The money fueling Federal Donuts’ growth | Morning Newsletter
And a look at Doug Mastriano.
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The Morning Newsletter
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You can expect roughly the same weather today as yesterday: partly cloudy skies with highs in the mid-70s.
Today, we’re taking a look at the company that’s looking to drastically grow two Pennsylvania doughnut brands.
We’ll also look at gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who embodies a Christian nationalist movement.
If you see this🔒 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Evan Weiss (@eaweiss, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Philadelphians, like all reasonable people, love their doughnuts. And that’s part of why NewSpring Capital is betting on two Pennsylvania businesses.
The private-investment group, based in Radnor, manages $2.5 billion for investors, and has pumped much of it into the kind of growing companies you might expect a digital-era investment firm to buy: medical devices, business software, specialty manufacturers, and retailers.
But last month, NewSpring bought a big stake in Philadelphia-based Federal Donuts and its 11 stores. And NewSpring is adding at least 40 franchised stores under the Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based Duck Donuts chain, in which it bought a controlling stake last year.
Read more on how Pennsylvania-based doughnuts can now be eaten from California to Dubai and why an investment company chose to make dough from dough.
What you should know today
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf vows to protect abortion rights, but can only do so for the next eight months.
Mexican Restaurant Week ends tomorrow, but you still have time. Here’s where to enjoy it.
The Delco bear has been caught.
Two West Chester moms created a nonprofit flower shop to provide meaningful work for people with intellectual disabilities.
Our rock critic and our classical critic went to the same show. Here’s what they thought.
Local Coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
Doug Mastriano, 58, is now a front-runner for the Republican nomination for governor in the nation’s fifth-largest state. With just a couple of weeks left before the May 17 primary, he has consistently led or been near the top of polls in the nine-person race. A career Army officer who has enjoyed a rapid political ascent since he won a south-central state Senate seat in 2019, he is known by many as a leader of the push to invalidate Joe Biden’s 81,000-vote victory in Pennsylvania, and for his presence at the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington that led to the Capitol attack.
But Mastriano has also become the epitome of a resurgent movement of Christian nationalism. Its followers believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation whose divine mission is under threat.
Read the story by my colleagues Juliana Feliciano Reyes and Andrew Seidman to see what that looks like for his campaign and what it means for his candidacy.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
Philly delayed property assessments for three years. Today’s question: How much are property values jumping on average now? Take a guess and find the answer here.
A. 2.4%
B. 7%
C. 16%
D. 31%
What we’re ...
📸 Admiring: The beautiful photos in this story about Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr in Philly.
📚 Reading: Who gets abortions in Pennsylvania, according to the data.
📺 Watching: What does Philly sound like? A composer shows us.
This Philly park is receiving brand-new benches.
QUHORRSE TAENSUITE
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Robin Connell, who correctly guessed Tory Burch as yesterday’s answer.
Photo of the day
That’s all for this Thursday morning. Ashley Hoffman will be leading your day tomorrow!