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Funeral Directors Association installs secretary treasurer and president elect

Bruce Parthemore was installed as the 2020-21 president elect and Michael Hacker was installed as the secretary treasurer of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association at the association’s Fall Board Meeting. Organized in 1881, PFDA is one of the largest state funeral director associations in the nation. Hacker is a graduate of Sullivan County High School, Class of 1993, he earned a degree in Business Administration from the Pennsylvania College of Technology and graduated from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. Hacker started his career with McCarty-Thomas Funeral ...

Older workers face higher unemployment amid COVID

AP Personal Finance Writer For the first time in nearly 50 years, older workers face higher unemployment than their midcareer counterparts, according to a study released Tuesday by the New School university in New York City. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on employment for people of all ages. But researchers found that during its course, workers 55 and older lost jobs sooner, were rehired slower and continue to face higher job losses than their counterparts ages 35 to 54. It is the first time since 1973 that such a severe unemployment gap has persisted for six months or longer. ...

Restaurants adapt to COVID challenges

Whether it’s sanitization, loss of revenue from fewer tables allowed or easing people’s minds to eat, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit restaurants hard. As winter arrives, diners huddle and go inside. Some restaurants are putting portable heating units on enclosed patio spaces. That’s ...

Pandemic hammers small businesses vital to economic recovery

WINCHESTER, Va. — In a normal year, hundreds of book lovers would have descended on Winchester this summer for Shenandoah University’s annual children’s literature conference. Some would have made their way to Christine Patrick’s bookshop downtown. Winchester Brew Works would have rolled out kegs this month for Oktoberfest revelers. The Hideaway Café, occupying a prime location at the corner of Cork and Loudoun streets, would be advertising its monthly Divas Drag Show. But 2020 is no normal year. The literature conference, Oktoberfest and drag shows have all been cancelled ...

Baltimore Life announces Relocation of local agency

The Baltimore Life Insurance Company is excited to announce the relocation of its Susquehanna Valley Agency. The agency will move from its current location at 1020 N. Loyalsock Ave. to 245 Broad St. in Montoursville. “We are returning to the Broad Street location after having been there for many years in the past. We found that the office space, with a nice conference area for confidential meetings, will better accommodate our customer base and staff,” said assistant vice president, director of agencies, Sean O’Connor. “And it is in a convenient location.”

State sees another big drop in jobless rate

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate began to look like the rest of the nation’s in September, taking another steep drop from its post-pandemic high as the labor force and payrolls grew, according to state figures released Friday. However, the state still has yet to recover many of the jobs lost to the economic impact of the coronavirus. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 8.1% in September, down 2.3 percentage points from August’s adjusted rate of 10.4%, the state Department of Labor and Industry said. That is below the state’s pandemic-driven unemployment ...