fbpx

Tag: East Hempfield Township

Traditions Bank plans to open new Lancaster bank

Lancaster County plans to open a second Traditions Bank. Subject to customary regulatory approvals, the location for the new 2,625-square-foot office will be 2160 State Road in East Hempfield Township. 

The anticipated opening for the full-service branch is 2023. It will mark the second Traditions Bank opening in Lancaster since April 2021. 

Traditions Bank is a subsidiary of Traditions Bancorp. It has seven full-service branch offices in the Lancaster, York, and Hanover areas, and a loan production office in Lemoyne. Its administrative headquarters are in York. 

“Twenty months after opening our first location, we are delighted that our customized financial solutions and culture of service have been welcomed and embraced,” shared CEO Eugene Draganosky said in a statement. “We look forward to further expanding our presence in this compelling market.” 

The State Road property sits approximately five miles from the Traditions Bank branch at 1687 Oregon Pike. The new building will be located next to Sheetz and across from the Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center, situated between Harrisburg Pike and Route 283. Construction of the new building is expected to take six months, and a build-out of the branch is anticipated to require an additional six months. 

To lead expansion efforts into Lancaster, banking veteran Thomas J. Sposito II joined the Traditions Bank team in June 2020. He was named President of Traditions Bank in September 2022. 

“To be able to bring the values of a true community bank to the place I call home is a career dream,” said Sposito. “We are incredibly excited to grow our presence in the vibrant Lancaster community.” 

Tradition Bank’s Oregon Pike branch was opened by Lancaster banker Michael Frey. He was appointed president of the Lancaster Region and leader of its retail division across all markets in November 2022. 

“I’ve long admired Traditions Bank for its ability to stay true to its mission of helping friends and neighbors make their mark,” Frey said. “To watch that mission come to life in Lancaster over the past year-and-a-half has really been fulfilling. This new branch will only enhance our ability to deliver on our brand promise.” 

The State Road branch will employ universal retail bankers, commercial bankers, and residential mortgage lenders.

Insurance change is driving interest in telemedicine

Conestoga Eye, an ophthalmology practice in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, has transitioned almost all of its first interactions with patients to online visits.

Depending on the type of practice, Conestoga Eye founder and ophthalmologist Dr. David Silbert suggests that other doctors look into limiting the number of patients they see in person to cases that can’t be solved via online check-ups, also known as telehealth.

“I suspect that the default for providers is that if someone says they have a problem, you bring them into the practice instead of first having a face-to-face video chat,” Silbert said. “You’re first interaction should be through telehealth and you shouldn’t have a visit without telehealth first.”

Before coronavirus, few health care providers were offering telehealth options, and a majority of insurers offering limited to zero payments for the service. For this reason, many providers never invested in the technology.

In Mid-March, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would be rolling back a number of federal provisions to allow more providers to get paid for telehealth visits with a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary.

“This is a huge deal,” said Heather Modjesky, senior administrator and director of community outreach at Conestoga Eye. “Prior to CMS’ update, you got paid nothing. Providers would only be paid a marginal amount if they were in what is considered a “medical wasteland.”

Other insurance providers, such as Capital BlueCross and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield have waived deductibles, copayments and coinsurance for telehealth visits related to COVID-19.

Now that funding isn’t a barrier to meeting online with many of his patients, Silbert said Conestoga Eye has been able to greatly reduce the number of people moving in and out of its offices to only the patients that need a face-to-face meeting with a doctor.

“We have a chance of really shutting this down in our area,” Silbert said of his fellow health care providers. “If I have someone with an eye lid lesion, I can prescribe them medicine over the phone. There is a lot you can do with a patient’s history and by looking at it.”

Modjesky worried that older patients would find it difficult to do the steps needed to get on a call with one of the provider’s doctors.

“Is the older generation going to be able to get passed that?” she asked. “What we’ve found is that most patients are very open to it. They get the email, they find the app and they know how to work it.”

Most of the reluctance came from parents who worried that their kids won’t get the same treatment as they would in person, Modjesky said.

“There is this impression that the video isn’t equivalent to the office visit,” she said. “It’s a misnomer but it can be hard to talk parents out of that.”

Penn State Health approves plans for Lancaster County hospital

A rendering of Penn State Health’s new Lancaster Medical Center planned to be built in Lancaster County. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Penn State Health expects to begin construction on its 129-bed, five-story acute care hospital in Lancaster County in the coming weeks.

The Hershey-based health system announced late last June that it would be building its fourth acute care hospital in East Hempfield Township.

The system said on Monday that its plans for the build were approved by its Board of Directors and the project is set to soon break ground.

