September 16, 2016 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Roadwork for week of Sept. 17

PennDOT has announced the following road projects, which are weather-dependent and could affect residents in the greater Chadds Ford area during the week of Sept. 17 through Sept. 24. Motorists are urged to allow extra time if they are traveling through one of the construction zones.

Drivers on Route 926 in Birmingham, Westtown and Thornbury townships will experience lane restrictions between Routes 3 and 202 on Monday, Sept. 19, through Thursday, Sept. 22. Shoulder work is scheduled between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Bridge cleaning will necessitate lane restriction on the Route 100 bypass at Route 202 in West Goshen Township. Crews are scheduled to work from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

On Sunday, Sept. 18, through Tuesday, Sept. 20, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., lane restrictions are scheduled on Route 1 in Kennett and East Marlborough township for paving.

Drivers on I-95 northbound between the Delaware state line and I-476 will experience lane closures for guide rail repair. The work is scheduled from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20 and Wednesday, Sept. 21.

Work will continue on the Speakman Covered Bridge in East Fallowfield and West Marlborough townships. Frog Hollow Road between Concord Bridge and Strasburg roads will be closed and detoured until the estimated completion date, which has been extended to Oct. 21.

Green Valley Road in Newlin Township is closed and detoured between Powell and Brandywine Creek roads due to structural deficiencies at the Green Valley Road Bridge. No repair date has been scheduled.

Burnt Mill Road in Kennett Township remains closed and detoured between Norway and Spring Mill roads while advance work continues.

The Birmingham Road Bridge in Birmingham Township, which was closed in September 2015 due to structural damage, has been reopened.

Utility installation on East Market Street in West Chester Borough will require lane restrictions at Franklin Street. The work is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, through Friday, Sept. 23.

Route 100 in West Whiteland Township at Waterloo and Swedesford roads will be the site of lane restrictions for curb replacement. Crews are scheduled to work from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday, Sept. 19, through Saturday, Sept. 24.

If you want to report potholes and other roadway maintenance concerns on state roads, call 610-566-0972 in Delaware County or 484-340-3200 in Chester County, or visit www.dot.state.pa.us and click on “submit feedback.”

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Free child safety seat checks scheduled

Health

Free child passenger safety seat checkups will be available across the region as the agencies mark National Child Passenger Safety Week on Sunday, Sept. 18, through Saturday, Sept. 24, and PennDOT and the Pennsylvania State Police are encouraging motorists to participate.

State police will be conducting free child safety seat inspections next week.

PennDOT funds resources such as training and educational materials for child passenger fitting stations across Pennsylvania designed to teach parents the proper installation and use of child safety seats, a PennDOT press release said.

Pennsylvania Child Passenger Safety Protection Law requires all drivers to secure infants and children under 8 years of age in an approved child restraint/booster when the child is riding anywhere in the motor vehicle, including the cargo area; secure children younger than 2 years of age in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system, to be used until the child outgrows the maximum weight and height limits designated by the car seat manufacturer; and secure children 4 years of age or older but under 8 years of age in a seat belt system and an appropriately fitting child booster seat, the release said.

Pennsylvania’s Safety Belt Law mandates that children ages 8 through 17 must use a seat belt. Violating this law constitutes a primary offense. In addition, drivers under 18 years of age may not operate a motor vehicle in which the number of passengers exceeds the number of available safety seat belts in the vehicle; a violation represents a primary offense. And drivers and front-seat passengers age 18 and older must be properly restrained; violating this law is a secondary offense.

Because of the potential dangers associated with air bag deployment, children ages 12 and under should always ride buckled in a vehicle’s back seat.

The State Police Bureau of Patrol also offers the following tips:

Read and follow the car seat and vehicle manufacturers’ instructions.
Use the car seat’s seat belt or LATCH system to secure the child restraint to the car.
Fill out and return the registration card for your seat so you’ll know if it is recalled because of a problem.
Make sure the seat’s harness fits snugly.
Use a tether strap if the seat requires it.

Here are the free child safety seat check events that are scheduled locally next week:

On Monday, Sept. 19, and Friday, Sept. 23, the state police barracks in Media, 1342 West Baltimore Pike, Media, 19063, will conduct checks from 3 to 6 p.m., and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. respectively. Call 484-840-1000.

On Wednesday, Sept. 21: Paoli Hospital, 255 West Lancaster Ave., Paoli, Pa., 19301 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 610-906-2711; Avondale Fire Company, 23 Firehouse Way, Avondale, Pa., 19311, 2 to 8 p.m., 610-268-2022; and West Bradford Fire Company, 1385 Campus Drive, Downingtown, Pa., 19335, 2 to 8 p.m., 610-486-6280.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, the public can visit the West Goshen Police Department, 1025 Paoli Pike, West Chester, Pa., 19380, 9 a.m. to noon, 610-906-2711.

For more information on car seat safety and to get a list of state police car seat safety inspection locations and dates, click on the “Public Safety” link at www.psp.state.pa.us. To view a list of PennDOT-supported car seat checks and see how PennDOT promotes child passenger safety, visit www.penndot.gov/safety.

