Business News

The U.S. Mint has ended production of the penny, a change made to save money and in recognition of the growing irrelevance of the 1-cent coin. The last pennies were struck Wednesday at the mint in Philadelphia, where the country’s smallest denomination coins have been produced since 1793.

Specifics for the plan are still under wraps as Upper Macungie Township is processing the application. The proposal would develop the data center at the former Air Products headquarters on Hamilton Boulevard.

Community Bank announced in June it would assume seven Santander Bank branches in the Lehigh Valley by the end of 2025. In November, the company announced that acquisition is now complete.

Despite concerns over potential safety issues regarding tractor-trailer traffic near the proposed Fullerton Terminals distribution center, the Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners approved the plan by a 4-3 vote on Monday.

Employees at two union Starbucks stores are set to strike this week after months of what they say are unfair labor practices and low pay.

Ready for a retro racing game with a touch of local flair? Lightly-Salted Productions soon will release Route 22 Rampage, an Atari 2600 game set right in the Lehigh Valley.

Members of Northampton County Council voted 5-4 Thursday to reject tax increment financing for the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough. A developer has plans to turn the 640,000-square-foot building into more than 400 apartments.

Another energized, entertaining and successful annual meeting and awards show of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce had ended.

The new 68,000-square-foot store and on-site fuel station at 3300 Lehigh St. will open at 8 a.m. Nov. 21 and afterward operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, the chain said in a release.

Easton Planning Commission heard testimony from those in opposition to the Easton Commerce Park project Wednesday, with experts raising questions about the developer's submitted plans and studies.

Pennsylvania's new $47.6 billion budget sets aside $500 million to improve old industrial sites so new businesses can expand or relocate to the properties.

A text scam is making its rounds again, according to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Recipients are urged to not click the link in the text.

Gov. Josh Shapiro is expected to visit the Bethlehem Steel General Office Building on Tuesday to promote his $500 million shovel-ready development program. The program was funded in the recently approved $47.6 billion 2024-2025 state budget.

Gov. John Shapiro last month signed HB 1333 into law, which allows for recycled materials to be used in stuffed toys manufactured and sold statewide. In the Lehigh Valley, one toy manufacturer plans to launch a sustainable line.

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the sale of PPL Tower in Allentown to Wilkes-Barre-based D&D Realty Group. The sale comes more than four months after PPL Corp. announced that its subsidiary, PPL Electric Utilities, had reached a tentative $9 million agreement to sell the building to D&D Realty Group.

For decades, the land that is now Green Knight Industrial Park in Wind Gap, Plainfield Twp. and Bushkill Twp. contained a pile of 2,000,000 tires. On Thursday, officials cut the ribbon on the park's first completed building, a 50,000-square-foot warehouse.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission issued 19 recommendations for PPL Electric to improve upon, including fixing its poor customer service and restoring power to customers faster following an outage.

The $208 million will also produce 295 new union jobs, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s announcement said, though it’s unclear what cut of the funding the Macungie facility is getting or the number of new jobs expected locally.

Northampton County officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new maintenance building for groundskeepers, replacing a more-than-century-old wooden barn the Parks Department currently uses.

State Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-Lehigh/Bucks, is looking to force his predecessor, now Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne, to release tax returns about Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone. Browne, who crafted the NIZ, has worked to keep the information confidential for five years.

With other communities around the state adopting bans on plastic bags, Lower Saucon could be on its way to something similar. if approved, it would involve a transition process to show shoppers the bigger picture and give time for businesses to properly offload plastic bags on hand.

A $6.4 million mansion called Ravenwood Manor caught fire just a day after being sold. Three years later, the owners have donated it to the local government, reportedly as a sign of gratitude for local emergency responders.