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Awards, giving back, and making moves in the region!

AWARDS 

Accounting 
Harrisburg-based regional accounting and advisory firm Brown Schultz Sheridan & Fritz was recently honored with the 2021 Best Special Event Award by the United Way of the Capital Region. BSSF was specifically recognized for its cornhole tournament event in September 2021, which raised $1,750 to benefit the United Way. 

Banking/Finance 
Harrisburg-based PSECU made Forbes Magazine’s list of Best-In-State Credit Unions for 2022 for the fourth consecutive year. 

Construction 
York-based Wagman Heavy Civil Inc. was recognized with a 2021 Contractor Safety Award from the Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance. The company accepted the award during the VTCA annual meeting in July at the Marriott Virginia Beach Oceanfront. 

Wagman won the award in the 300,001 to 500,000 Manhours category. The alliance recognizes contactor members who demonstrate their commitment to a safe and healthy work environment. 

Government 
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania earned national recognition as a premier employer for modernizing its human resource portal for state employees. The Office of Administration received the 2022 Eugene H. Rooney Jr. Award for Innovative State Human Resource Management Program from the National Association of State Personnel Executives at the organization’s national conference. 

Health Care
WellSpan Waynesboro Hospital and Penn Medicine Lancaster General Hospital were recognized as among the best hospitals in the country by Money, a personal finance website, in the Teaching Hospitals category. 

Insurance 
Harrisburg-based Keystone Agency Partners, an insurance brokerage platform that reported 233% year-over-year growth in 2021, was named to Business Insurance’s ranking of the world’s Top 100 Insurance Brokers of U.S. Business for 2022. 

Law 
Jennifer Craighead Carey has been named to the Law Power 100 by City & State PA as one of the most powerful people in the legal profession in Pennsylvania. A partner in Barley Snyder’s Employment Practice Group, she concentrates in the areas of labor and employment law and associated litigation and serves on the firm’s Management Committee, as Crisis Management Service Team chair and as Diversity & Inclusion Committee chair. 

Manufacturing 
Lancaster-based Armstrong World Industries has been named by Newsweek as one of the Most Trusted Companies in America in 2022. Armstrong is the only ceilings and walls company to make the list, which was identified through an independent survey of approximately 50,000 U.S. residents who rated publicly traded companies in the nation with revenues over $500 million. 

Real Estate 
The Crossings at Sweetbriar 55+ community in Lebanon and Cortland Park 55+ community in Mechanicsburg were recently recognized by Ideal Living Magazine as two of “America’s 100 Best Places to Live” in the mid-Atlantic region.

 

ON THE MOVE 

Bert’s Bottle Shop, which closed its 369 Comet Drive, Millersville, location in February, will move to the first floor of 29 E. King St. in Lancaster city. The restaurant and bar will have inside seating for around 60 as well as room for about 20 on a patio. 

The owners of Fox Meadows Creamery in Clay Township have opened a new location at 193 E. Main St., Upper Leacock Township. Both creameries feature ice cream made using milk from the Fox family dairy farm that’s next to the family’s original creamery. The new location has a production area where the ice cream is made from a mix produced at the Clay Township creamery. 

Girls on the Run Capital Area has leased 3,000 square feet at 123 N. Enola Drive, East Pennsboro Township, from City Limits Realty LLC. Campbell Commercial Real Estate Inc. represented the tenant in the transaction, and NAI CIR represented the landlord. 

The historic Carson Coover House, a six-unit luxury apartment building at 223 Pine St., Harrisburg, was sold to investors 223 Pine LLC. The Vartan-owned property sold for $790,000 ($131,666 per unit) at a 6.75% cap rate. NAI CIR represented the seller. 

Lot 2A on Fairville Avenue in Harrisburg has been sold to Narciso Becerra, who will convert the 1-acre lot into a trailer parking site for a trucking company. NAI CIR handled the transaction. 

Oola Bowls has leased 2,187 square feet in North Cornwall Commons, North Cornwall Township, from Byler Holdings. The Lancaster-based smoothie bowl chain is expanding to an end cap drive-thru retail suite at the complex. Oola Bowls serves products that feature organic superfoods. Founders Joe Ferderbar and Brock Snider started the business with a food truck. Today, Oola Bowls operates at three local farmers markets, HersheyPark and in a storefront location in Lancaster in addition to the North Cornwall Commons site. Campbell Commercial Real Estate handled the transaction. 

 

GIVING 

Beacon Clinic for Health and Hope in Harrisburg was awarded a $25,000 Grant from the Highmark Foundation. The grant will support data infrastructure and security of the technology systems at the clinic and staffing costs of a registered nurse who provides care to patients and support to the clinic’s health care providers. 

Harrisburg-based Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania, a 501(c)(3) committed to building a “tiny home” community for veterans experiencing homelessness, received donations from Carter Lumber, Garden Chapel, Pyramid Construction Services, FloorMax, DT Mechanical Electrical Contractors, Navarro Bros. and Accent Pro Painting, enabling the organization to build a traveling replica of a tiny home. 

