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Pandemic leaves bike shops struggling in shortages

George Gatto’s bicycle shop flourished in summer 2020, as the first pandemic lockdowns eased and bike sales nationwide boomed. This summer, however, is a different story. The demand is still there, but manufacturing warehouses globally are empty, and places such as Gatto Cycle Shop in Tarentum are left scrambling. When the coronavirus restrictions hit in March 2020, Gatto closed his doors. He couldn’t sell anything for months. He even debated selling off his inventory to others in his dealer performance group. But they told him to save his stock and buy as much as he could. ...

American Rescue Workers hires new director of shelters

American Rescue Workers (ARW) announced the recent appointment of William Coleman into the position of director of shelters. Coleman previously held the position of case manager/housing specialist at ARW, responsible for working directly with clients in the organization’s two emergency ...

Performance Construction Services Inc., Susquehanna Supply Company merge

Performance Construction Services, Inc., a Quandel Company, announced their merger with subsidiary, Susquehanna Supply Company, to form Performance Construction Company. Integrating the two companies offers an established history of heavy civil contracting and construction services solutions to their clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic market. Performance Construction Services, Inc. began in 1995 as the self-performing provider for Quandel Construction Group and has evolved over the years as a general contracting company specializing in heavy concrete, bridges, dams, and water and ...

Companies using state roads to test self-driving vehicles

Self-driving cars powered their way across tens of thousands of miles on Pennsylvania roads last year as some of the world’s largest tech companies tested experimental vehicles on the same highways state residents use to shop, commute and get to school. But while the state has no hard laws ...

Virtual Mall to aid brick-and-mortar stores opens Monday

What may be the first Virtual Mall in the United States is slated to open Monday. According to a news release, this venture into virtual reality is the brainchild of entrepreneur Art Lieberman, who owns several companies in Central Pennsylvania, many of which deal with credit card processing. The idea came along as Lieberman took notice that brick-and-mortar businesses in his locale were being devastated by COVID-19. He thought creating a mall where people could order from locals without leaving their homes might help the stores survive. Lieberman found his software provider in ...

Pandemic garbage boom ignites debate over waste as energy

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — America remains awash in refuse as new cases of the coronavirus decline — and that has reignited a debate about the sustainability of burning more trash to create energy. Waste-to-energy plants, which produce most of their power by incinerating trash, make up only about half a percent of the electricity generation in the U.S. But the plants have long aroused considerable opposition from environmentalists and local residents who decry the facilities as polluters, eyesores and generators of foul odor. The industry has been in retreat mode in the U.S., with ...