The nationwide shortage of construction workers is posing challenges for the industry, including making it harder to meet deadlines, raising costs to complete projects, and forcing firms to ask their skilled laborers to do more work. There's no easy solutions in sight, but those in the field are making efforts to tackle the problem.

Work begins this week on a $200 million project that aims to bring a mix of retail, office and residential development to Monroe County. First announced in 2016, The Smithfield Gateway project in Smithfield Township has faced several delays, largely because of the lack of funding for road improvements to Route 209.

Jaindl Land Co. plans to build a hotel, restaurants, spa and wellness center as part of a redevelopment plan for the former Mary Immaculate Center in Lehigh Township.

Seeing strong growth in its Wyomissing location, Diamond Credit Union will expand further into Berks County with the announcement of a new branch opening in October in Muhlenberg Township.

The Kmart in Wilson Borough will join the growing list of stores the parent company will close across the nation and the Lehigh Valley.

A local developer recently transformed a Wingate by Wyndham hotel into a Holiday Inn with 108 new rooms and a full-service kitchen in Lower Macungie Township.

Jaindl Farms, an Orefield company well-known for its turkeys, now sells its own produce in an expanded market.

The first phase of an $8.2 million redevelopment project in downtown Reading has launched. Leopold Sanchez, owner of the building to be redeveloped at North 4th and Elm Streets, will convert the vacant 40,000-square-foot property into a two-story commercial space with three different businesses.

A $16 million aviation hangar under construction off Postal Road in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, will get a boost in funding from the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of General Services has posted a request for proposals for the demolition of the structures on the 100-year-old, nearly 200-acre property.