Veterans Outreach plans to build a village of 15 tiny houses on a 5-acre tract along the Susquehanna River in south Harrisburg. 

York-based Wolf Home Products announced its collaboration with the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, to enhance the facility and its popular wild nocturnal adventure experience. The company will donate Wolf Perspective Decking for 12 new camping pods; siding products for the state-of-the art 4,700-square-foot education center and the camping pods; and Wolf Classic cabinets for the education center kitchenette. 

Harrisburg-based Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Inc., in partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, raised over half a million dollars nationwide from June 12-July 9. The funds raised at Ollie’s stores will benefit 85 local member hospitals in communities Ollie’s serves. 

Dunkin’ and its franchisees throughout the Lancaster, Harrisburg and York area announced that $15,000 will be granted to Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital through the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation. 

The Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association, headquartered in Wormleysburg, recently awarded its 2022 Thomas R. and Laura Ridge Scholarship to 27 students, totaling $67,500. Recipients are chosen by a panel of judges who review each applicant’s academic record, school and community involvement, recommendations and a submitted essay. 

The Parkinson’s Foundation awarded more than $2 million in community grants for Parkinson’s disease programs across the U.S. York and Lancaster counties’ YMCA of the Roses was awarded $18,000 for its Partners in Progress initiative, which will bring accessible and affordable wellness classes to individuals with Parkinson’s through activities including boxing, cycling and water-based exercises. 

Chambersburg-based F&M Trust recently pledged $12,500 to Costa Academy, a culinary arts school in Chambersburg that educates students through a style of teaching that fosters engagement, provokes confident decision-making and inspires leadership. 

Housed at The Orchards restaurant, Costa Academy has educated high school students through an alternative education program since 2016. With the 2022-2023 year, the academy will shift programming to post-high school and other adult students. 

Co-President Dan Schwab of D&H Distributing, based in Harrisburg, presented a $10,000 check to The Joshua Group (Harrisburg) during its first-ever Career Day on July 29. The group provides services to at-risk area youth. The donation was arranged by the D&H Cares employee-run foundation and involved a community of D&H customers. 

York-based First Capital Federal Credit Union raised $2,050 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of York and Adams Counties. A portion of the money was generated through soft pretzel sales and jeans days as part of the FirstCap Gives Back Program. 

First Capital also sponsored two fundraising initiatives hosted by Big Brothers Big Sisters of York and Adams Counties: Bowl For Kids’ Sake and Golf Fore Kids’ Sake. 

Compiled by Paula Wolf 

 

Harsco Corp. plans to relocate headquarters by 2023 

 

Environmental solutions provider Harsco Corp. plans to relocate its Camp Hill headquarters to Philadelphia, the second large regional company to do so this week. 

The move will see a majority of Harsco’s corporate employees relocate to Philadelphia by January 2023. It was prompted by a need for a more diverse workforce and the resources that a larger city provides, Nick Grasberger, chairman and CEO of Harsco said in a statement to the Central Penn Business Journal. 

“We are confident that this move to America’s sixth largest city will provide us with more options to the future resources needed to fuel our growth including a strong infrastructure, a much larger and diverse talent pool, and closer proximity to our customers and federal government agencies,” Grasberger said. 

Harsco was founded in 1853 and has operated in South Central Pennsylvania for more than 165 years.  

The company provides environmental solutions for industrial and specialty waste systems and technology for the rail sector. It employs 12,000 people in more than 30 countries. 

Most of Harsco’s employees in Camp Hill have been offered the chance to relocate to the new location. Employees at Harsco’s Reed Minerals business will remain in Camp Hill, as well as a few other back-office employees, said Jay Cooney, chief marketing and communications officer at Harsco. 

The company has yet to announce its plans for its Camp Hill Headquarters. 

“As the future becomes the present, we remain committed to our employee care value with the hope that the majority of our employees will join us on this next step in our journey,” said Grasberger. “We will share more information about our relocation in the coming months.” 

Harsco is the second major Camp Hill employer this week to announce its exit from Cumberland County following Rite Aid’s announcement on Tuesday that it would be closing its local headquarters in favor of a smaller, more remote-focused workforce operating out of Philadelphia. 

As part of the move, Rite Aid plans to open “regional collaboration centers” across the country that will allow its teams to work together when needed. Rite Aid hasn’t announced where these hubs will be located but has confirmed that one will be in the midstate. 

 

Rite Aid to grow corporate team, open new collaborative hub in Central Pa.

 

Rite Aid may be moving its headquarters from Camp Hill, Cumberland County to Philadelphia but thanks to its new remote-first initiative, the pharmaceutical chain plans to expand its corporate team of 700.

Rite Aid announced on Tuesday that it will be relocating its headquarters to a new Philadelphia location early next year as it moves to a new focus on remote work.

As part of the move, Rite Aid plans to open “regional collaboration centers” across the country that will allow its teams to work together when needed. Rite Aid hasn’t announced where these hubs will be located but has confirmed that one will be in the midstate.

