Cash flow for local restaurants has hit a grinding halt following the Wolf administration’s statewide closure of business operations to discourage people from meeting in groups where they could potentially spread the coronavirus.

Gov. Tom Wolf issued a stay-at-home order for six counties and extended the closure of schools in the state for another two weeks to help fight the spread of COVID-19. He did not mention any timetable for the closure of non-life sustaining businesses. Those closures were ordered “until further notice.”

In a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf, officials from the five chapters that make up the Associated Builders and Contractors of Pennsylvania, asked for a waiver for the construction-industry-at-large, and clarification of his executive order to shut down businesses.

Starting at 8 a.m., Gov.  Wolf’s order that all non-life sustaining business shut down, will be enforced.

To slow the spread of COVID-19, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to close their physical locations late yesterday, and offered a comprehensive list of those types of businesses affected.

Gov. Tom Wolf also clarified Monday’s order that all non-essential businesses close temporarily to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has ordered all non-essential stores, bars and restaurants in the state to temporarily close to help slow the progression of COVID-19.

A vacant commercial building on Franklin Street in Lancaster is planned to be the site of a new combination thrift and grocery store for the area’s low-income residents.

Pennsylvania has joined a handful of states that have raised their thresholds for overtime pay above federal levels, which is projected to extend overtime pay to 82,000 additional Pennsylvania workers within two years. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs is accepting grant applications from organizations offering employment or recovery support services to people with opioid use disorder.

UPS announced a $1.4 billion expansion project in Pennsylvania, creating more than 1,721 new full-time jobs and will expand operations in Dauphin, Lehigh, Cumberland, Northumberland and Philadelphia counties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry awarded $2.4 million in workforce development grants to counties across the commonwealth. In all, 19 workforce development boards were granted from $100,000 to $200,000 each, according to a Jan. 16 news release from the state.

Penn Waste, the waste disposal company owned by former Republican state Senator and gubernatorial candidate, Scott Wagner, has been acquired by Ontario-based Waste Connections, company officials confirmed on Friday.

A projected workforce deficit in Pennsylvania’s agriculture industry in the coming decade has sparked the state’s approval of $500,000 in grants to fund Pennsylvania’s Ag and Youth Grant Program.

Pennsylvania Insurance Department officials say the state’s insurance companies do not provide adequate access to health care as mandated by state and federal guidelines, prompting the need for state agencies to institute stronger parity regulations.