News

The Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA) is pleased to announce its recent hire of Julie Larison, who will join the team as the Director of Membership. Within this role, Larison is looking forward to aligning her expertise in business development and communications to serve and champion the many businesses and organizations that comprise the Berks County community. “Berks County is a vital ...read more

Minimum wage, welfare to work and charter cyber schools were among the topics touched on Friday at the legislative breakfast hosted by the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance at the Crowne Plaza Reading in Wyomissing. The Berks County state delegation was invited to participate in a panel discussion, and most did, including senators Judy Schwank, a Ruscombmanor Township Democrat; Katie Muth, a ...read more

The Greater Reading Chamber Alliance has several stated missions. Among them is attracting and retaining talent in Berks County. So how does bringing Leadership Berks under GRCA help support that mission? “It certainly is one of the ways in which the alliancerealizes that, because that's part of what Leadership Berks is all about,” Leadership Berks Director Toni Eckert said. “By getting people ...read more

There's something troubling happening in the shopping mall industry. When a shopping mall files for bankruptcy, there are some notorious bottom-feeders that buy them for pennies on the dollar. Typically these companies are backed by hedge funds whose only interest is to squeeze every penny out of their “investment.” Their business model is to fire almost everyone and make no improvements while ...read more

In Berks County, we're lucky to have a strong group of powerful women leaders. Nowhere is this more evident than our business community. Each year, the Greater Reading Chamber announces the ranking of the top 50 area companies and entrepreneurs, based on compiled revenue growth data, at our annual dinner. And each year the list reflects the amazing diversity of companies that operate in Berks. ...read more

The news that CarbonLITE Holdings LLC plans to locate in Muhlenberg Township is encouraging not just from an economic point of view, but from an environmental one. The Los Angeles-based firm is planning to build a 270,000-square-foot processing facility at 4030 Pottsville Pike. The $80 million plant is to employ more than 100 people and is expected to be operational by early 2020, according to ...read more

Following a trend sweeping through chambers of commerce nationwide, the Greater Reading Chamber Alliance announced Thursday it is creating a tiered membership structure that will spur interest among local businesses, and financial stability for the chamber. "It's the right direction to move," said chamber President and CEO Randy Peers during a press conference held at the chamber's headquarters ...read more

For the past century, deals for naming rights have become commonplace in corporate America. One of the earliest examples occurred in 1926 when chewing gum maker Wrigley purchased the Chicago Cubs and changed the name from Cubs Park to Wrigley Field. We mostly think about multimillion-dollar naming rights deals for large capital building projects such as municipal convention centers or sport ...read more