“This is about building a reimagined workplace, where our associates have the flexibility they prefer and also have innovative, modern and new spaces that demonstrates a new Rite Aid,” said Brad Ducey, senior manager of external communications at Rite Aid.

Rite Aid doesn’t expect to see any layoffs as part of the move to Philadelphia and instead is actively hiring and looking to grow its corporate team, according to Ducey.

Rite Aid has yet to announce plans for its current properties in the region, including the company headquarters at 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill.

Rite Aid to leave Camp Hill 

 

Rite Aid plans to relocate its headquarters from Camp Hill, Cumberland County to Philadelphia as part of a new focus on remote work. 

The national drugstore chain said on Tuesday that it will be reimagining its workplace model to do away with office spaces and instead focus on “in-person collaboration and company gatherings” at a new headquarters in Philadelphia. 

Rite Aid has yet to detail what the new initiative means for its corporate offices at 30 Hunter Lane, Camp Hill, but said it plans to create what it calls regional collaboration centers across the country that will allow Rite Aid teams to work together for in-person meetings, training and development and more. 

The move to this remote work focus was spurred by an internal survey among Rite Aid’s corporate associates, which found that a vast majority preferred working from home, according to a Rite Aid press release. 

“We’re changing our business from the inside out, and our reimagined workplace is the latest exciting step toward the future of this company,” said Heyward Donigan, CEO of Rite Aid. “We believe in remote work, and as we lean into it for the long term, we are investing in a physical footprint that will facilitate its best version. We’ve heard directly from our associates that teams want and need to meet in-person, and we think we’ve found the right balance between the flexibility of remote work and the power of on-site collaboration.” 

The pharmacy chain currently plans to locate its new headquarters to Philadelphia’s Navy Yard district. The new location would feature space for teams across Rite Aid’s various businesses, including Rite Aid retail, Elixir, Health Dialog and Bartell Drugs. 

“This transformation of our workforce brings Rite Aid into the modern era of work. We can recruit the best talent regardless of their location, and we can give our corporate associates the freedom and flexibility that today’s workers crave,” said Jim Peters, chief operating officer at Rite Aid. “Our new headquarters and collaboration centers will have a unifying effect on our enterprise and serve as an important space for our teams to be together when needed.” 

Rite Aid operates 2,500 retail pharmacy locations across 17 states. It was founded in Scranton in 1962. 

Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce to relocate headquarters this fall

The Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce plans to relocate to a new, larger office at 989 Quentin Road. PHOTO/PROVIDED

The Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce plans to relocate to a new, larger office at 989 Quentin Road, Lebanon in mid-October.

The chamber announced this month that it will be leaving its 604 Cumberland Street headquarters after 10 years.

The move comes at a time where the chamber has grown its programming and needs larger meeting room space, the chamber wrote in a press release. In a non-pandemic year, the chamber holds over 400 meetings and workshops on site annually.

“Our programming has evolved over the past five years to include more educational workshops, development programs, and roundtable discussions,” said Karen Groh, chamber president and CEO. “Our current meeting rooms are often at maximum capacity which means we have to turn away attendees.”

The new location includes an extra 1,500-square-feet of space at over 5,200-square-feet and nearly double the occupancy in the two meeting rooms on-site. The move was decided through a multi-year process which included a search committee of chamber members.

“Our 2022-25 Strategic Plan has a heavy emphasis on educational programming,” said Groh. “We are confident this move will increase our ability to provide more services and benefits to our large membership based in Lebanon County and surrounding communities.”

The chamber plans to hold an open house for the new location in November.

Rhoads Energy to move to new headquarters

A rendering shows the plans for Rhoad Energy’s new headquarters, expected to be finished in November. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

A warehouse owned by Rhoads Energy for the past four years is expected to become the site of the Lancaster company’s new headquarters.

The heating oil, natural gas and propane delivery company announced on Friday that it will be renovating the interior and exterior of its 205 Hazel Street warehouse to serve as its new main office.

The warehouse was first purchased by Rhoads in 2015 for $345,000.

Interior demolition has already begun on the building by West Earl Township-based contractor, Benchmark Construction. The renovations are expected to finish on Nov. 30 and will include a hands-on training facility for the company’s HVAC technicians, a display room to showcase products, a new conference space and four additional bays for parking.

The new space will offer 16,000 square feet of space compared to the current South Prince Street headquarters’ 9,000-square-foot building.

Rhoads currently staffs 20 people at its headquarters that will be moving to the new space. The new location will also accommodate space for future hires as needed, according to a company press release.

“This move will enable Rhoads to capitalize on opportunities for growth while remaining a community-based company in the heart of Lancaster,” Michael DeBerdine III, Rhoads’ CEO, said in the press release. “Any project like this requires collaboration, and we are truly grateful for the cooperation we received from the City of Lancaster and from our other partners.”

The South Prince Street headquarters has already been listed on the market for $875,000.

Rhoads recently announced that it would begin transitioning a portion of its vehicle fleet to propane gas, growing from 14 vehicles operating on propane to 22.