Reading Eagle (Reading, PA) articles from December 2002

Reading Eagle (Reading, PA) archives from December 2002

Saving Money on Year-End Taxes Involves Variety of Actions.
December 30, 2002... Dec. 30--Tax planning this year has been overshadowed by a bear market that left many individuals with substantial realized and recognized losses and a weak economy that has hit individuals and businesses alike. On the plus side, some...

Layoffs, Closings Top Business Stories for 2002 in Reading, Pa., Area.
December 29, 2002... Dec. 29--Each year, the editor and staff of the Reading Eagle Business department select the most significant business stories of the previous 12 months. Many of this year's top stories are related to the nation's ongoing economic...

Ownership Change Strikes Chord for Reading, Pa., Music Store.
December 23, 2002... Byline: David A. Kostival Dec. 23--Probably everyone who has ever played a musical instrument in a local high school marching band has at some point dealt with Zeswitz Music Co. Today, the big Z logo still dominates Perkiomen Avenue...

Shoppers Mourn Absence of Upscale Retail Street in Berks County, Pa.
December 22, 2002... Byline: Elizabeth E. Kaufmann Dec. 22--As the holiday shopping season continues full swing, outlet stores and malls in Berks County will be crowded with local and out-of-state shoppers. But for decades until the 1980s, shoppers didn't...

Wyomissing, Pa.-Based Metals Company Cuts Scholarship Program to Reduce Costs.
December 22, 2002... Byline: Tony Lucia Dec. 22--Carpenter Technology Corp. has suspended its National Merit Scholarship program as part of its ongoing effort to reduce costs. But while many other area firms that offer scholarships are continuing to do...

Wachovia Economist Expects Steady Recovery.
December 18, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 18--First Union/Wachovia Corp. chief economist Dr. John E. Silvia's economic forecast predicted no boom for 2003, but he said there would be a distinct recovery. Silvia, also managing director at Wachovia's...

Chief Economist for First Union Forecasts Recovery in Wyomissing, Pa., Meeting.
December 18, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 18--First Union/Wachovia Corp. chief economist Dr. John E. Silvia's economic forecast predicted no boom for 2003, but he said there would be a distinct recovery. Silvia, also managing director at Wachovia's...

New Cable Law Won't Change Much for Most Customers.
December 16, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 16--Cable companies have essentially negated a new law intended to provide customers with savings and greater selection. A provision of the 1992 Cable Act that quietly became law in October states...

Reading, Pa., Area Gets First Branch of Furniture-Repair Chain.
December 16, 2002... Byline: David Kostival Dec. 16--Almost everyone has a piece of damaged or broken furniture hidden away in a corner of their house. And that's exactly what Cynthia L. and John E. Wandishin, Penn Township, are counting on to make a...

Reading Eagle, Pa., Newsmakers Column.
December 15, 2002... Dec. 15--WEIDMAN NAMED SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AT WACHOVIA: Steven M. Weidman has been named senior vice president of Wachovia Corp., 600 Penn St. In his new position, Weidman will serve as credit manager for Wachovia Wealth Management's...

Reading, Pa., Cookie-Cutter Manufacturers Enjoy Their Anonymity.
December 15, 2002... Byline: Karen L. Miller Dec. 15--Tucked away behind the railroad tracks in Fleetwood and not exactly a household name is the three-generation family business of H.O. Foose Tinsmithing. Owner Sylvia A. Keller, her family and employees...

Decades-Old Apparel Shop Stays Service-Oriented in Hamburg, Pa.
December 15, 2002... Byline: Julia F. Nazimov Dec. 15--It's all about the ironing board behind the counter at Doris Berry apparel in Hamburg, a symbol of the attention to detail at the 60-year-old store. "Everything that comes in gets checked and...

Retailers' Conservative Orders Cause Shortage of Hot Christmas Gifts.
December 14, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 14--The new FurReal Cat may be the next best thing to a real live kitty, but the meowing fur-covered electronic sensor is already an endangered species. Kathleen R. Cunningham, manager of the Toys "R" Us in...

Reading, Pa.-Area Financial Advisers Discuss Ways to Fix Investor Confidence.
December 11, 2002... Byline: Don Spatz Dec. 11--Restoring investor confidence in the stock market will require better business news and more business crooks going to jail, according to local financial advisers. They also say the financial laws could be...

