Reading Southern Middle School in Reading and Springhouse Middle School in South Whitehall Township, were among those honored Tuesday during the “Best of PA” statewide finals for the “What’s so Cool About Manufacturing” program.

Next week, 22 teams of middle schoolers will be competing for top honors in a virtual statewide What’s So Cool About Manufacturing virtual event, the “Best of PA” Statewide Awards.

Air Products of Trexlertown has named Samir J. Serhan, executive vice president, as COO of the company.

A little over two years ago, Katrina Marshall took a big gamble. She had been working at Artistic Toys & Promotions in Allentown for about 12 years and loved her job. Starting out as a receptionist she was promoted to a number of roles within the company and became a vital part of the process of selling custom promotional stuffed animals to corporations and organizations around the country.

Flexicon Corp. of Bethlehem Township is expanding. The manufacturer of bulk handling equipment for the manufacturing industry has outgrown its current headquarters in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VI and will move into a 50,000-plus-square-foot space about two doors down from the existing Emrick Boulevard space owned by developer J.G. Petrucci Co.

Victaulic in Easton has named Rick Bucher president and COO.

It was in the early 2000s that the Right to Repair issue started taking hold, said Emma Horst-Martz, campaign associate with PennPIRG, the Pennsylvania branch of the U.S. PIRG, a consumer advocacy organization.

E.T. Browne Drug Co., manufacturer of Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula and Coconut Oil Formula skin and hair care products, said its East Stroudsburg-based manufacturing facility, Hayward Laboratories, has started producing sanitizer for immediate distribution, to address widespread supply shortages in the wake of COVID-19.

OraSure Technologies of Bethlehem said it earned a $710,310 contract from the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop a pan-SARS-coronavirus antigen rapid in-home self-test. The test uses saliva samples and provides results in 20 minutes.

A new online portal to identify the needs of Pennsylvania manufacturers that are, or could, provide products for the COVID-19 pandemic was launched over the weekend by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.