Business news in brief

PJM Interconnection Inc., the regional grid operator, has approved $4.6 billion in upgrades to the high-voltage electric transmission system that serves 61 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia. More than $3 billion of the changes are upgrades to connect new gas-generating facilities that are replacing old coal-fired plants. The plan also includes a $1.2 billion project in North Jersey to address short-circuit and overheating problems in that area. - Andrew Maykuth

James E. Nevels, founder and chairman of asset manager the Swarthmore Group, of Philadelphia, was named by the Federal Reserve's board of governors to serve as the 2014 chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Outgoing chairman is Jeremy Nowak, president of J. Nowak & Associates L.L.C. and former head of the William Penn Foundation. Nevels is the bank's deputy chair. Michael J. Angelakis, vice chairman and chief financial officer of Comcast Corp., will become deputy chair of the Philly Fed. - Reid Kanaley

Accolade Inc., of Plymouth Meeting, received a $30 million investment from San Francisco investment firm Carrick Capital Partners, Carrick announced. Big self-insured companies hire privately held Accolade, which was founded in 2007, to help their employees navigate the fragmented health-care system and eliminate wasteful medical spending. - Harold Brubaker

Standard & Poor's boosted all of its credit ratings on Aramark Holdings Corp. following the Philadelphia food, facilities, and uniform services company's sale of shares Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. The overall corporate rating was raised two notches from B-plus to BB, which remains in junk-bond territory. - Harold Brubaker

Huntingdon Valley Bank and Victory Bancorp announced that they would merge, pending approval by Victory shareholders and regulators. Under the proposed deal, Huntingdon Valley's president and chief executive, Travis J. Thompson, will serve as executive chairman. Victory's chairman, Joseph Major, will be president and CEO of the combined operations, which will operate under the Victory brand. - Harold Brubaker

FMC Corp. has reached an agreement to sell its peroxygens business for $200 million to One Equity Partners, an arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. The deal is expected to close in early 2014 after regulatory reviews. - Bob Fernandez