Located on 30 acres near the intersection of State Road and Harrisburg Pike, the new hospital will feature all private inpatient beds, an emergency department, various specialty inpatient services, an imaging lab, complete medical and surgical capabilities and an attached building for outpatient services.

The 341,000-square-foot facility was designed by New York-based HKS Inc. and will be built through a joint venture by Southfield, Michigan-based Barton Malow Co. and Harrisburg-based Alexander Building Construction Co.

The project is planned to be finished by mid-2022.

Spooky Nook Sports’ COO talks growth and leadership

Jim Launer of Spooky Nook Sports became the East Hempfield Township-based company’s first COO last fall. This year he was named one of the Central Penn Business Journal’s “40 under 40.” PHOTO/ MAXIMILIAN FRANZ

Spooky Nook Sports’ COO Jim Launer’s career has grown alongside the extensive development that the East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, sports complex has seen in the six years since it opened.

Launer joined the sports complex in 2013 as its director of sports performance when he was 30 and for the majority of his time at Spooky Nook he has led the company’s athletic program.

Now manning operations for Spooky Nook Sports, the former athletics trainer oversees 29 revenue-generating operations in a company of more than 700 employees.

Spooky Nook is the country’s largest indoor sports complex. The organization offers training for athletes from across the country and operates a hotel, restaurant and events from its location in East Hempfield Township. This year the complex has seen over 1 million visitors.

Launer spoke to the Central Penn Business Journal about what it has been like to grow his career alongside Spooky Nook and how he has changed as a leader within the organization.

What has your trajectory been like at Spooky Nook Sports?

I came here about a month and a half prior to Spooky Nook opening their doors and I was originally hired as the director of sports performance. I came here from Atlanta. I’m originally from Pennsylvania and then moved to Atlanta to work with some pro athletes down there and this opportunity came up to move back to Pennsylvania and I jumped on it.

I was hired as our director of sports performance. Shortly thereafter, I took over our fitness center and a couple other departments—next thing you know I had maybe six or eight departments 18 months into operations and was named managing director of operations.

I did that for another year and my title switched to chief athletic officer and at that point I was overseeing the majority of the stuff that Spooky Nook owned and operated with the exception of retail, hotel, food and beverage and our sales and events.

Last fall I became COO and that’s when I essentially took on the rest of the company’s operations.

How would you describe these past six years?

It’s been difficult and challenging but the reality is that what I do here at the nook can’t be done by one person. There are a whole bunch of strong leaders that make up my team that allow me to be successful because they do such a good job.

What accomplishments have you and the organization achieved in that time?

Some things we’ve accomplished are that we made our company profitable and we’ve hit pretty incredible traffic marks. We run our business based off of traffic. Last year we hit our millionth visitor in September and this year we hit our millionth visitor on July 14.

We are also very close to starting construction on a project in Ohio. The project is a $140 million build that will be bigger than our property in Pennsylvania and we have been working on that for the last four years.

Why is this COO position a good fit for you?

I consider my style of leadership servant leadership. I want my team to bring me their ideas and to own their departments. At the same time I am willing to jump in and do whatever it takes- I have served banquets, painted walls and made French fries. It’s not only me that does that here though. Having that type of work ethic and that desire to see everything be successful, works well.

What would you tell someone in their thirties that is looking to scale their business to the size of Spooky Nook?

It’s important to realize that if you are going to get into a business this large, you have to work in every aspect of the business.

There are so many facets of our business that if I didn’t touch each of them, I’m not sure I would be able to lead those teams or that I would be able to make sure that the decisions the fitness center are making benefit the hotel and vice versa

Immerse yourself as deep into the business as you can. Nothing should be below you and nothing should be above you.

If it’s a 60- or 70-hour work week, that’s something I do and that’s something everyone does here. You need people to see you are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful.

 

A Conversation With: Joe McMonagle

(Photo: Submitted) –

Joe McMonagle, 73, has been president of Quality Digital Office Solutions since 1992. The company was recently chosen by Central Penn Business Journal readers as the preferred office equipment company in central Pennsylvania.

McMonagle has an associate degree in business from Community College of Philadelphia.

He lives in East Hempfield Township with his wife, Helen, a liturgical musician. They have a daughter, three sons and eight grandchildren.

Q: What does a typical business relocation look like now from your perspective, given the change from paper filing to cloud-based document management?

A: The cloud-based is obviously a lot more efficient, easier, has the ability to take paper documents and go right from scanning into the cloud stage, with folders for each and every client. (The cloud) gives the ability to take and store things, but more importantly, the ability to not spend a lot of time looking for paper documents, the ability to type in a key word, date or an invoice number and recall all kinds of information. File cabinets are no longer needed, so that frees up space, especially when you’re leasing and paying per square foot. There is a cost-saving in addition to not printing a piece of paper, you also have an ability to better utilize your office space.

