• Bucks County Bank Hires Susan Okun
• Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Appoints Penn Community Bank CEO to Advisory Council

John Dean, Ambler Savings Bank Joins BCEDC

Local community banks constitute 96 percent of all banks and make more than half of the small business loans in the US. In Montgomery County, Ambler Savings Bank stands as one of the few, true community banks remaining. Founded in 1874 in downtown Ambler, the purpose of the then Building and Loan Association was simple: To provide affordable home financing.

More than 140 years later and Ambler Savings Bank is still striving for the same goal. Although the name has changed to better reflect the full service bank, the mission to provide affordable home loans, as well as affordable banking services, still remains.

M&S Centerless Grinding, Inc. was awarded a $400,000 loan from PIDA. The loan will be used to purchase highly specialized machining/grinding equipment and software. M&S Centerless Grinding, Inc. located in Warminster will create five jobs and retain five jobs.

Dijas Capital, Inc., Bensalem was approved to borrow $275,000 from BCEDC’s BBLF to assist in refinance and consolidate debt.

Serenity Enterprises, Warminster was approved to borrow $89,000 from BCEDC’s BBLF for roof renovations to his existing building.

NAI Mertz Team Inks Sale of 16,700-SF Flex Building in Morrisville, Pennsylvania

NAI Mertz, recently announced the sale of a 16,700 sq. ft. office and industrial building sale at 1380 S. Pennsylvania Avenue in Morrisville, PA. Representing both the seller, Michael Fardella, and the buyer, MJLS Holdings, LLC, was the NAI Mertz team of Zena Charokopos, vice president-office division, Jeffrey Licht, SIOR, senior vice president and Adam Lashner, SIOR, vice president.

The buyer of the property is an electrical contractor that was looking to expand from its previous facility. “This transaction created the perfect scenario for the buyer—providing the additional space it required for its growing business in an ideal location to serve their clients,” stated Charokopos.

Re-Shoring, It Just Makes Sense...

Recently, two Bucks County companies took advantage of a Pennsylvania grant providing training money and assisting in the companies’ efforts to bring back work lost to off shore competition. After receiving the matching grant award, we talked to Tom Krol, IMET Corporation and Aidan Campbell, O.P. Schuman & Sons, Inc. about their views on re-shoring strategies and any suggestions that might have for other companies looking to implement a re-shoring strategy of their own.

Gentlemen, the first question we would like your help with is: our company is committed to re-shoring because ...

Updated Interest Rate Options for the PIDA Loan Program

For Real estate loans financing eligible land and building costs, borrowers will have the following two interest rate options:

1. Fixed interest rate for the full term of the loan (up to a 15-year period). This option is calculated using the ten-year treasury yield +150 basis points.  Based on the current ten-year treasury yield, the fixed rate option is 3.00% for the life of the loan.

2. Fixed interest rate for a seven year period set at the ten-year treasury rate +50 basis points. After seven years, the rate will reset to the ten-year treasury rate +50 basis points. Please note, the reset rate is limited to a 200 basis point increase/decrease and has a floor of 2.25%. The reset rate is then fixed for the duration of the loan.

Plan To Win

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” —Confucius 

How many times have we jumped in our car, put a destination into our GPS and hoped it would give us the best and quickest route, only to find ourselves taking a much longer path then we should have?  We may have eventually ended up at our targeted destination, but the pain in getting there was not what we had anticipated and we didn’t arrive in the timeframe we had thought. 

It is the same with a business plan or a financial plan. Mapping out your plan in advance versus hoping it will happen can save time, money and a lot of frustration. It is also a great reference to make sure you are on track to achieve your objectives in the timeframe that you have projected. Formally documenting your strategies, tactics and metrics will create a great roadmap that can help point out what you need to do and when you need to do it to reach your ultimate goals. 

Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce Wins Best of Bucks 2016!

We are proud to announce that the LBCCC won Best of Bucks 2016 Best Business Chamber or Networking Group!

The Chamber would like to thank all of their supporters who voted to make the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Cmmerce Best of Bucks for 2016!

Whether You Run a Factory, a Small Cake-decorating Shop, or a Three-bedroom Ranch House, You Can Benefit from Using Less Energy

And the good news is, all kinds of opportunities are available to help you do it.

PPL Electric Utilities provides energy efficiency programs and services to help customers reduce their energy use. Put simply, these programs are here to help you save. Whether you’re interested in making major changes or just looking for small upgrades, there’s something to suit your needs.

How Safe Are Mobile Payment Apps?

Although the U.S. accounts for roughly one-quarter of global credit card transaction volume, studies have shown that almost half of the world’s credit card fraud takes place here. Many experts attribute this to the U.S. lagging behind the rest of the world in implementing technologies such as EMV chips in credit cards. Other countries also take a more sophisticated approach toward using mobile devices for Internet commerce.

There is no denying that it is becoming increasingly convenient to use our mobile phones as our productivity tool of choice. Today’s smart phones are used for a myriad of applications such as browsing the Internet and connecting to various social media sites, and increasingly, for online shopping and making electronic payments for purchases.