiser is launching its updated brand at its nearly 900 stores worldwide. The launch is the culmination of a yearlong effort to develop a new look that injects fun ...
Planned federal courthouse would transform midtown
Jul 21, 2006; ... Unsettling news came softly to the Cumberland Court apartments this week. It came in a letter wedged neatly into door frames, a wide-margined letter that seemed too polite to break the stillness of a sweltering summer afternoon July 17. A handful of adults sat on benches ...
HARD TIMES
Jul 21, 2006; ... In his 22 years as a contractor, Leslie Stewart has never seen asphalt prices escalate the way they have in the last six months. The rising costs have made it increasingly difficult for him and a number of Central Pennsylvania contractors to accurately bid jobs, such as parking lots, ...
Health care leads pack
Jul 21, 2006; ... How important is the healthcare industry to our regional economy? The answer is in the numbers: Half of Central Pennsylvania's 10 largest employers provide health care and nearly 30,000 local jobs. And those numbers don't include the economic effects on the midstate of 17 other ...
Harrisburg University adds tech-centric degree programs
Jul 21, 2006; ... One-year-old Harrisburg University of Science and Technology will offer students two new academic programs this year in response to employers' requests for more technology workers. The Pennsylvania Department of Education this month provisionally approved the school's new bachelor's ...
Northwest project success hinges on homeownership
Jul 21, 2006; ... The developers that want to build up to 125 townhomes and condominiums on the edge of downtown York are gambling they can lure young professionals and retirees into the city. Economicdevelopment advocates hope it's a winning bet. A partnership between developer Robert A. Kinsley and ...
York weighs tax alternatives under Act 47
Jul 21, 2006; ... Declaring financial distress under Act 47 would give York more flexibility to levy taxes - but not much. The primary tax benefit of financial distress is that York could increase its earned-income tax, or wage tax, with annual court approval. State law caps the tax at 1 percent, and the ...
Builder values growth
Jul 21, 2006; ... Harold Weaver's initial goal was modest. He hoped to sell at least one or two buildings a year. Three decades later, H.R. Weaver Building Systems Inc. in North Londonderry Township constructs nearly 50 buildings annually, many of them part of sizable commercial and residential ...
INCREASED EXPOSURE
Jul 21, 2006; ... About three years ago, Dennis Grumbine took over Lebanon Valley Exposition Corp., which runs Lebanon County's expo center. Two years ago, the corporation became the county's tourist-promotion agency after the county left Hershey-Capital Region Visitors Bureau. The county thought the bureau ...
Josie Ames aims to revitalize Palmyra area
Jul 21, 2006; ... A Lebanon County entrepreneur is expanding her reach and hoping to revitalize Palmyra. Josie Ames, 60, owns a cleaning and maintenance company in South Londonderry Township, a retail flooring and carpet-cleaning shop in Mount Joy and a furniture store in downtown Palmyra. Ames bought ...
60 seconds with AARON SHERRICK
Jul 21, 2006; ... TITLE: President of Develisys, a Hummelstown-based firm that provides Internet marketing and Web site promotion, database-driven Web applications and integration, custom content-management solutions, and Web hosting PERSONAL: Fiancee, Jessica Heintzelman WHAT ARE THE PROS AND ...
CUSTOMER DISSERVICE
Jul 28, 2006; ... As the owner of six Subway sandwich shops in Shippensburg and Chambersburg, Jason Beckenbaugh frequently has to deal with impolite people. But it's not his customers who cause him the most grief - it's some of his own employees. "Customer service is one of the biggest issues we face ....
Tapping of fund nettles Fitch
Jul 28, 2006; ... A major credit-rating and financial-services firm is concerned by the financial profile of the operator of Harrisburg International Airport. On July 7, New York City-based Fitch Ratings put Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority's bonds on "rating watch negative." That means there ...
Christian-friendly reputation swells tourism numbers in Lancaster County
Jul 28, 2006; ... There are signs that an increasing number of tourists consider Lancaster County "God's country' for more than its natural beauty. The county is a hotspot for church groups and other religious organizations looking for a place to meet or enjoy leisure travel. Anecdotal evidence suggests ...
Micro art conservator restores macro artifacts
Jul 28, 2006; ... Brian Howard is a local art conservator who has found a niche: preserving large, 3-D objects. And by large, Howard means large. Howard's company, BR Howard and Associates Inc. in North Middleton Township is preserving the only World War I tank that has its original camouflage. The tank ...
DRIVIN' ON
Jul 28, 2006; ... Drive-in theaters might conjure up images of the 1950s, but they are not things of the past in the midstate. Although the number of driveins has declined considerably since their heyday several decades ago, the experience of watching movies under the stars still attracts sizeable ...
Highway overhaul distresses some firms
Jul 28, 2006; ... Business owners have mixed reactions to Penniles's behemoth proposal to move a highway interchange and redirect various ramps and roadways along routes 581 and 15. But most agree on one point: Something has to be done to improve traffic congestion and safety along the Cumberland County ...
Population changes unevenly in Census Bureau's most-recent estimates
Jul 28, 2006; ... Population growth is distributed unevenly throughout the midstate, new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show. The population of the seven-county area around Harrisburg, Lancaster and York grew to about 1.6 million between July 1, 2000, and July 1, 2005, according to Census estimates ....
Small-business owner extends hand to fellow entrepreneurs
Jul 28, 2006; ... One small business is attempting to help many other small businesses get their feet on the ground in Central Pennsylvania. KeyNet Virtualplace Inc. opened its doors on Market Street in Harrisburg April 10, but it has been in the works since October. With four employees, the company is ...
Families approach training differently
Jul 28, 2006; ... Michael Leader, Tony Legenstein and Fredrick Taggart have a couple of things in common. They all are the successors of their fathers' businesses, and they all have children who may one day play a role in their companies' management. Each has had experience learning the ropes of a family-owned ...
RELATIVE BALANCE
Jul 28, 2006; ... Many people struggle to balance work and family. People who work with their families at their kin's families businesses face a more difficult and delicate balancing act. When family members are responsible for hiring their relatives and deciding how much to pay them, charges of ...
For some, there's no workplace like home
Jul 28, 2006; ... The perception most people have of working from home is that it's a bit of a contradiction in terms, especially if one happens to be selfemployed. In that case, the prevailing image is of the pajama clad entrepreneur with a schedule flexible enough to accommodate both random bouts of dog-walking ...