Premiering in 2006, the PA Chamber's full-color statewide quarterly magazine, Catalyst, boasts a readership of more than 15,000 business professionals and elected officials across the Commonwealth. Through print and digital editions, readers can explore insightful articles by and about PA Chamber members, as well as legislative and regulatory updates.
Complete profile of a PA Chamber Investor Member company that covers their history, operations, plans for the future and economic impact to the Commonwealth.
Highlights the recognizable and not-so-well-known products made in the Commonwealth by PA Chamber members.
Showcases a small PA Chamber member company describing their goods and services, as well as the benefits and challenges they experience doing business in Pennsylvania.
Many small businesses have the misconception that they aren’t likely to be the target of a cyber-attack. But the data shows otherwise. In our increasingly high-tech world, cyber-criminals don’t discriminate when it comes to hacking into systems to steal information. In fact, more than 43 percent of cyber-attacks target small businesses. It’s become an all too common problem facing small businesses throughout the country. One that Mechanicsburg-based Appalachia Technologies LLC, a full-service Information Technology support and security company, sees on a regular basis and works with businesses to combat.
Whether you’re a small or large company, domestic or international, the U.S. private sector has become the new geopolitical battlespace. This is the realm of asymmetric warfare wherein nation-states like China, Russia, Iran and others are targeting companies in nearly every U.S. sector for theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, cyber espionage, theft of personal data and other activities.
Nestled beside the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County sits the small town of Columbia, Pennsylvania. With a centralized location to Lancaster, York and Harrisburg, as well as close proximity to major Northeast cities, Columbia is a perfect location for businesses wanting easy access to markets up and down the East Coast.
Pittsburgh’s history is forged in steel. Its future is based in Tech and Medicine.
I was always a big fan of The Sopranos. A New Jersey mobster battling both his professional and personal ‘family’ life? Count me in. I watched every episode, even when I was too young to understand some of the more profane words and expressions (and there were plenty).
Vincent readily admits he was immature in his early 20s, a time when he was partying and convicted of driving under the influence, making false statements to police and retail theft.
This past June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency invited the PA Chamber to take part in the formal rule signing for the Affordable Clean Energy rule, the replacement regulation for the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan. The event took place at the EPA’s Headquarters in Washington D.C., and I was honored to represent the members of the PA Chamber at the event.
One of the breakout sessions during the PA Chamber’s first-ever Innovation Summit in May featured a discussion by Thaddeus Stevens College President Dr. William Griscom, and High Companies CEO Mike Shirk, about their respective organizations’ unique partnership. The school and the corporation are working together to ensure that students graduate with the skills necessary to enter into promising careers — many of which are at the High Companies — that not only pay well, but have a clear path to future success. This workforce-centric collaboration is helping to address Pennsylvania’s jobs skills gap while also ensuring that the talent and work ethic the Thaddeus Stevens College helps to instill is staying right here in the Commonwealth.
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, a private, STEM-focused institution founded in 2001, is considered an infant in the world of academia. However, in just 20 years since its founding, the university is (quite literally) taking the world by Storm. As if offering unique degree options such as Information Technologies, Manufacturing, Healthcare Informatics, Biotechnology, Analytics and Media Systems isn’t enough, the university has risen to the top of the STEM platform again with the launch of the first varsity sports program at HU — eSports.
At Aqua Pennsylvania, we take seriously our responsibility of protecting and providing water services for the communities we serve. Water is Earth’s most precious resource and we know our customers rely on us to provide safe, reliable water each and every day. As such, Aqua is always looking for new and innovative ways to improve our water treatment process to best serve our customers while also protecting the environment.
Innovation in healthcare is happening, and it’s happening quickly. In addition to care-delivery advances, evolving payer models, and shifting funding arrangements, perhaps the single most important revolution impacting care and its associated economics relates to pharmaceuticals. Research and development appears to be focused — nearly exclusively — on low frequency, high cost therapies targeted to improve the quality of life for a small population segment with severe needs.
Innovation. The word itself has various connotations. Whether it’s pushing forward new technologies; adopting a science-driven approach to your operations (think robotics); or thinking outside the box to ensure your company’s relevancy and attract new consumer markets, innovation is critical to the heart and operation of many 21st century businesses.
Businesses that employ people with disabilities not only fill available labor needs, but often realize additional benefits and business opportunities. Employees with disabilities often assist companies in reaching NEW markets, suggesting product and process improvements, improving an organization's turnover rates and much more.
Fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong took man’s first step on the moon, the Beatles recorded Abbey Road, Sesame Street premiered on PBS and a Lancaster County-based engineering and surveying firm opened its doors for business.
If you’ve experienced any of the PA Chamber’s last 17 annual dinners in the Hershey Lodge’s Great American Hall, you probably think of JPL as a premier event producer.
Hydro, a global supplier of aluminum products, is Schuylkill County’s largest manufacturing employer, operating a production facility in Cressona. A fixture in the community since the 1940s, the plant makes extruded products that serve a variety of industries, including construction, automotive, transportation and energy.
For 80 years, Ace Wire Spring & Form Co., Inc. has worked in the custom spring manufacturing industry. Since its beginning, Ace Wire Spring has been a family owned and operated business, always staying close to its roots in the community of McKees Rocks, right outside of Pittsburgh, PA.
As President Trump noted in this year’s State of the Union address, America is “at a moment of unlimited potential.” Since his election, America has created 5.3 million new jobs. Wages are rising, unemployment is dropping. And our economy is the envy of the world.