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Boost Your Business: Employment branding

Business

Employment branding is the term commonly used to describe an organization’s reputation as an employer and its value proposition to its employees, as opposed to its more general corporate brand reputation and value proposition to customers.

An employment brand is the market perception of what it’s like to work for an organization. In other words, it’s the image that your prospective, current and past employees have in their minds about the employment experience at your company.

Employment strategies cover several components which often influence employee retention. Some strategies include:

Creating positive, compelling images of the organization that convey social responsibility and industry impacts.
Providing clear and consistent messages about what it is like to work at the organization through viral phrases such as “commitment to innovation”,” teamwork”, etc.
Encouraging the best potential candidates to apply for jobs with advertisements using media.
Decreasing the time-to-fill and cost-per-hire ratios.
Lowering turnover by offering competitive benefit packages and enjoyable work environment.
Linking the employment brand with the company’s product brands by reinforcing the public’s image of the organization.
Giving employees a sense of pride in their company by knowing they are working for an employer that has a competitive edge and/or positive contribution to society.

To help build and/or improve on a brand, it is vital to consider the channel of how employment branding is marketed upon others. Some popular channels are the company’s website, media ads (television, radio, print), collateral materials such as brochures, appearances at job fairs, campuses, or at other types of sponsored or non-sponsored events.

In today’s job market, employment branding is becoming important as the demand for skilled and talented workers increases. With the latest reliance on technology, the job searching and recruiting process has also impacted who is and who is not applying with particular organizations. The need for employment branding cannot be overlooked since it implies that hiring and retention rates may be stabilized. The goal is to make sure employees are satisfied, ensuring business goals are met, while being competitive and unique to one’s own core values.

* Maria L. Novak Dugan is president of Marketing Solutions & Business Development, a firm in West Chester, offering creative marketing services and goal implementation for small & medium sized businesses. For more information, contact Maria at 610-405-0633 or MariaNovak001@yahoo.com or visit www.Maria-L-Novak.com

** The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of Chadds Ford Live. We welcome opposing viewpoints. Readers may comment in the comments section or they may submit a Letter to the Editor to: editor@chaddsfordlive.com

About Maria Novak Dugan

Maria L. Novak Dugan is president of Marketing Solutions & Business Development, a firm serving Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, offering creative marketing services and goal implementation for small businesses. She has more than 30 years’ experience in the Marketing & Sales Industry ... 13 of those as the sole sales representative for a Pennsylvania payroll company growing their client base by over 500%. Maria Novak Dugan is also the former Managing Director of the Delaware Chapter of eWomenNetwork. Creating, developing, and conducting this division of a national organization strengthened her knowledge of networking, event planning, fundraising, and small-business development. For more information, contact Maria at 610-405-0633 or Maria@Maria-L-Novak.com or visit www.Maria-L-Novak.com

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Domestic violence against people, pets linked

Local News

A community discussion on the connection between domestic violence and violence against pets and animals will take place on Monday, Sept. 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the East Whiteland Township Building.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, will be joined by Rachel Haynes-Pinsker of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, according to a press release from Dinniman’s office.

“Study after study has demonstrated the direct link between violence against animals and violence against people,” Dinniman said in the release. “We know that those who harm animals are likely to harm people. It’s time that we tighten our laws and raise the penalties to both protect our pets and protect our families.”

Pinsker will open the discussion with an overview of the issue, which impacts a startling number of victims of domestic violence. Dinniman will then provide an update on his Senate Bill 594, the Pet Protection from Domestic Abuse Act, legislation that calls for strengthening Pennsylvania’s Animal Cruelty Law to increase the penalty when animal abuse happens in a domestic-violence situation.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate and is now on final consideration in the House.

According to a Foundation for Interdisciplinary Research and Education Promoting Animal Welfare (FIREPAW) study, up to 48 percent of domestic violence victims have delayed leaving a dangerous situation because they fear for their pet’s safety. Figures provided by the Humane Society of the United States show that those fears are not unfounded, reporting that approximately one million animals are killed or abused in connection to domestic violence each year.

Pinsker, legal services manager for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, has provided 15 years of legal assistance to victims of domestic violence. She said that in her experience, abusers often lash out at companion animals of their victims as a way to gain more control, the release said.

“The more isolated a domestic violence victim becomes, the more attached they are to their pet. Often, an abuser becomes jealous of this attachment and punishes the animal as another form of abuse toward their victim,” Pinsker said in the release.

Dinniman will also discuss support of a program for domestic violence shelters and organizations to provide shelter to victims’ pets. He said plans to support and work with local organizations, like the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, to help ensure that a victims’ pet could be provided with temporary shelter or foster care.

“Bringing the right people together within a community is the best way to work towards a solution and get things done,” Dinniman said in the release. “The services, resources, and support are here. It’s just a matter of aligning them to solve this problem.”

For more information, call Dinniman’s office at 610-692-2112 or e-mail acirucci@pasenate.com.

About Press Release

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