Pennsylvania

PA Bars, Restaurants On Verge Of Extending Happy Hours

Published

3 days ago

July 5, 2024

PA Bars, Restaurants On Verge Of Extending Happy Hours

HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania bars and restaurants soon will likely be able to offer patrons longer happy hours and combo meals that include alcoholic beverages.

Legislation that has passed the House and Senate would nearly double the weekly limit for happy hours from 14 to 24 hours. The bill, now awaiting Gov. Josh Shapiro’s signature, also would allow bars and restaurants to provide discounts on as many as two daily food and drink combination specials.

Additionally, it would permit the cost of up to two drinks to be included in the admission price for parties establishments sponsor for sporting and other special events.

Further changes would include making permanent the expanded outdoor seating that originated during the pandemic and allow employees to work in multiple licensed liquor establishments.

The provisions, included in the bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Gergely, D-Allegheny, is designed to assist bars and eateries still attempting to financially recover from the pandemic and aid them with overcoming persistent staffing challenges.

The bill was applauded by the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association.

“It’s well known that happy hours are used to pull customers into establishments through special drink offerings,” Chuck Moran, the industry organization’s executive director, said in a statement.

“By increasing the total hours per week, we’re hopeful that through creative marketing each establishment will be able to use this tool to attract more patrons.”

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Pennsylvania

David McCormick claims he created ‘hundreds of jobs’ in Pa. Records say otherwise

Published

5 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

David McCormick claims he created ‘hundreds of jobs’ in Pa. Records say otherwise

The merger

In June 2003, McCormick initiated discussions with Robert Calderoni, chairman and CEO of Ariba, a Palo Alto-based FreeMarkets competitor, about the possibility of a “strategic relationship of some form” and potentially a “business combination.” After more discussions, McCormick approached his board about the idea in September.

From the beginning, the company made clear its intent was to save money by reducing “redundancies,” including those resulting from duplicative jobs. According to SEC filings, FreeMarkets told its shareholders that a benefit of the merger would lead to “at least $25 million in annual potential cost savings, through the consolidation of redundant facilities, personnel and overhead.” Jim Frankola, chief financial officer for Ariba at the time, told analysts on a January 2004 conference call, “Of those savings, we anticipate approximately one-third to come from duplicative G&A functions, plus the one-half from redundant R&D efforts, and the remainder from other functions.”

Later that month, Michael Schmitt, Ariba’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, told San Jose Mercury News that FreeMarkets would consolidate its headquarters into Ariba’s, with the companies trying to “eliminate redundant jobs.” That same day, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted an analyst saying it was likely “a lot of people in Pittsburgh will lose their jobs,” adding “that’s certainly what typically happens” with a merger.

McCormick told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “There will certainly be redundant functions and consolidation of those functions.” In a July 2004 deposition regarding the merger, he told the court that job losses were expected “particularly in our technology development organization where our plan as part of the merged company is to eliminate that completely.” The next month, McCormick told Ariba shareholders what they “accomplished” leading up to the merger: “We have already eliminated 150 positions and have plans to eliminate another 100 positions over the next two quarters.”

Indeed, by the time the merger was complete, in July 2004, FreeMarkets had laid off or eliminated 150 positions. By December 2005, the combined company had reduced its workforce by an additional 100 employees, for a grand total of 250 lost jobs. At least 100 of those jobs were in Pittsburgh.

Calderoni defended McCormick in an interview with the New York Post, saying, “When we bought FreeMarkets, Dave insisted on keeping jobs in Pittsburgh. It really mattered to him as part of the transaction. In fact, he pushed for us to move jobs from California to Pittsburgh.”

It was a difficult time to run a startup tech company. The early aughts saw the bursting of a tech bubble that had grown during the late 1990s thanks to easy access to capital but started to pop in the early 2000s. As the Pittsburgh Gazette reported, the merger married “two unprofitable online business-to-business software and service firms that made names for themselves at the height of the dot-com boom, only to see their fortunes turn sour with the industry, forcing them to struggle to grow.”

McCormick wrote in his book that “creative destruction along with the bursting of the tech bubble eventually found its way to our sector as well.” However, he also admitted, “We didn’t move fast enough to become one of the true ‘software as a service’ companies that would eventually dominate the landscape. As CEO, I hadn’t built a team around me capable of evolving our business model quickly enough,” leading to the decision to merge with Ariba.

The merger, however, profited McCormick quite well. He became president of Ariba and a member of its board of directors, drawing $500,000 in annual salary, compared to the $350,000 he made at FreeMarkets, and was eligible for an annual bonus targeted at $300,000. He was also awarded 83,333 shares in Ariba, valued at $921,663, and 500,000 shares of stock options that had a potential realizable value between $3.4 million and $8.8 million. In September 2005, McCormick resigned as president of Ariba to work in the George H.W. Bush administration and received another $1,701,699 in severance.

McCormick spokesperson Elizabeth Gregory told WHYY News in a statement, “Dave is proud to have helped create hundreds of jobs in Western Pennsylvania during his time at FreeMarkets.”

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Pennsylvania

While Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania, some Democratic leaders in the House say he should step aside

Published

13 hours ago

July 8, 2024

Press Room

While Biden campaigns in Pennsylvania, some Democratic leaders in the House say he should step aside

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Pennsylvania

Biden makes campaign stop at Northwest Philly church

Published

20 hours ago

July 7, 2024

Press Room

Biden makes campaign stop at Northwest Philly church

‘We thank God’

Morris founded Mt. Airy Church of God in Christ in 1966. It has since grown in size and influence, becoming an important and iconic place of worship for the region. Fenton, who watched Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “Mountaintop” speech when he was 11 years old, now runs the congregation and often invokes King in his sermons, including Sunday’s.

Parishioner Handsome Newton called the event “an amazing experience.”

“It’s something that’s surreal and something that some people have never gotten to experience in their lifetime,” he told WHYY News. “This is something I’m going to tell my grandkids and great-grandkids about one day.”

Newton downplayed Biden’s age, adding, “I don’t care what people said about the debate. He actually spoke extremely well today and I was blessed to be here.”

Zetta Butler, another parishioner, called Biden’s visit “God’s given gift to the church.”

“We’re seeing so much evil that goes on in the world,” she said. “This is a man of integrity and we are so proud to have him here with us today of all days, any day. I know the election is coming up and we’re going to vote for him. He’s going to be a second-term president, and so we thank God for him and everyone.”

Down in Pennsylvania

While Biden has made Pennsylvania a regular stop in his drive for a second term, this was his first visit since the debate for which his performance has given many Democrats — including prominent elected officials — cause for concern about his ability to win the election.

Earlier in the day, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a Democrat, told MSNBC that Biden’s TV appearance did not assuage those concerns.

The first major post-debate poll, by Bloomberg, shows Biden moved up in every swing state except Pennsylvania, where he is now down seven points — well outside the margin of polling error. With 19 electoral votes, the Keystone State may be essential to any hope for victory.

In particular, polling suggests Biden is down among Black voters in Pennsylvania and around the country. Whereas he received 92% of the Black vote in 2020, only 50% of Black voters in Pennsylvania say they would vote for him today.

Therefore, the trip to the Church of God in Christ appears to be a strategy to try to win some of those votes back.

“Black history is American history,” the president said at the church.

Fenton noted that Biden’s visit would be reported as such an attempt, saying, “I know the media says President Biden is visiting a Black church. There’s nothing on our program that says a Black church.”

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