Air Products To Set Up Shop In Downtown Allentown

The PPL Building (seen here in the distance) is the tallest building in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Downtown Allentown has attracted a new tenant — one of the region’s nameplate companies.

Air Products of Trexlertown said Thursday it had signed a lease for space at Two City Center, the 11-story office tower being built on the site of the former First National Bank building at Seventh and Hamilton streets, across from the city’s new hockey arena.

The company — one of two Fortune 500 companies in the Lehigh Valley and the region’s third-largest employer with more than 3,600 local workers — expects to move its liquefied natural gas commercial and engineering teams to the building next summer.

“We feel locating these teams at this new development is a meaningful contribution and visible commitment to the revitalization of the city,” Air Products Senior Vice President John Stanley said in a news release.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-air-products-leases-city-center-space-20130808,0,7399771.story#ixzz2bXcxcx9L
Follow us: @mcall on Twitter | mcall.lv on Facebook

Mayer Tells Yahoo Staffers They Can’t Work From Home

Deutsch: Logo von Yahoo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SAN FRANCISCO — Corporate America’s most famous working mother has banned her employees from working at home.  Now the backlash is threatening to overshadow the progress she has made turning around Yahoo Inc.

Marissa Mayer, one of only a handful of women leading Fortune 500 companies, has become the talk of Twitter and Silicon Valley for her controversial move to end telecommuting at the struggling Internet pioneer.

From the start, Mayer, who at 37 is one of Silicon Valley’s most notorious workaholics, was not the role model that some working moms were hoping for.  The former Google Inc. executive stirred up controversy by taking the demanding top job at Yahoo when she was five months pregnant and then taking only two weeks of maternity leave.  Mayer built a nursery next to her office at her own expense to be closer to her infant son and work even longer hours.

Now working moms are in an uproar because they believe that Mayer is setting them back by taking away their flexible working arrangements.  Many view telecommuting as the only way time-crunched women can care for young children and advance their careers without the pay, privilege or perks that come with being the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/chi-mayers-tells-yahoo-staffers-they-cant-work-from-home-20130225,0,2512436.story

PPL’s Profit, Revenue Surge

Image via Wikipedia

PPL Corp.’s annual profit surged in 2011 on revenue from recent out-of-state acquisitions.

The Allentown energy company earned $1.44 billion, or $2.61 per share, up from $938 million, or $2.17 per share, in 2010.

The whopping 53 percent increase was largely driven by additional revenue from PPL’s recently-acquired Kentucky and United Kingdom utilities.

“This increase reflects the strength of our business portfolio and our prospects for future growth,” James H. Miller, PPL’s out-going chairman said in a press release. “Our strong 2011 results are due to solid performance across our business segments.”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-ppl-earnings-20120210,0,3573342.story