Kroll has senior management experience that spans over twenty-five years.  He has formerly served as Vice President, Sovereign Bank, Philadelphia, PA; Senior Vice President and Regional Executive, Omni National Bank, Plymouth Meeting, PA; Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Allegiance Bank of North America, Bala Cynwyd, PA; Vice President and Senior Lender, Commerce Bank, Philadelphia, PA; Senior Vice President, Royal Bank of Pennsylvania, Narberth, PA; Assistant Vice President, Colonial National Bank, Wilmington, DE; Associate Manager, Beneficial Finance Company, West Chester, PA; and Sergeant in the United States Air Force.

A resident of Wayne, Kroll is a graduate of Eastern College, St. Davids, Pennsylvania where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Management and received the Distinguished Honors Award.  In addition, he graduated with Distinction from ABA’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking.

The Victory Bank is a locally owned and operated commercial bank headquartered in Limerick, Pennsylvania.  The bank was founded to optimize the financial lives of businesses, professionals, and consumers.  For more information, call 610.948.9000 or visit www.thevictorybank.com.  Member FDIC.

The bank initiative recognizes customers of the community office who have made contributions to the community through work and civic engagement.

Firing, a 30-year employee at Lebow Furniture, is very active in the community and serves as a volunteer firefighter – assisting with directing traffic at accident scenes – at the Humane Fire Company of Royersford and the Friendship Fire Company.

He is also a current member of the Free and Accepted Masons Lodge No. 585 of Royersford and a member of the Royersford Area Community Chest, where he volunteers his time to help raise money for local scouting programs.

“We feel it’s important to recognize and support the ongoing commitments of our customers, like Mr. Firing, who are devoted to making our community a better place to live,” said Tom Spann, manager of National Penn’s Royersford branch. “He’s very worthy of this recognition and we’re proud to have him as a customer.”

About National Penn Bancshares, Inc.:

National Penn Bancshares, Inc. (NPBC) embraces its responsibilities as a corporate citizen and supports the important role nonprofit organizations play in our communities.

The organizations that National Penn’s corporate contributions program supports cover a wide variety of needs and interests with contributions in the following areas: civic, culture and the arts, education, health and human services, and community development.

National Penn recently announced a new partnership with the American Cancer Society and its support of the Daffodil Days fundraiser. Money raised during this springtime event is used to provide services for the society’s ongoing efforts in cancer research, community education, and advocacy programs.

National Penn’s People Helping People Campaign, which just concluded its 23rd year, works with a number of organizations such as the Children’s Home of Reading, Open Door Ministries, Pocono Area Transitional Housing, and Berks Women in Crisis to help area individuals who are less fortunate.

National Penn is also committed to its communities through volunteerism and encourages employees to actively serve the communities in which they live and work. For more information on National Penn, please visit our Web site at www.nationalpennbancshares.com

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The owner of a home assessed at $168,580, the county average, will continue to pay $454.32 for the county portion of their real estate taxes next year.

The tax rate for the County portion of residents’ real estate taxes will remain 2.695 mills. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.

In fact, the 2011 budget maintains the same tax rate for four years in a row and one that is 5 percent less than homeowners were paying on the county portion of their real estate taxes in 2002.

The Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve the spending plan. Commissioners Chairman Jim Matthews and Vice Chairman Joseph Hoeffel voted in favor. Commissioner Bruce L. Castor, Jr. voted against.

The budget reflects a $3.75 million reduction in expenditures that was accomplished by cutting expenditures in nearly every department.

The budget is funded in part through a $15.5 million fund balance appropriation.  The fund balance is essentially an emergency reserve fund that, through careful monitoring of spending and cost cutting, the County will maintain at $24.5 million in 2011.

The fines are included under a settlement resolving a multi-state probe that examined whether AIG violated premium reporting rules governing workers compensation insurance.  Under the settlement signed by the insurance regulators of the eight states that led the examination, the company will also pay approximately $46.5 million in additional taxes and assessments.

“Accurate company financial data is an essential ingredient of proper insurance regulation,” said Pratter. “AIG will pay a significant penalty, $100 million divided among the participating states, to resolve violations of insurance laws. This reflects the seriousness of the violations in this instance over a sustained period of time – primarily prior to 1996 – by AIG’s prior senior management.”

Under the terms of the settlement, AIG will:

* Pay a $100 million fine to be apportioned among all the participating states;
* Pay approximately $46.5 million in additional taxes and assessments;
* Enter into a compliance plan containing agreed-upon specific steps and standards for evaluating AIG’s ongoing compliance with workers compensation insurance rating and reporting requirements;
* Submit to periodic internal and state monitoring and a confirmatory examination at the end of 24 months; and
* Agree to pay a contingent potential fine of up to $150 million if AIG fails to meet the terms of the compliance plan.