Age Doesn't Prevent Pennsylvania Pipefitter from Feeling Economy's Effects.
December 11, 2002... Byline: Jon Fassnacht Dec. 11--Lonnie Hornberger is relatively new to the working world. The 26-year-old Reinholds resident entered the job market in 1997 after a three-year stint in the Army, most recently landing a job as a...

Rises in Mortgage, Bank-Card, Auto-Loan Delinquency Show Regional Differences.
December 10, 2002... Byline: Tony Lucia Dec. 10--The Federal Reserve's series of interest-rate reductions has had something of a good news-bad news effect on the economy, making it easy for consumers to refinance mortgages and loans and to consolidate debt,...

Wernersville, Pa., Couple Feel Effects of Weak Economy.
December 10, 2002... Byline: Jon Fassnacht Dec. 10--Although the sour economy hasn't had a direct effect on Pete Micale, it has changed his life. The 44-year-old Wernersville resident has been having a pretty good year for himself. He started his 10th...

Watchdog Group Says Premiums Rise when Insurance Companies Lose on Investments.
December 10, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 10--The stock market downturn hammered people's wallets in a variety of ways, but is it zapping income in the sensitive area of higher health care costs? Predictably, insurance companies deny recouping lost...

Layoff Disrupts Secure Financial Future, Forces Woman to Rethink Retirement.
December 9, 2002... Byline: Don Spatz Dec. 9--Sandra H. Silvers was at the top of her profession in February 1999 when she left the U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory in Athens, Ga., to work for Agere Systems Inc. in Muhlenberg Township. She had...

Reading Eagle, Pa., Newsmakers Column.
December 8, 2002... Dec. 8--BANK PROMOTIONS: Phil Shober has been named a senior vice president of First Union National Bank and will be based at the First Union Commons, 600 Penn St. In his new position, Shober is responsible for developing and executing...

Ailing Economy Sinks Claws into Public Confidence.
December 8, 2002... Byline: Tony Lucia Dec. 8--Just as the so-called irrational exuberance that propelled the stock market to record highs seemed to some like it would never end, so the bear market that supplanted it has lingered longer than anyone would...

Economist Says Conflict Would Produce Uncertainty, Hinder Stock Market.
December 8, 2002... Byline: Tony Lucia Dec. 8--Whether a war with Iraq would help or hurt the economy in the long run is probably as unknowable at this point as whether there will be such a war or when it would begin. But economists say that the uncertainty...

Reading Eagle, Pa., Business Briefs Column.
December 5, 2002... Dec. 5-- JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Junior Achievement of Berks County has been awarded the nonprofit organization's Silver Summit Award, one of Junior Achievement's highest honors. It is given by the National Junior Achievement...

Dallas Firm to Build Reading, Pa.-Area Hospital.
December 5, 2002... Byline: Patrick Burns Dec. 5--St. Joseph Medical Center will pay Turner Construction Co., Dallas, Texas, $73 million to build its $120.5 million hospital in Bern Township. St. Joseph's board of directors on Wednesday also named...

Muhlenberg Township, Pa., Homemade Candy Business Changes Owners.
December 2, 2002... Byline: Stephanie Caltagirone Dec. 2--For the third time in its 67-year-history, Billy's Homemade Candies in Muhlenberg Township has changed hands. David Skipper, Virginville, purchased the business from Joseph and Phyllis Miller,...

Reading Eagle, Pa., Newsmakers Column.
December 1, 2002... Dec. 1--Dr. Christian F. Sorensen has been named director of the Reading Health Dispensary, an outpatient satellite of Reading Hospital at 838 Penn St. and 430 N. Second St. In his new position, Sorensen is responsible for directing...

Oley, Pa., Business Adds New Section with Vintage Christmas Items.
December 1, 2002... Byline: Karen L. Miller Dec. 1--Dolores Kirschner doesn't have a ghost of Christmas past, but she has a room of Christmases past. For years, Kirschner, owner of Classic Flowers and Herbs, 313 Main St., Oley, collected what she called...

Heidelberg, Pa., Barn Serves as Christmas Retail Mecca Year-Round.
December 1, 2002... Byline: David A. Kostival Dec. 1--Most families have their own traditions that signal the start of the holiday season -- an outing to one of the area's many Christmas tree farms or gathering in the kitchen on a cold evening to bake...