Telespond Senior Services Awarded $5,000 to Support Operations

Telespond Senior Services has accepted a $5,000 Critical Needs grant award from the Scranton Area Community Foundation to support operations of in-home and on-site senior services in Northeastern PA.

Telespond’s on-site day program provides a community-based environment for older adults who require supervised care outside the home during the day. Telespond’s in-home personal care services assist seniors with non-medical activities of daily living so they can continue to live independently.

Telespond is dedicated to enhancing the safety and well-being of the region’s elderly and has served the Lackawanna County community for over 40 years. To learn more, visit http://www.seniordayservices.org/

Former State Rep. Marion L. Munley First Woman Included in Scranton’s Distinguished Citizens Memorial

Marion L. Munley, a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and pioneer in women’s equality, became the first woman included in Scranton’s Distinguished Citizens Memorial on October 15.

Munley was chosen by officials from the Lackawanna County Arts and Cultural Department and the Lackawanna Historical Society for her indelible mark on state politics and women’s rights. After her husband, Hon. Robert W. Munley passed in 1947, she won a special election for his seat in the Pennsylvania State House. She was the first woman elected from Lackawanna County & Northeastern Pennsylvania. Munley was re-elected to office eight times.

During her tenure, she was the first woman elected to a leadership position in the Democratic Caucus in the 300-year history of the legislature. She also became Secretary of the House of Representatives, the first and only woman to hold that position.

The Distinguished Citizens Memorial in Courthouse Square also includes late Gov. Robert P Casey, U.S. Rep Joseph M McDade, and former governor and UN Ambassador, William Warren Scranton II.
Munley was an advocate for equality and fairness throughout her career and was a coauthor of House Bill 66 (1959), which prohibited “the discrimination in rate of pay because of sex”. She became the matriarch of a family that would continue in her footsteps in local politics and the legal field. The Munley family is proud to honor their grandmother’s legacy.

NEPIRC Offers Free Training Fridays

NEPIRC will be offering Free Training Fridays featuring short introductory classes on various topics during Manufacturing Month 2021. It is open to all manufacturers and will feature different topics every week. The trainings will run from about 30 minutes to an hour and will be featured on social media.

What is Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training?

NEPIRC’s first installment of the Free Training Friday series in celebration of Manufacturing Month is “What is Six Sigma Yellow Belt Training?,” taught by Brian Matyjevich, NEPIRC’s Lean Enterprise Consultant.

Join Brian as he discusses Six Sigma roles and responsibilities, thinking outside the box while understanding change management, skills that are needed to be a good problem solver, eliminating waste with Lean methodology and introduces basic statistics and data collection methods.

The Project Management Triangle

NEPIRC’s second installment of the Free Training Fridays series is “The Project Management Triangle,” taught by Leo Gilroy, NEPIRC’s Director of Strategy and Innovation.

Join Leo as he discusses the importance of creating a project charter; analyzing the power and influence of stakeholders; project management leadership skills like communication, conflict resolution, team building and change management; and how to integrate project management with strategy.

Collaborative Robotics

NEPIRC’s third installment of our Free Training Friday series is “Collaborative Robotics,” led by Dale Parmenteri, NEPIRC’s Vice President of Consulting Operations.

Join Dale as he discusses the differences between traditional robots and cobots, the implementation of collaborative robotics as an answer to today’s workforce issues, how collaborative robotics are used and how easy they are to use, the ability to redeploy them for multiple tasks within the manufacturing facility and the financial ROI.

Why Become ISO Certified

NEPIRC’s last Free Training Friday session, “Why become ISO certified?” is an insightful Q&A between Ray Kryeski, NEPIRC’s Mechanical Engineer, and Marla Hager, NEPIRC’s Senior Business Advisor.

Join Ray and Marla as they discuss the definition and background of ISO 9001, the importance of becoming ISO certified, the benefits it provides to manufacturers and the benefits of working with an ISO-certified business.

Be sure to share this Free Training Friday segment with co-workers, friends or business partners who you feel would benefit from the presentation. If you’d like to learn more about NEPIRC’s Project Management Program, please email Info@NEPIRC.com.

The Wright Center to Host Trunk-N-Treat

The Wright Center for Community Health is hosting its annual “Trunk-N-Treat” celebration in multiple locations for all children and families of the region.

Saturday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. at its Hawley Practice, 103 Spruce St., Hawley.

Friday, Oct. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at its Mid Valley Practice, 5 S. Washington Ave., Jermyn.

The free safe trick-or-treating event enables children and their families to participate in the annual Halloween tradition in a safe and socially-distanced manner during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID masking will be required for everyone who participates in the event. Physicians, administration, staff and board members will decorate their vehicles and distribute candy and healthy treats to children who participate in the annual program.

Participate in the Electric City Trolley Museum Trim-a-Tree Challenge

This holiday season the staff of The Electric City Trolley Museum is inviting a team of students of your choice plus an adult coordinator to participate in our 5th annual Electric City “Trim-a-Tree” Challenge.

Our Plan is to provide undecorated trees for your group to trim with your own decorations following a theme. This year’s theme is “Popular Board Games”. Clear light, 7-7.5 foot pre-lit trees will be available for trimming starting November 1st through November 24th. All participating students will receive a gift certificate for two for our 2022 season.

Cash prizes will be issued for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention.
1st place: $275 gift card
2nd place: $225 gift card
3rd place: $175 gift card
Honorable Mention: $125 gift card

Winners will be determined by our visitors’ votes for their favorite tree. Participating school may collect money on their own at $1 per vote and/or encourage family, friends and school personnel etc. to come enjoy our museum plus all the trees at $2 admission and vote for their favorite tree. All participants and their families and friends are invited to a reception held in our museum on Thursday December 30th from 2 to 3 p.m. during which time all winners will be announced and gift certificates will be distributed.

Space for this event is limited so reservations are required. We will begin taking reservations on October 1st. If interested, please contact us with any questions and to reserve a tree. Reservations should be made no later than October 31st. Our museum is open 7 days a week from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Phone: 570-963-6590

Payroll Preparation Tax Calculator

The City of Scranton and Scranton School District have taken steps to eliminate the Business Privilege and Mercantile (BPM) taxes for 2022, in favor of a Payroll Preparation Tax (PPT).

While only select businesses are subject to the BPM taxes, the PPT will be applied more broadly to entities doing business in the City of Scranton.

By law, this transition must be revenue neutral – which means neither taxing body can generate more total revenue than what is collected under the BPM from the previous year. For some businesses this will result in a decrease in tax liability, while others will see an increase.

If fully approved, beginning in January 2022, the PPT will be imposed on a percentage of a business’s total payroll—at a rate of 0.002786775 by the City and 0.008064 by the School District. Likewise, all BPM liabilities will be eliminated.

Learn more about the details of this proposed action here.

To estimate your anticipated PPT liability, use the calculator below.*
PPT Tax Calculator

*Please note, calculator is for estimation purposes only.