Joseph N DiStefano

Joseph N DiStefano

@phillyjoed.bsky.social

JoeD@Inquirer.com I write about money and people mostly for the Philadelphia Inquirer https://www.inquirer.com/author/distefano_joseph_n/ +OFS

785 followers70 following799 posts

Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Proscia, born in Philly 2014, uses AI to speed cancer diagnosis. Sold for $240MM+ to healthcare mega-automator Agilent (which btw is worth 2x its old parent Hewlett Packard, remember them?) My story: www.inquirer.com/business/pro...

inquirer.comPhilly-based AI medical analysis startup to be acquired for up to $270 millionHealthcare-analysis giant Agilent Technologies is buying Philly-based Proscia to speed its AI-based pathology records search and analysis.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Delaware starts work on $700 million container port as up-river rivals PhilaPort and Holt Logistics plan their own. Will more docks mean a price war? And where will Amazon fit? My story: www.inquirer.com/business/del...

inquirer.comDelaware Container Port plan is full speed ahead, despite lacking research showing it’s neededThe Delaware Container Port is designed to replace high-wage union industrial jobs lost when northern Delaware’s auto, steel and chemical works shut over the past 20 years.

Joseph N DiStefano reposted

Ben S
@bensh3.bsky.social

"Philly is going to struggle to recruit an industrial workforce. There is a rhyme and rhythm to an industrial city. You have industrial accidents. You have elevated rates of chronic conditions years afterward."

Joseph N DiStefano @phillyjoed.bsky.social

My Q&A with Gary Kim: "Shipyards are great for everyone except the people who work there. The economic boom is paid in blood." My latest, on why the real audience for shipyard recruiters shd be our 30MM construction, transport, factory workers. Q&A with Gary Kim: www.inquirer.com/business/han...

inquirer.comWhy don’t construction and factory workers want to build ships?Gary Kim, formerly a junior officer with U.S. Navy construction units in Asia, detailed the painful conditions and skilled labor shortages at shipyards around the world.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

My Q&A with Gary Kim: "Shipyards are great for everyone except the people who work there. The economic boom is paid in blood." My latest, on why the real audience for shipyard recruiters shd be our 30MM construction, transport, factory workers. Q&A with Gary Kim: www.inquirer.com/business/han...

inquirer.comWhy don’t construction and factory workers want to build ships?Gary Kim, formerly a junior officer with U.S. Navy construction units in Asia, detailed the painful conditions and skilled labor shortages at shipyards around the world.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Contractors pivot to Trump priorities: As college, healthcare, housing projects slow, these builders + bankers hope AI data centers, Pentagon build-up will keep construction going. My story: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

inquirer.comAs Philly-area construction has slowed, builders are shifting to data centers and military projectsPhilly bankers and builders are seeing a switch this year away from "eds and meds" and apartment construction toward heavy industry.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Ex- Philadelphia Fed, UDel presidentm Wharton dean Patrick Harker back @Wharton warning on US and global financial risk, and what not to worry about so much: www.inquirer.com/business/pat...

inquirer.comEx-Philly Fed chair is back at Wharton and on a quest to save the world financial system"I’m where the vast majority of Americans are: They’re sick of ideology. It gets us nowhere," Patrick Harker says. "We are a pragmatic people. Let’s do reasonable stuff."
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Hanwha Philly Shipyard owner offers to buy money-losing Austal Alabama shipyard, nuclear-submarine fabricator, and California ship-repair for over $1 billion, after pulling out of NJ deal. My latest: www.inquirer.com/business/han...

inquirer.comPhilly shipyard owner Hanwha is shifting its investment focus to the South and WestHanwha, which wants to expand in the United States, tried to buy facilities in Paulsboro, N.J., but couldn't reach a deal with Holt Logistics.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Custom Mobile Food Equipment has grown a hot dog cart factory on the edge of the Jersey Pine Barrens into a provider of hand-built mobile steel kitchens to Disney, Carnival Cruise and many more, over three generations. Now coping with tariffs. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/cus...

inquirer.comMeet the South Jersey business making food carts for Jersey Shore vendors and Disney WorldFor Custom Mobile’s hand-made stainless-steel food wagons and trucks, competition is cheap foreign carts and Wawa.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Philly area construction slowdown? Jake Blumgart has been chronicling project delays and cancellations. Post Bros. has faced a dozen lawsuits from contractors who say they are owed, we review the suits, and the cofounder's response www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

inquirer.comPhilly developer Post Brothers faces contractor lawsuits and a union campaignThe Post Brothers face 12 lawsuits from a variety of union-affiliated contractors over their Broad and Washington project.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Both Wawa + Swiss Farms started Delco, Pa, '60s. Now Wood family-run Wawa has 1,000 USA stores, most w/gas; Swiss Farm, after failed PE + chain growth plans, just 10 drive-ups. New owner Arsh Pola to add gas at 25+ new Philly area stores, he tells me: www.inquirer.com/business/swi...

inquirer.comLike rival Wawa, Delco’s Swiss Farms plans to add gas pumps under its latest ownerArsh Pola, who owns gas stations, plans steady, incremental, gas-fueled growth for drive-up Swiss Farm Stores.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Both @Wawa + @SwissFarms started Delco, Pa, '60s. Now Wood family-run Wawa has 1,000 USA stores, most w/gas; Swiss Farm, after failed PE + chain growth plans, just 10 drive-ups. New owner Arsh Pola to add gas at 25+ new Philly area stores, he tells me: www.inquirer.com/business/swi...

inquirer.comLike rival Wawa, Delco’s Swiss Farms plans to add gas pumps under its latest ownerArsh Pola, who owns gas stations, plans steady, incremental, gas-fueled growth for drive-up Swiss Farm Stores.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

USA will keep making NSMV training/emergency ships at Hanwha Philly Shipyard, and Columbia Navy nuclear submarine modules at General Dynamics' Philly contractor Rhoads, Sen. McCormick says. I parse details: www.inquirer.com/business/shi...

inquirer.comU.S. pledges to buy more Philly-made ships and nuclear sub partsHanwha's multipurpose ships and Rhoads' nuclear submarine modules will anchor waterfront investment, say Sen. Dave McCormick and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Delta Air Lines: As oil prices soared, Pa. refinery leak and fire boosted jet fuel 5 cents a gallon; production there still 25% below target; expects fuel has peaked at $3.93/2q and is headed lower in 3q. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/del...

inquirer.comDelta Air Lines customers are paying more after the recent leak and fire at its Delco refineryDelta’s fuel costs averaged $3.93 a gallon — the highest ever, the company says — in the three months ending June 30. That’s up from $2.25 a gallon a year earlier.
Joseph N DiStefano
@phillyjoed.bsky.social

Delta Air Lines: As oil prices soared, Pa. refinery leak and fire boosted jet fuel 5 cents a gallon; production there still 25% below target; expects fuel has peaked at $3.93/2q and is headed lower in 3q. My story: www.inquirer.com/business/del...

inquirer.comDelta Air Lines customers are paying more after the recent leak and fire at its Delco refineryDelta’s fuel costs averaged $3.93 a gallon — the highest ever, the company says — in the three months ending June 30. That’s up from $2.25 a gallon a year earlier.