The AIG insurance companies will be filing restated financial statements by March 1, 2011 reflecting the reallocation of approximately $2.1 billion of premium.

The multi-state examination was led by the states of Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. All the other states and the District of Columbia are participating. The scope of the examination was AIG’s writing and financial reporting of workers compensation insurance.

The examination found non-compliance with rating, forms and financial reporting laws. Most significantly, it found that AIG misreported $2.12 billion of workers compensation premium that was reported instead as general or commercial automobile liability premium.

AIG has undergone changes in management. Its current chief executive officer and board of directors have pledged their commitment to the terms and principles expressed in the confidential compliance plan. The company has cooperated fully throughout the examination, Pratter noted.

This settlement is conditioned upon its adoption by at least 35 of the remaining 43 states and the District of Columbia by March 1, 2011, and settlements of AIG’s pending litigation with insurer members of the workers compensation residual market and separate claims by insurance guaranty funds. The residual market and guaranty fund claims arise from the under-reporting of workers compensation insurance premium by AIG and its impact on the assessments charged others for the operation of the residual market and guaranty fund systems.

Under the settlement, Pennsylvania will receive $8.69 million in fines and an additional $4.63 million in state taxes.

To see this settlement online, go to the “What’s Hot” section in the TOP NEWS tab at www.insurance.pa.gov

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Hanger announced that 90 small businesses across the state will receive more than $560,000 in grants through the Small Business Advantage program to reduce energy use and pollution, enabling them to become more competitive.

“Small-business owners face many challenges including how to reinvest their hard-earned dollars,” said Hanger. “In recent years, a growing number of small-business owners have realized that investing in projects that reduce pollution and energy use produce immediate and long-term positive results. Owners can improve their bottom lines, allowing them to make significant investments in their own futures, and the economic and environmental future of Pennsylvania, as well.”

Pennsylvania’s Small Business Advantage program provides small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) with 50-percent matching reimbursement grants of up to $7,500 to implement projects that will save at least 20 percent annually in pollution prevention or energy-related costs. Since 2004, the Small Business Advantage Grant program has invested $6.7 million in 1,220 small businesses.

Examples of eligible projects include HVAC and boiler upgrades, high-efficiency lighting, solvent recovery and waste recycling systems, and auxiliary power units that help large trucks reduce time spent with idling engines.

The 90 projects in 40 counties will receive a total of $564,291 and leverage an additional $1.1 million in private investments. In the first year, they will have a cumulative savings of $521,782 in operating expenses related to reductions in energy and pollution. The savings include:

* 1.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity–enough to power 130 homes;
* 110,421 therms of natural gas;
* 28,000 gallons of propane;
* 26,000 gallons of kerosene and fuel oil; and
* 40,741 gallons of diesel fuel.

In addition, the projects will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly five million pounds, equivalent to the total energy used by 190 homes or removing 425 passenger vehicles from the roads.

Governor Rendell has initiated several other programs to assist small business owners. The Alternative Energy Investment Act he signed into law in July 2008, created the Small Business Energy Efficiency program, which provides a 25 percent reimbursement grant up to $25,000 to help small businesses acquire equipment or adopt processes that promote energy efficiency. The program has awarded $2.3 million to 214 small businesses.

The Investment Act also created the Sunshine Solar program, which reimburses small business owners and homeowners up to 35 percent of the purchase and installation costs of solar energy technology. To date, this program has allocated more than $44 million to 664 businesses to install solar energy technology. These projects will generate 59 megawatts of electricity, or enough annually to power 7,000 average homes in Pennsylvania.

“These financial incentives have made energy-conserving and pollution-reducing technologies more affordable to a greater number of small business owners in the state,” said Hanger. “These types of projects can make a business more productive and more profitable — a combination that is good for the company, the employees, the economy and the environment.”

For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us or call 717-783-8411.

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Noreen Cobourn manages the bank’s loan operations.  A resident of Collegeville, she is a graduate of West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Girls.  In banking for over 25 years, Cobourn has earned her Banking Certificate from AIB as well as her Consumer and Commercial Lending Certificates.  She works with various charitable organizations, such as Opportunity House and Santa’s Brigade.

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Donna Colella is the Systems Administrator and manages retail operations.  A resident of Upper Darby, she is a graduate of West Catholic High School and attended Delaware County Community College.  In banking for 27 years, Colella has managed several departments and earned numerous banking certifications.  She is a member of Blessed Virgin Mary Church, volunteer for Easter Seals and various community organizations.

