PENN TWP — The Butler County Chamber of Commerce's annual Celebrate Business dinner Sept. 10 will offer a tribute to the late William Morgan Jr. and recognize an organization that will receive an award named for the Butler businessman.

Morgan was 78 when he died in December.

The 2009 William A. Morgan Jr. Entrepreneur of the Year Award will go to David Lloyd, a Butler businessman, who founded the Community Development Corporation of Butler County.

The 2009 Chamber Award Business Champion will go to the CDC.

The cost is $50 per guest. Tables of 10 may be reserved by calling the chamber at 724-283-2222.

CLINTON TWP — Castcon Stone has been awarded a $500,000 contract to produce precast concrete stairs and landings<B><I> </B></I>for the rebuilt subway station underneath the site of the former World Trade Center in New York.The contract is with Jersey Precast, to which Castcon will make and deliver 105 flights of stairs and 360 landings for the Port Authority Transit Hub, or PATH station. Each set of stairs will contain a photoluminescent metal nose, and all products will be fire and blast resistant.Production begins Oct. 1 with final delivery to be made in 2013.The new World Trade Center site is set to feature four skyscrapers, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center, a retail complex, a performing arts center and the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.Castcon Stone is in the Victory Road Business Park and employs 30 people, and there are no plans to hire additional employees for this project.

PENN TWP — The Lighthouse Foundation, a nonprofit, human services organization has hired Claire Borchert as its new director of transitional housing.Claire is daughter-in-law to Vernon Borchert, who founded the organization in 1985. Claire is married to Phil Borchert.Dan Borchert, Claire's brother-in-law, is the foundation's executive director.Before joining The Lighthouse, Claire Borchert was a case manager for Glade Run Lutheran Services. She has a bachelor's degree from LaRoche College.

SEVEN SPRINGS — Amerikohl Mining of Butler was one of seven companies honored Aug. 19 by the Pennsylvania Coal Association with its annual Reclamation Awards at its annual banquet.These member companies performed beyond federal and state regulatory requirements to return surface coal mining sites to environmentally sound condition and productive uses.Amerikohl won awards for three mine sites.PCA recognized Amerikohl for its reclamation of 159 acres including 3 acres of abandoned mine land with an acid mine drainage in Rayne Township, Indiana County.In addition, Amerikohl mined and reclaimed 39 acres in Wayne Township, Lawrence County, including 3 acres of abandoned mine lands.At a site in Madison Township, Armstrong County, Amerikohl mined and reclaimed 55 acres including 4 acres of abandoned mine lands. The site has been reclaimed to include 10 acres of farm land and 45 acres of forest land.

CRANBERRY TWP — Westinghouse Electric Co., has announced the appointment of William Burns as president of its subsidiary company, PaR Nuclear.PaR Nuclear provides crane support for the AP1000 nuclear plant construction.Burns has 30 years with Westinghouse, and has served as acting president of PaR Nuclear since June.

KARNS CITY — The Penreco petroleum plant here has been fined by the state Fish and Boat Commission for "minor pollution" in the south branch of Bear Creek.According to the citation, Penreco released a small amount of oil into the creek in late July, which caused a fish kill.The spill occurred when the creek overflowed its banks on July 23, picking up oil in an oil-water separator.The fine is $235.

Burt Hill, an international architecture and engineering firm based in Butler, has announced the election of two new members to the firm's board of directors.Robert Ray and Michael Reagan, in addition to 11 incumbent board members, were elected at the firm's annual shareholders meeting Aug. 4.In addition to his seat on the board, Ray is Burt Hill's general counsel and chief legal officer.Reagan, Burt Hill's director of science and technology and managing principal of the firm's Cleveland office, is a nationally-recognized authority on research and instructional laboratory planning and design.

ALIQUIPPA — A New Jersey-based trucking firm plans to lay off all 52 drivers at its Western Pennsylvania facility by November.The layoffs are planned at the Louis J. Kennedy Trucking Co. in Aliquippa, about 20 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The company is based in Kearny, N.J.The company's executive vice president, Dave Scureman, says the layoffs were prompted by a drop in business by the trucking company's primary customer, USG Corp., which operates a wallboard plant.The layoffs will leave about seven mechanics and administrative staff at the Aliquippa operation. Scureman says it's not clear what may happen to those workers.

SOMERSET, Pa.— A southwestern Pennsylvania plant that makes garden hoses and related products is winding down operations for a scheduled plant closing on Nov. 1.Plans to close the Gilmour Manufacturing Co. plant in Somerset were announced in March. The plant had about 280 workers then and employs about 160 now.The plant's parent company is Robert Bosch Tool Co., of Farmington Hills, Mich. Work from the Somerset plant will be moved to another Bosch subsidiary in Peoria, Ill.No workers from the Somerset plant are expected to move to the Illinois operation, which will employ fewer workers than the plant being closed.The plant is about 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.5

WASHINGTON — The U.S. housing market is rebounding faster than expected.The question is, can it last?Home resales in July posted the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. Sales jumped 7.2 percent and beat expectations, the National Association of Realtors said Friday."We've got tens of thousands of homes perfect for the first-time homebuyer and we've taken advantage of that," said George Hackett, president of Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Pittsburgh.

<B>William Anderson </B>of H.L.R. Anderson Agency in Grove City has earned a certified workcomp adviser designation from the Institute of WorkComp Professionals.——<B>Valerie Bender</B> of Gibsonia has been appointed to the Interbranch Commission on Juvenille Justice by Gov. Ed Rendell.——<B>Dr. John Hower,</B> an oestopathic general surgeon from Alle-Kiski Surgical Associates, has joined the medical staff of the Alle-Kiski Medical Center in Natrona Heights. He continues a family history of providing patient care in the Alle-Kiski valley started by his father, Dr. Robert Hower Sr.