What is the most interesting innovation in office equipment you’ve seen in your 27 years at the helm of QualityDOS?

The ability to now print, scan and fax is obviously one of the bigger ones. The cost of copiers has decreased dramatically. The cost of color printing has decreased but the capability has increased. The clarity of color copying has greatly improved. Companies are getting print quality from a copier. Years ago, you’d go to a print shop and spend $2 for something that now your copier can do for 10 cents.

How do you identify your clients’ needs and identify the best business solutions to meet those needs?

Once an appointment is obtained, we go in with a list of questions for the client. We talk about a scope of work, how they’re doing things, how the paper moves from point A to point G or Z, how it flows through the company. Then we have the ability to look at it and ask the right questions and make a recommendation. Maybe you don’t have to make six or seven copies along the way, you can just use the scanning and software to move it from the copier to all six people quickly and efficiently, so they don’t have to print. And more importantly in developing that relationship, it’s just listening to what the client has to say. We’re not just selling a piece of hardware, we’re going to sell a solution that makes their company better and improves their bottom line.

Do you have the most up-to-date equipment for your own use or do you have a few legacy items you hang onto?

Most of my legacy items are gone. My 3-by-5 cards are gone. I have up-to-date equipment. We use a customer reference system that is available on my phone or my iPad or laptop. We have the ability to look at a piece of equipment and analyze it before we even get to it. The piece of equipment sends us a notice that the toner is low, so we can send toner to them before they need it. It tells us these rollers that last 100,000 pages, we’re almost at that number, so maybe we should take rollers with us and change them before they break down. We’re able to do system upgrades to the equipment at 2 in the morning. We’re able to make the changes in the off hours so there’s no downtime for the customers.

Triangle Refrigeration acquires EH Gochnauer

 

An air conditioning unit sits outside a home. (Photo: Getty Images)

Triangle Refrigeration Co. recently acquired a fellow Lancaster County heating and cooling company.

The Manheim Township-based company bought the commercial HVAC and plumbing assets of EH Gochnauer & Sons Inc., according to company representatives. Triangle also retained all 20-plus employees made up of commercial technicians and other staff of the East Hempfield Township business.

EH Gochnauer & Sons has been in business since 1933, providing residential heating and air conditioning services, installations and full service plumbing. Its technicians will continue to operate from its current location on Rohrerstown Road.

The acquisition doubles the size of Triangle’s commercial/industrial HVAC and plumbing team, company officials said, bringing the total number of employees to 140.

Triangle is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, offering repair and maintenance services to grocery stores, convenience stores and industrial, commercial and retail clients in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Kegel’s Produce awarded ‘Safe Food’ certification

Raw organic spring farmers market box with multiple vegetables. (Photo: Getty Images)

Lancaster County wholesale distributor Kegel’s Produce was recently awarded the Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification from SAI Global, an international risk management company based in Chicago.

The SQF Certification is the highest level quality and safety program recognized by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), a food safety management system requiring manufacturers to meet benchmark quality standards.

To be considered for the certification, Kegel’s had to meet certain requirements, including the presentation of a safety proposal, conducting a pre-assessment of its facilities and an on-site audit from an independent certification body.

“Kegel’s Produce is extremely proud to have achieved the highest level of food safety and quality certification within the food industry,” said Kenneth G. Myers, the company’s COO. “With the addition of our SQF Certification, we are taking every measurable step to protect our customers from any harmful biological and physical factors.”

To maintain its SQF Certification status, Kegel’s has to undergo annual audits from SAI Global to ensure consistency and adherence to the standards and requirements of the program.

Based in East Hempfield Township, Kegel’s has been in operation since 1948, serving as a fourth-generation, family-owned wholesale produce supplier throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Pipeline grants approved for two local construction projects

A stack of new metal pipes wait to be installed at a gas pipeline project. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) announced this week that several applications through the Pipeline Investment Program (PIPE) were approved by the Commonwealth Financing Authority to install natural gas lines to construction projects, including in Lancaster and Lebanon counties.

Created in November 2016, PIPE was designed to provide grants to help construct the last few miles of natural gas lines to business parks and existing manufacturing and industrial enterprises, officials said. Eligible applicants include businesses, economic development organizations, hospitals, municipalities and school districts.

“These projects will help close the gaps for communities that lack access to natural gas, an issue that impacts living expenses, business operations, and quality of life,” said Dennis Davin, DCED secretary. “The PIPE program allows Pennsylvanians to take advantage of the abundant natural gas resources available throughout the commonwealth, while saving money, creating jobs and lowering emissions.”