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Trisha Metz manages the credit department and electronic filing system.  A resident of Earl Township, she is a graduate of Albright College where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.  Metz works with local underprivileged children and is a March of Dimes volunteer and coordinator for a local Pennsylvania SPCA fundraiser.

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Noel Billingsley analyzes clients’ financial situations and develops strategic solutions to meet their short and long term goals.  A resident of Pottstown, he is a graduate of Widener University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.  In addition, Billingsley has earned NASD Series: 6, 63 and Life & Health Insurance licenses.  Billingsley is actively involved in numerous community organizations including the Spring-Ford and Tri-County Chambers of Commerce, Building Better Business and East Coventry Township Historical Properties Owners Group.

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Shelly Stockmal provides support to the CEO and President.  In addition, she coordinates bank reporting and loan review.  A resident of Stowe, she is a graduate of Perkiomen Valley High School.  Stockmal is a Girl Scout Leader at St. Aloysius in Pottstown and member of St. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic Church.

The Victory Bank is a locally owned and operated commercial bank headquartered in Limerick, Pennsylvania.  The bank was founded to optimize the financial lives of businesses, professionals, and consumers primarily in Montgomery, Chester and Berks Counties.  For more information, call 610.948.9000 or visit www.thevictorybank.com

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Economists Alan Blinder and Mark Zandi estimate the national unemployment would now be approaching 16% without the economic policy actions of the Federal Reserve, the Bush and Obama administrations, and Congress. The effect in Pennsylvania, factoring in population growth, would be an economy roughly 690,000 jobs short of full employment and a state unemployment rate above 14%.

“Our economy is a product of conscious policy choices,” said Dr. Mark Price, Labor Economist for the Keystone Research Center. “Federal policy stopped the economic free fall. And policy choices at the national and state level will powerfully shape the future health of the economy for middle-class families.”

In the center’s annual State of Working Pennsylvania report, researchers note that the public debate has shifted from boosting the economy to closing the federal deficit. However, the report finds, two deficits of another kind are far more threatening to the economic recovery: a jobs deficit and a deficit in the buying power of the middle class.

“The federal deficit is the wrong enemy,” said Dr. Stephen Herzenberg, Economist and Executive Director of the Keystone Research Center. “Our economy will recover only when we put Americans back to work and pay them a fair wage.”

Federal Policies Avoid Second Great Depression but Challenges Remain

Federal policy actions taken in the wake of the Great Recession have worked by stabilizing an economy that was on the brink after the recession took hold, the report found.

Before passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in early 2009, Pennsylvania was losing nearly 30,000 jobs per month. By contrast this year, job growth has returned to the Pennsylvania economy, which added 64,000 jobs during the first half of 2010.

More recently, Congress’ extension of federal Medicaid assistance to the states and additional school funding to preserve teacher jobs have averted the further loss of as many as 12,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.

Despite the success of ARRA and other measures, Pennsylvania’s economy faces an enormous jobs deficit that requires further policy action. Current projections put the state’s unemployment rate at a high 7.2% in 2014 – a full seven years after the recession started.

In July, Pennsylvania was nearly 300,000 jobs short of full employment and had an unemployment rate of 9.3%.  To close this jobs deficit by July 2015, the Pennsylvania economy would have to produce 7,900 jobs a month – a rate of job growth more than three times larger than the average job growth that occurred during the last economic expansion.

Middle-class families are also struggling with a deficit in buying power, after decades of stagnant wages, the report found. This deficit prompted many working families to borrow against their homes or take on risky loans that helped precipitate the Great Recession. When the housing bubble burst, it took $8 trillion out of the economy, prompting massive job losses.

The wage deficit is a product of decades of stagnant wages for working families. In Pennsylvania, over the past 15 years, productivity grew by 43%, while the inflation-adjusted hourly wages of college- and high school-educated workers barely budged.

Had wage distribution remained as equal as it was in 1979, full-time, year-round workers would be earning between $2,800 and $3,750 more per year today. Two-earner, middle-class families would be making between $5,600 and $7,500 more per year – more than most Pennsylvania families pays in state and local taxes.

A Need to Shift Focus

The jobs and wage deficits pose far more immediate problems for Pennsylvania families than the federal debt and deficit, which has dominated public discourse during this election cycle, the report concludes.

Despite the contributions of ARRA, economic growth has stalled again in recent months and unemployment remains stubbornly high. Cuts in state and local government are reducing economic demand that much further.

“We have reached a moment of truth,” Dr. Price said. “Anything less than stellar employment growth over the next several years will be an unmitigated disaster for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania families. Our policymakers need to make averting this disaster Priority No. 1.”

