fbpx

Tag: bird in hand

New tourism trail targets coffee drinkers

Cafe One Eight at 18 W Orange St, Lancaster, is one of 21 coffee shops on the Discover Lancaster Coffee Trail. PHOTO/CAFE ONE EIGHT

Discover Lancaster is rolling out a new initiative that puts coffee drinkers on the road to Lancaster County coffee shops.

Some 20 unique coffee shops, in fact, are spread across Lancaster County and reach from Lancaster City to Ephrata.

“The rollout comes at a time when tourism has traditionally seen an uptick in out-of-town visitors arriving for the popular fall harvest season,” said Ed Harris, President & CEO of Discover Lancaster. “This is one more fun activity to add to a jam-packed itinerary to enhance the visitor experience. There’s plenty of options to find a great coffee and pumpkin-spiced latte.”

Developed in partnership with Bandwango, the Discover Lancaster Coffee Trail is the first in a series of themed trails to be rolled out in future seasons to enhance the visitor experience. Harris said the mobile passport offers a curated collection of coffee shops in Lancaster, as well as exclusive deals and discounts to favorite local coffee spots.

“From Lancaster City, to Intercourse, to Ephrata, and everywhere in between,” said Harris, “there’s a wide range of unique coffee shop experiences that can be found in our towns across Lancaster County.”

The list of participating shops on the Coffee Trail include:

Aura Espresso Room; Bird-in-hand Bakery & Cafe; Butter & Bean; Cafe 301; Cafe Arabella; Cafe One Eight; Coffee Co – Lancaster; Copper Cup; Courtyard Cafe on Main; Hudson Botanical; Javteas Gourmet Coffee Cafe; La Mattina Caffe; Mill 72 Bake Shop & Cafe; Passenger Coffee & Tea; Prince Street Cafe; Rachel’s Cafe & Creperie; September Farm Cheese; Speckled Hen Coffee; Square One Coffee Roasters; The Houston Co. Cafe; and The Roasted Rooster

“Our new mobile-based coffee trail highlights the many small businesses who have poured everything they have into opening the coffee shop of their dreams,” Harris said.

Visitors to the participating coffee shops can check-in digitally at each stop to count towards their prize. After 5 stops visitors earn a Discover Lancaster Sticker & Coaster. After 10 stops, a Discover Lancaster Coffee Mug. A Discover Lancaster Canvas Bag is earned after 15 stops. Prizes can be redeemed at Discover Lancaster visitors center.

“This is an invitation to celebrate Lancaster and bring more business to our small businesses,” said Harris. “Our mission is to educate people about what’s in our back yard. We have expectations for an ice cream trail, a brewery trail. We’re excited to roll this out and test it.”

Bank of Bird-in-Hand reaches $1 billion in assets

Bank of Bird-in-Hand surpassed $1 billion in assets as of Sept. 1, its board of directors announced Tuesday.

Speaking on behalf of the board and the bank, President and CEO Lori A. Maley said in a release, “We are extremely humbled and simultaneously inspired by our community, customers, employees and shareholders who have all played an instrumental role in achieving this latest milestone.”

“It seems like only yesterday we opened the bank, when in reality it has been almost nine years,” she added. “Achieving this threshold so quickly would be considered impossible in many places, but only here can we be so blessed to have everyone working together to truly create a unique and successful community bank.”

Bank of Bird-in-Hand serves Lancaster County, western Chester County and upper Dauphin County with a strong focus on agricultural, small business and consumer lending. Earlier this year, Maley was quoted as saying that the Plain community makes up about 50% of the bank’s customer base.

According to its website, when it was established in 2013, Bank of Bird-in-Hand was the first bank in the U.S. to gain a charter since 2010, and remains the only bank in Pennsylvania to open since 2008.

“The opportunities before this bank are numerous,” said Kevin J. McClarigan, chairman of the board. “We continue to execute our strategic plan to profitably grow our bank and enhance shareholder value while placing our customers as our top priority.”

Bank of Bird-in-Hand has its main branch and office in Bird-in-Hand and operates additional branches in Intercourse, Paradise and Ephrata as well as four mobile bank branches.

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

Community-owned bank plans common stock offering in fall

The Bank of Bird-in-Hand announced it plans to undertake a common stock offering in September to support growth and take advantage of market opportunities.

The expected range is anticipated to be between $15 million and $25 million in the aggregate, with an offering per share of $22 to $25 to be finalized in late August, a release said. Terms should to be confirmed late next month or early September.

Also, the bank’s board of directors declared a special cash dividend of $0.22 per share of common stock to shareholders of record as of Aug. 13.

The release noted that the bank will open its fourth brick-and-mortar branch, at 1795 W. Main St., Ephrata, on July 19. Bank of Bird-in-Hand operates three mobile branches, too, serving 16 locations in Lancaster and Chester counties.

“We are excited to be able to simultaneously announce the special cash dividend and the upcoming capital raise,” Lori A. Maley, the bank’s president, CEO and vice chairman, said in the release. She added that growth and demand in the Ephrata market warranted opening a traditional branch in the community.

Kevin J. McClarigan, chairman of the board, added: “Over the past seven years, our bank has consistently achieved above peer organic growth,” which led the board of directors to approve raising capital to help the bank maintain a strong foundation and meet its long-term goals, including further loan growth and additional fixed and mobile branch locations.

A community-owned bank serving Lancaster County and western Chester County, Bank of Bird-in-Hand, based in Ronks, specializes in agricultural, small business and consumer lending. As of June 30, its total deposits were approximately $555 million and its total net loans approximately $584 million.