In Lancaster County, East Hempfield Township-based Oak Tree Development Group was approved for a $154,793 grant to install a distribution pipeline near a mixed-use development the firm wants to build near Harrisburg Pike and State Road in the township. Plans call for a development with 125 residential units and approximately 600,000-square-feet of mixed commercial uses, including a medical office, medical facility and warehouse and distribution space. The total projected cost for the pipeline project is $309,586.  

In Lebanon County, the Eastern Lebanon County School District was approved for a $980,666 grant to extend a natural gas pipeline onto its campus in Jackson Township. The campus is currently heated by propane and oil-fired boilers, but by extending a pipeline, the district anticipates reducing emissions and costs of operation. The project, which is expected to cost a total of $1,961,332, will also provide natural gas service to seven additional small businesses and several properties in the area.

Penn State Health plans Lancaster-area hospital

Penn State Health will be proposing the location for its new East Hempfield Township hospital at the intersection of State Road and Harrisburg Pike. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

Penn State Health is planning to build a new acute care hospital in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County next year, adding new competition to the market.

The Hershey-based health system has announced it will be seeking approval from East Hempfield Township as it moves forward on a plan to build a new 30-acre hospital campus at the intersection of State Road and Harrisburg Pike.

The hospital would feature private inpatient beds, an emergency department, physician offices, various specialty inpatient services, an imaging lab and complete medical and surgical capabilities, the hospital system wrote in a press release on Monday.

It is the second new hospital for Penn State Health. It also is building a new hospital in Hampden Township, Cumberland County.

“We are committed to building a regional health network across Central Pennsylvania that gives our patients a full range of care right in their neighborhoods,” said Steve Massini, CEO of Penn State Health. “This new acute care facility is another step toward delivering on our promise to ensure the communities we serve are within 10 minutes of our primary care providers, 20 minutes of our specialty care and 30 minutes of our acute care.”

The system wrote in its release that the new hospital will provide care to residents of Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties at a location closer to them than the system’s anchor hospital, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Derry Township, Dauphin County.

The news comes a few months after UPMC Pinnacle closed its UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster hospital. The UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster campus is 5.5 miles away from the proposed site of the new Penn State Health facility.

In April, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health announced it was considering an expansion to its Duke Street hospital in order to keep up with the increase in patients stemming from the closure of UPMC Pinnacle Lancaster.

Animals inspire vet to open clinic

Carrie Vigeant opened her first veterinary practice in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County, this week. (Photo: Submitted)

Inspired by the companionship and healing through animals she found on her family’s small farm as a child, Carrie Vigeant has opened an animal hospital in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County.

Vigeant spent 11 years as a veterinary surgeon in clinics in York and Lancaster counties before opening her own practice this week.

Healing Paws Animal Hospital gives Vigeant the chance to work in a clinic where she can help animals as much as they helped her.

Diagnosed at a young age with alopecia universalis, an autoimmune condition that leads to complete hair loss, Vigeant said she found comfort with her family’s cats, dogs, sheep, goats and horses.

“My animals never once judged me, they never made me feel awkward and they always listened,” she said. “I wanted to dedicate my life to healing them as they healed me.”

Her clinic offers medical, surgical and routine care, sick appointments, X-rays, lab work, behavioral consultations and dental, soft tissue and orthopedic surgery for both cats and dogs. Where it stands out, according to Vigeant, is in its atmosphere.

“Our slogan is ‘client and creature comforts’ and we take that to heart,” she said, noting that she took particular care with the center’s lobby. “With most veterinary clinics, you come in and it’s a hodgepodge nightmare in the lobby – dogs are barking and phones are ringing. We removed all of that.”

Clients sign in at the front desk and are immediately taken to one of the clinic’s exam rooms. The pet is treated with the owner in the room. During more serious surgery, the pet owner can watch through a window from the other side of the treatment room.

“There’s nothing I’m doing that the client won’t see,” Vigeant said.

Clients and their pets then leave from a side exit, continuing the clinic’s insistence on peaceful, one-on-one care.

Vigeant said she chose the East Hempfield area for her own business because of its people, atmosphere and clients. She said that while she enjoyed working at other practices over the years, she wanted the opportunity to create a business that was all her own.

The clinic currently employs four people, including Vigeant, the only surgeon.

Healing Paws is leasing a 5,500 square-foot space at 3125 Nolt Road. Vigeant said the clinic currently is using 3,000 square feet but expects to add additional exam rooms as well as a space for physical rehabilitation.