View the full report at: http://keystoneresearch.org/sites/keystoneresearch.org/files/state-of-working-pa-2010.pdf

The Keystone Research Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that promotes a more prosperous and equitable Pennsylvania economy.

The ticket and prize will expire one year from the date of the drawing, but an in-person claim should be presented to the Lottery by Friday, Sept. 17.

“The Lottery never likes to see a prize expire, so we encourage players who purchased Powerball tickets last September to check storage and hiding spots for old tickets,” said Lottery Executive Director Ed Trees. “A couple of months ago, a Montgomery County couple claimed a prize worth $200,000 just days before its expiration date, and we hope for a similar last-minute claim for this prize.”

The soon-to-expire Powerball ticket correctly matched all five white balls drawn, 05-24-25-30-49, but not the red Powerball, 23, for a $200,000 second-tier prize, less 25-percent federal withholding. It was sold at Hannold’s Sunoco, 4701 Jonestown Rd., Harrisburg, Dauphin County.

The Pennsylvania Lottery encourages the ticket-holder to sign the back of the ticket, call the Lottery at 717-702-8146 and file a claim within the next two weeks at Lottery headquarters in Middletown, Dauphin County, or at any of Lottery’s seven area offices. Claims may be filed at headquarters Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at area Lottery offices.

Because the prize expires on a Sunday, the last chance to file a claim in person will be Friday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. at Lottery headquarters or 4:30 p.m. at an area Lottery office. A claim submitted by mail must be postmarked by Saturday, Sept. 18.

Unclaimed, expired lottery prizes remain in the Lottery Fund and are used to support programs benefiting older Pennsylvanians.

How to Play Powerball: To play Powerball, players pay $1 and select five white balls from the first set of 59 numbers plus a single red ball, the Powerball, from a second set of 39 numbers. Players may select their own numbers using a Powerball play slip, or they may opt for computer-selected quick picks. Players must match all five numbers drawn plus the Powerball number to win the jackpot. There also are eight additional ways for players to win a cash prize. Drawings are held on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Powerball features an option called Power Play. For an extra $1 per Powerball play (game), players can multiply their Powerball prizes by 2, 3, 4, or 5 times the original prize amount for all prizes EXCEPT the jackpot. Prizes can multiply up to $1 million.

About the Pennsylvania Lottery: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery that designates all its proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. Since its inception 38 years ago, the Pennsylvania Lottery has contributed more than $20.1 billion to programs that include property tax and rent rebates; free transit and reduced-fare shared rides; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; long-term living services; and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including more than 600 full- and part-time senior centers throughout the state. The Pennsylvania Lottery reminds its players to play responsibly. Players must be 18 or older.

Blox has 65 skilled employees manufacturing the modular units and 11 administrative employees. It has eight projects either underway or contracted to begin over the next three years and projects it will add another 57 employees during that time.

The company is eligible to take an additional $50,000 in loans for every 15 jobs it adds to its Pottstown facility up to a maximum of $250,000 in calendar year 2010.

The Commissioners also gave a $50,000 grant to Brooks Instrument for the company to upgrade its headquarters on West Vine Street in Hatfield.

Brooks Instrument manufacturers high-precision flow meters, pressure meters and other measuring devices. It employs 204 at its Hatfield facility and will move 113 high-skill jobs from Texas over the next two years.

The Montgomery County Commissioners awarded $50,000 grants to these two companies that will create jobs under the County’s Economic Development program.

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The Board of Directors, which includes PBA’s officers, will meet at least quarterly to determine the policies and
administration of the Association. Members of the Board are senior level officers of PBA member banks. Major will serve a 3-year that began on July 1, 2010.

Mr. Major is Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Victory Bank. During his career, he has served as president and CEO of two other financial services companies in Pennsylvania, Vartan National Bank located in suburban Harrisburg, and Patriot Bank Corp., in Pottstown.

In addition, he has served as a director for The First National Bank of Liverpool, and ETA, a bank data processing service bureau.  He further contributes to the industry as a member of the faculty of the Pennsylvania Bankers Association’s Advanced School of Banking and has served as a guest speaker on investor relations and Internet banking for multiple banking organizations across the country.

The Pennsylvania Bankers Association, located in Harrisburg, is the state’s major banking trade association representing an expansive and diverse membership. The Association offers extensive continuing education programs,
government relations representation on behalf of the industry, and provides numerous products and services for banks and their employees.

The Victory Bank is a locally owned and operated commercial bank headquartered in Limerick, Pennsylvania.  The bank was founded to optimize the financial lives of businesses, professionals, and consumers primarily in Montgomery, Chester and Berks Counties.  For more information, call 610.948.9000, or visit www.thevictorybank.com.

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