Imagine if everyone made environmental sustainability a priority. Small changes in daily consumption and disposal practices can make a big difference. Compounded over weeks, months and years, the benefits become even more significant and can make vast changes to the ecological health of the communities we all share.
In December 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized GIANT Food Stores, LLC of Carlisle, PA for its food recovery achievements that include donating more than 3.9 million pounds of food to food banks in 2017. This is equal to 3,268,333 meals served.
This year, Peoples Gas is working to cut its methane emissions by 50 percent within the city limits of Pittsburgh. The utility hopes to accomplish this by using advanced leak detection instrumentation and a new methodology developed by the Environmental Defense Fund and Google Earth Outreach to map and measure natural gas leaks issuing from underground pipes.
The need to conserve water is becoming more critical. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that at least 40 states anticipate water shortages by 2024. One of the EPA’s tactics to counter the increasing water scarcity is to recycle water so that it can be reused.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation is expanding its partnership with the Oilfield Energy Center to enhance STEM education for middle-school age students via the Mobile Oilfield Learning Unit.
I was at a local business event many years ago when I heard something that made me laugh — not out loud, because it wasn’t intended to be funny; more of a half-smile because of the sheer absurdity of the statement.
The Utz story began in Hanover, Pennsylvania, in a small-town kitchen. It was 1921. William (Bill) and Salie Utz thought potato chips could be better. They believed potato chips should be made from clean, simple ingredients and that they should be minimally processed to bring out the natural flavor of farm-fresh potatoes. With an initial investment of $300, Hanover Home Brand Potato Chips — eventually Utz Quality Foods — was born.
In an insightful, exclusive Q&A with Catalyst, Canadian Consul General Phyllis Yaffe explains how the historic, unprecedented relationship between Canada and the United States is mutually beneficial for both of our nation’s economies and our safety; and expresses why it’s imperative that we keep it going strong.
SERVPRO is the leading provider of fire and water damage restoration in the United States and Canada. Headquartered in Gallatin, Tennessee, SERVPRO has more than 1,700 franchises nationwide, with professionals available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year who are ready to restore your property quickly and efficiently. Their goal is always to make it seem as though any customer’s emergency never even happened.
In May 12, 2017, one of six new QLINE streetcar vehicles made its first official passenger trip along a brand new rail alignment up and down Woodward Avenue near downtown Detroit. It was the first streetcar passenger trip to occur in Detroit in more than 60 years, and was greeted with great fanfare by thousands of locals and supporters in a weekend-long celebration.
Wood Star Productions, a Lancaster-based, full service video production company, will have its busiest year ever in 2017! The question is … why Wood Star, and why is video on top now? In 2013, the Associated Press announced that video has now overtaken the written word as the most common form of communication. It is also known that a company’s Search Engine Optimization (the degree to which a company’s website will appear as a top result when entered into a web browser like Google) will increase if video exists on the website. In fact, the majority of Google search responses that include video have a far higher click-through rate, and evidence has shown that viewers will stay longer on a company’s web site if it contains video. The truth is that if video is not part of your marketing program, you are years behind your competition.
Chances are you’ve strode across Armstrong Flooring’s products at some point in your life.
What began as a low-key electric fence installation company in the 1980’s in Frederick, Maryland has grown to be one of the most trusted names in the deer fencing industry, providing quality do-it-yourself garden fences that stand up against the threat of crop damage due to wildlife nuisances such as white-tailed deer, elk, feral hogs and rodents.
Anyone traveling through southcentral Pennsylvania is amazed at the abundance of beautiful orchards that dominate the landscape. More than a century ago, pioneers in the fruit industry started these family-owned orchards, many of which span five, six or even seven generations. These families recognized that the slopes of the local mountains, the rich soils and perfect drainage, coupled with warm days, timely precipitation and cool nights, provided the perfect garden for growing the most delicious fruit in America. Headquartered in the heart of “America’s Orchard” is Knouse Foods Cooperative, Inc.
Since 2002, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry has endorsed consulting firm APPI Energy as a PA Chamber Preferred Provider. Business professionals and elected officials in the Commonwealth have unprecedented flexibility to align energy management strategies with corporate goals, budgets and fiscal calendars. Unbiased and independent since 1996, APPI Energy provides data-driven consulting and procurement solutions that reduce electricity and natural gas costs.
A.S.K. Foods, Inc. started as a love affair.
In 1973, science fiction author Sir Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
The memory of a significant life event stems from the ambiance surrounding it. Whether it’s an important corporate reception, a social event where you want to make a great impression or one of the most special days of your life — your wedding day — the JDK Group’s energized team of specialists is in the business of making that memory a beautiful one.
UGI is helping businesses and homeowners take advantage of the economic and environmental benefits of natural gas, Pennsylvania’s clean, plentiful and local natural resource.
Erie Insurance has been helping people make things right since 1925, working side-by-side with the best insurance agents in the business. When H.O. Hirt and O.G. Crawford decided to start an insurance exchange, they wanted to base it on “simple common sense, mixed with just plain decency.” They turned to the Golden Rule as a guiding principle, and on April 20, 1925, Erie Insurance and its legacy of service opened for business. That principle has acted as a beacon for 91 years as Erie Insurance has grown into what it is today.
How do you keep a 116-year-old brand fresh and exciting? Ask the people at Mack Trucks.
The convergence of technology, shifting demographics and globalization has disrupted the ways that things have always been done — and recruiting and hiring employees are no exception. According to Success Performance Solutions President and Founder Ira Wolfe, "Many businesses are trying to recruit and hire employees without using automation, technology and social media — and that's like trying to send an email using a typewriter."
