Business News

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

Less than a week after Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy, court documents show at least 154 stores will close — including an Allentown location.

Union workers at the Mack Trucks assembly plant in Lower Macungie Township went on strike Oct. 9. The two sides are seemingly no closer to an agreement as the walkout is about to enter its third week.

DOE has selected PPL's application for consideration in the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships program.

Dorney Park officials said the first piece of Iron Menace arrived Thursday, and represents the first truckload of what will be about 68 total.

The $20 million mixed-use development is offering 75 apartments with one- and two-bedroom varieties among other things.

$2.5 million of renovations are completed for the Victory Firehouse in Southside Bethlehem as BSI Corporate Benefits' new headquarters. The renovations include modern office spaces, technology improvements, a new kitchen and re-adding firehouse-like garage doors.

Allentown officials and City Center representatives have said the new zoning regulations will lay the "framework" for the developer's ambitious plans.

Blackstone Structures’ Gary Newman said he considered refurbishing or moving the buildings in lieu of knocking them down, but those projects were too expensive and infeasible.

Another pediatric emergency room now is open in the Lehigh Valley. St. Luke’s University Health Network on Monday opened the Isaacman Family Children’s Emergency Room, after establishing a children’s hospital this past June.

The combination of supply constraints and the winter season is pushing energy prices up.

Most utilities will be raising electricity prices in December, according to the Pa. Public Utility Commission.

The money will be used to build more than 3 miles of roads as well as pedestrian and cycling paths.

Wolf again urged the Legislature to raise Pa.'s minimum wage to $12 an hour.

The Biden administration official hailed Northampton County's $15M in coronavirus-relief grants to small businesses.

A political action committee with ties to the Bethlehem Landfill is spending heavily in an effort to elect a Republican team of candidates.

Gov. Tom Wolf said Oct. 21, 2021, that employers who receive state loans, grants or tax breaks will be required to pay workers at least $13.50/hour and to provide paid sick leave.

Staffing shortages and hiring incentives already were in play. Then the pandemic hit.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board is doling out nearly $2 million in support grants to ramp up booze production and sales.

Merrymead Farm employs about 50 people, down from the typical 120 this time of year.

Labor shortages in the Lehigh Valley were the focus at a recent telephone town hall held by U.S Rep. Susan Wild.

Some Starbucks locations have cut store hours due to staffing shortages. It’s part of a broader labor issue that has hit the U.S. and Pennsylvania pretty hard.