The economic gloom is everywhere.
People approach gas stations with terror as prices soar over $3.60 a gallon. And the summer driving season still awaits.
It doesn’t get any better at the grocery store. The ripple effects of high fuel costs are taking a double-dip on family finances, sending the cost of many basic staples into the stratosphere.
Foreclosures are up; home prices are down.
Bad news is everywhere.
Which is why it was nice to see two positive economic stories in the county displayed in the newspaper on Tuesday.
Down at the Folcroft Industrial Park, they are celebrating at LithChem Energy. The tiny firm makes high-power lithium batteries that are used in military vehicles such as the Multiple Kill Vehicle. The batteries power the MKV, which can launch a cluster of pellet missiles to intercept incoming enemy missiles.
Currently the vehicles are using thermal reserve batteries. Those are due to be replaced with LithChem’s lithium batteries.
The firm got a $2.48 million dollar deal from the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research Phase III program.
Currently the firm has 5 employees. They’re looking to hire 25 new workers over the next two years.
Out at Alloy Surfaces in Chester Township, the news is even better.
We’ve detailed their work before. The company makes infrared decoys that also are used to defend military aircraft from incoming missiles.
They’re getting ready to deliver their first batch of decoys, worth $16 million. And they’re in line for a huge boost in orders from the Department of Defense. They received a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $347.9 million.
They now operate two facilities in the I-95 Industrial Park in Chester Township and a 67,000-square-foot plant in Bethel. They started in 1998 with 79 employees. Not they’re just above 600.
Want to really feel good about what is going on at businesses like Alloy Surfaces?
Listen to John Fleitz. He’s manager of business development fo the firm.
“We can tell you that these flares are saving American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Fleitz told our Tim Logue. “We’ve had many reports from the battlefield that these decoys are saving men, women and aircraft in the theater of operations.”
Good for them. Any chance they can develop a gas-free car?
People approach gas stations with terror as prices soar over $3.60 a gallon. And the summer driving season still awaits.
It doesn’t get any better at the grocery store. The ripple effects of high fuel costs are taking a double-dip on family finances, sending the cost of many basic staples into the stratosphere.
Foreclosures are up; home prices are down.
Bad news is everywhere.
Which is why it was nice to see two positive economic stories in the county displayed in the newspaper on Tuesday.
Down at the Folcroft Industrial Park, they are celebrating at LithChem Energy. The tiny firm makes high-power lithium batteries that are used in military vehicles such as the Multiple Kill Vehicle. The batteries power the MKV, which can launch a cluster of pellet missiles to intercept incoming enemy missiles.
Currently the vehicles are using thermal reserve batteries. Those are due to be replaced with LithChem’s lithium batteries.
The firm got a $2.48 million dollar deal from the Department of Defense’s Small Business Innovation Research Phase III program.
Currently the firm has 5 employees. They’re looking to hire 25 new workers over the next two years.
Out at Alloy Surfaces in Chester Township, the news is even better.
We’ve detailed their work before. The company makes infrared decoys that also are used to defend military aircraft from incoming missiles.
They’re getting ready to deliver their first batch of decoys, worth $16 million. And they’re in line for a huge boost in orders from the Department of Defense. They received a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $347.9 million.
They now operate two facilities in the I-95 Industrial Park in Chester Township and a 67,000-square-foot plant in Bethel. They started in 1998 with 79 employees. Not they’re just above 600.
Want to really feel good about what is going on at businesses like Alloy Surfaces?
Listen to John Fleitz. He’s manager of business development fo the firm.
“We can tell you that these flares are saving American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Fleitz told our Tim Logue. “We’ve had many reports from the battlefield that these decoys are saving men, women and aircraft in the theater of operations.”
Good for them. Any chance they can develop a gas-free car?
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