The establishment of publicly owned banks – those owned by some form of government -- could give rise to a new lending entity in Pennsylvania that some say would directly compete with traditional banks.

Tax experts agree: adjusting to new accounting standards and the effects of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act can make the nonprofit world more confusing – and challenging. Here are some tips to help ensure your nonprofit, one of more than 13,000 operating in Pennsylvania, maintains the strong financial backing it needs to continue its meaningful work while meeting today’s state and federal regulations.

When Fred Richstien II sought financing last fall to expand his business in Adams County, he heard about a federal loan program that might help him achieve his vision.. By summer, he had a financing package totaling $845,000 in hand for his company, Laboratory, Analytical & Biological Services, or LABS, of New Oxford, part of which included a Small Business Administration 504 loan facilitated by the Adams Economic Alliance.

Student-loan debt continues to be a major obstacle along the path to home ownership across the nation, particularly for millennials. But it’s not the only one.

As purveyors of Bitcoin seek out mainstream acceptance, the cryptocurrency – arguably the best-known in a diverse field – may have just gotten a boost in Pennsylvania.

Stephen Gift, 63, founded Gift CPAs (formerly Gift and Associates) in 1984 and is today its managing member. The firm was named the 2019 large practice Accounting Firm of the Year by the Professional Association of Small Business Accountants. Gift CPAs has offices in five midstate locations, including Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg.

Building on its growth in Lancaster and York counties, Univest Bank and Trust Co. has hired its first commercial lender for Cumberland and Dauphin counties.

After expanding its Maryland business through a merger this spring, Orrstown Financial Services Inc. has hired former BB&T executive Christopher D. Holt to head up its operations in the Old Line state.

A legal case over a stormwater levy enacted in 2016 by West Chester borough, one of dozens of municipalities around Pennsylvania that have added the fees over the last few years to cope with stormwater runoff and comply with environmental regulations, has pitted it against West Chester University.

A state representative from East Stroudsburg, Rosemary M. Brown, has introduced House Bill 858, which would encourage savings accounts with some of the excitement of a lottery or raffle.

Managers at Conrad Siegel looked at personal-finance statistics from a variety of sources and figured there must be a better way to help clients and their employees plan for a secure future. So the Harrisburg-based employee-benefit and investment-advisory firm set about to create online planning tools that would take at least some of the mystery, as well as the stress, out of financial planning.

Steven Buterbaugh, 54, is president and CEO of York-based McConkey Insurance and Benefits, which he joined in 1991.

Honeycomb Credit, a Pittsburgh-based technology firm, has built a crowd-funding program that it is hoping to bring to small businesses across Pennsylvania.

Gettysburg-based ACNB Bank will have a second subsidiary bank in Maryland if a planned acquisition is completed with Frederick, Maryland-based Frederick County Bancorp Inc.

Digital and person-to-person payment services such as PayPal offer the convenience of clicking a few buttons – instead of cutting physical checks or going through the hassle of a wire transfer - but businesses and individuals alike should beware of the potential for fraud in these kinds of transactions.