Plymouth man charged with conspiring to steal tools, catalytic converter – Wilkes Barre Times-Leader

January 04, 2020

WILKES-BARRE Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Dennis Davin last week provided an update on the investments made by the department over the course of the past year in communities across Pennsylvania.

The Department of Community and Economic Development is working to make communities stronger, to help businesses create jobs and ensure that workers have the skills they need to secure good jobs that enable them to provide for their families, Davin said. Were working to reduce poverty and homelessness and to bring hope to those who need it most. All of these investments represent our commitment to making life better for all Pennsylvanians, no matter which city or town they call home.

Investments in our communities helped ensure that the department can achieve its mission of making Pennsylvania a place where people can work smart and live happy. Nearly 80 Keystone Communities projects and more than 200 Neighborhood Assistance Program projects were approved over the past fiscal year, improving the quality of life for communities across the commonwealth.

Job creation remained a priority for the department this year through its economic development and business expansion programs. During fiscal year 18-19, DCED pledged to create more than 11,000 jobs and retained more than 27,000. The department supported nearly 5,000 projects for a total of nearly $1 billion invested through grants, loans, and tax credits. This investment leveraged an additional $1.9 billion in public and private funding.

Consistent with the Wolf Administrations commitment to building the workforce of the future, investing in training Pennsylvanias workers was another area of focus this year. Through the departments many programs offered to employers, nearly 25,000 businesses received assistance, and training was provided to almost 94,000 Pennsylvania workers.

In February 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order creating the Keystone Economic Development and Workforce Command Center. The Command Center brings an innovative approach to addressing the critical issue of training qualified workers for the jobs Pennsylvania companies need to fill. By bringing commonwealth, labor, and business leaders together, the Command Center creates an opportunity to address real-time workforce issues with real-time solutions. The Command Center will also further expand the ongoing collaboration occurring between state agencies, as well as between the administration and the private sector.

In November, Wolf announced the creation of Pennsylvanias Business One-Stop Shop Registration Checklist. This tool helps small business owners and entrepreneurs more easily access necessary licenses, permits, forms, and contact information personalized for the needs of their company in just a few minutes. Since its inception in 2018, the One-Stop Shop has generated more than 174,000 unique visits to the website and has received critical buy-in and support from partners across the commonwealth like Small Business Development Centers.

DCED also continued to invest in Pennsylvanias manufacturing sector through the Manufacturing PA initiative, which launched in 2018. Since then, more than $11 million in funding has been provided to train more than 1,840 Pennsylvanians in 81 new training programs across the commonwealth.

Pennsylvania continued to raise its profile throughout the world, exporting more than $650 million in goods, bringing 19 businesses to Pennsylvania, supporting more than 6,000 jobs, and bringing in about $46 million in tax revenue. Additionally, the Office of International Business Development successfully obtained a $500,000 Small Business Administration grant to support the international business development activities of small- and medium-sized Pennsylvania companies.

Finally, Pennsylvania tourism continued to grow, with more than 33 million hotel rooms being booked throughout the commonwealth, bringing in $4.7 billion in tax revenue and more than $44 billion being spent by visitors.

Pennsylvanians encouraged to

Resolve to be Ready in 2020

As the decade draws to a close and millions of Pennsylvanians thoughts turn toward the positive changes they want to see in their lives, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Padfield is encouraging citizens to Resolve to be Ready in 2020 by creating family emergency plans and emergency kits.

The single, most effective way to ensure the safety of your loved ones during an emergency situation is to have a plan, Padfield said. Being prepared and knowing ahead of time how to react are critical elements of emergency response training. You can do the same by practicing your plan and having a basic emergency kit.

Padfield said to create an emergency plan, you should:

Identify locations in both your community and in a nearby town, where you can meet loved ones.

Identify an out-of-town contact everyone can check in with.

Text or use social media to let others know you are safe and where you are.

Have hard copies of lists of phone numbers and other important information such as doctors offices as well as copies of important documents.

Practice your plan just like you would a fire drill.

A basic emergency kit should include enough basic supplies to support your loved ones for several days. Padfield said it should include:

One gallon of water per person per day.

Non-perishable food and a manual can opener.

Vital medical supplies, hearing aid batteries or other medical equipment and mobility devices you may need.

Specialized items such as baby supplies and pet care products.

First aid kit.

Hand-crank or battery operated flashlights and radio.

Car cell phone chargers or battery packs.

Special toys or supplies to keep children and pets occupied and busy.

Additional resources, including emergency plan templates and emergency kit checklists, are available on the ReadyPA website. Padfield also encourages social media users to follow PEMA on Facebook and Twitter for timely emergency preparedness information. Its important to note that you do not need to have a Facebook or Twitter account to access the information.

61,000 PA workers become

eligible for overtime Jan. 1

Department of Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak is reminding employees and businesses about a new federal law that will make 61,000 workers in Pennsylvania newly eligible for overtime pay of time and a half that went into effect Jan. 1.

Oleksiak is also urging Pennsylvania lawmakers to do more for workers, who will continue to earn an embarrassingly low minimum wage of $7.25 in the new year.

This new federal law means some of our workers can begin earning the overtime pay they deserve, but far too many are struggling to make ends meet because of Pennsylvanias stagnant minimum wage, Oleksiak said. It is time for the commonwealths lawmakers to recognize the value of our hardworking men and women and increase their wage. Every one of our neighboring states has invested in their workers by boosting the minimum wage. It is unconscionable that Pennsylvania has not done the same in more than a decade.

Oleksiak added that Senate Bill 79 would give nearly 400,000 Pennsylvanians a much needed first step towards a more secure financial future. He said the bill had overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, but the House failed to consider this compromise legislation prior to leaving for the holiday break.

Oleksiak said an increase in the minimum wage will give working Pennsylvania families a better livelihood, save tax dollars by reducing the number of individuals and families receiving public assistance, and strengthen local economies by increasing workers paychecks. The increase in earning thresholds under the new federal overtime regulations is a step in this direction, ensuring that more employees who work overtime are fairly and fully compensated for their labor.

The new federal overtime rules, under the U.S. Department of Labor, went into effect on New Years Day, Jan. 1, 2020.

Who is eligible for overtime?

With a few exceptions, all hourly employees who work more than 40 hours per week.

Most salaried employees who work more than 40 hours per week and earn less than $684 per week/$35,568 per year are eligible for overtime, regardless of their job duties.

Most salaried employees who are not engaged in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity, regardless of how much they are paid.

Who is not eligible for overtime

Salaried employees who are engaged in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity and make more than $35,568 per year.

Other occupations specifically exempted by the minimum wage act.

For more information on the new overtime rule, call 1-800-932-0665 (L&Is Bureau of Labor Law Compliance), email RA-LI-SLMR-LLC@pa.gov or visit dli.pa.gov.

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Plymouth man charged with conspiring to steal tools, catalytic converter - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader