Within the last month, three Central Pennsylvania companies announced that they had or would be buying back part or all of their stock to give to their employees as part of new Employee Stock Ownership Plans, known as ESOPs. 

Souderton-based Univest Financial Corporation and its insurance subsidiary, Univest Insurance, LLC, has acquired the Paul I. Sheaffer Insurance Agency. 

Harrisburg-based Centric Financial Corp., the parent company of Centric Bank, reported a net loss of $711,000 for the third quarter of 2021, after posting second-quarter net income of $3.6 million. 

Traditions Bank’s strategic revenue officer has taken on additional leadership responsibility as the York-based bank’s new chief banking officer. 

PeoplesBank, a Codorus Valley Company, which is expanding from its Glen Rock, York County, roots since 1864, into Lancaster and Dauphin counties and northern Maryland, launched a Connections Center in Lancaster that allows small and medium-sized business owners use a large computer screen to create an individual business plan.

In a year when the U.S. Small Business Administration said it made a record number of loans to the nation’s small businesses, it’s reporting that it made a significant amount of loans in Eastern Pennsylvania. 

The state Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) announced on Tuesday that Pennsylvania will be awarded up to $100,000 to provide technical assistance to ensure job seekers have the skills needed to participate in a rapidly changing workforce. 

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has distributed $44.8 billion in funding to small businesses across the country through 61,000 loans in fiscal year 2021. 

Mechanicsburg-based Members 1st Federal Credit Union has just opened its newest branch in Berks County. A ribbon cutting was held Monday morning. 

Midstate CPA firm Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz has moved its Lancaster office to a new location at 454 New Holland Ave., Suite 101. 

Fulton Financial Corp. senior executive vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, Daniel Stolzer, will retire Jan 7, after more than eight years with the Lancaster bank. 

Law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick and CPA firm Boyer & Ritter launched a new company as part of a joint venture that the two firms say will provide comprehensive services for companies looking to buy or sell auto dealerships. 

Millersburg-based Mid Penn Bank was named Best Small Bank in Pennsylvania by Newsweek on its America’s Best Banks list for 2022. 

Rents in Harrisburg rose 2.4% from August to September, and have already climbed 21.4% so far this year compared with 2020, as demand continues to surge. 

David W. Cathell, executive vice president/treasurer and chief financial officer of Gettysburg-based ACNB Corp. and ACNB Bank, will retire May 31, 2022.