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Business news in brief

In the Region

Buyer paid $7.8M for factory

The buyer of the Frankford Chocolate Factory site at 2101 Washington Ave. paid $7.8 million for the 100,000-square-foot property, according to records filed with the city. Kennett Square-based 2101 Washington Real Estate L.P. closed on the 126-year-old industrial building and surrounding land on Nov. 6, according to the filings. The group is exploring its options for developing the site, vice president Jacob Ketcham said Tuesday. The property had been purchased in 2007 by the late New York property mogul Truong Dinh Tran's Alphonse Hotel Corp. for $5.75 million. - Jacob Adelman

Prime buying N.J. hospital

Community Health Systems Inc. has agreed to sell Memorial Hospital of Salem County to Prime Healthcare Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Prime Healthcare Services Inc. The price for the 126-bed hospital in Mannington Township was not disclosed. The deal is expected to close by June. Salem County community leaders and New Jersey politicians feared a year ago that the hospital, which Community bought in 2002 for $34 million, was on the brink of closing. The deal with Prime, which specializes in buying struggling community hospitals, means that is unlikely to happen. In the Philadelphia region, Prime owns Roxborough Memorial and Lower Bucks Hospitals, and is scheduled to complete the purchase of Mercy Suburban on Jan. 1. Prime, based in Ontario, Calif., and its affiliated foundation own 38 acute-care hospitals in 11 states. - Harold Brubaker

Power restored in Chestnut Hill

A Peco Energy Co. crew worked until early Tuesday to replace a 30-foot section of faulty underground cable that caused an outage Monday of three-phase electrical service in Chestnut Hill's business district. The outage shut high-load power to three businesses, including the Weavers Way Co-op at 8424 Germantown Ave., which scrambled to salvage perishable foods after its refrigeration units lost power. Single-phase service, which powers most homes and small businesses, was unaffected. The grocery store reopened Tuesday morning and was busy restocking bare shelves. "We're missing a lot of perishable food," said Jon Roesser, the co-op's general manager. "It's going to be a recovery day." - Andrew Maykuth

Start-up passes funding goal

Self-defense technology start-up Roar for Good L.L.C. of Philadelphia is finishing the year with a holler. The firm concluded a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo over the weekend with $267,320 raised, exceeding its goal by 668 percent. Manufacturing of its wearable half-dollar-size help-summoning and alarm device, Athena, is expected to begin this month, with order fulfillment expected in April. The Indiegogo campaign yielded orders for nearly 4,000 devices from 47 countries, said Yasmine Mustafa, Roar cofounder and CEO. Nearly 240 Athenas will be donated to Women Against Abuse Inc. in Philadelphia, she said. Roar also announced Tuesday that it was the Philadelphia region winner of the SBA InnovateHer Challenge Competition, sponsored by the Alliance of Women Entrepreneurs and the U.S. Small Business Administration. That qualifies it to compete in March against seven other finalists for $70,000 at a national pitch contest in Washington. - Diane Mastrull

Briefings set on port plans

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority scheduled public briefings next week to talk about how developing about 200 vacant acres known as Southport at the eastern end of the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia will affect the port and present economic development opportunities. The meetings will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday and next Wednesday at the Philadelphia Sheet Metal Workers Hall, 1301 S. Columbus Blvd. The state agency has received seven responses, called "request for qualifications," from firms interested in developing all or part of the maritime property, south of the Walt Whitman Bridge on the Delaware River. The PRPA board on Dec. 15 will select a "short list" of the proposals and ask for financial and development plans by next June. Those interested in attending the meetings are asked to RSVP Denise Brumbaugh at 215-426-2600 or email her at dbrumbaugh@philaport.com. - Linda Loyd

Drug firm Velicept raises $21M

Malvern-based Velicept Therapeutics Inc. said Tuesday it raised $21 million in the first phase of what it calls series B financing. The company is working on a compound, solabegron, in hopes it will lead to a treatment for people with an overactive bladder. Velicept says solabegron was discovered and first developed by GlaxoSmithKline. It was acquired by AltheRx, which merged with Velicept in 2015 to continue work on the compound. - David Sell

Site to care for abused children

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children will jointly staff a new medical suite for sexually abused children at Philadelphia Children's Alliance, the organizations said. A ribbon-cutting for the facility at 300 E. Hunting Park Ave. is scheduled for Friday. The building also houses the Philadelphia Police Department's Special Victims Unit, the Department of Human Services, and representatives from the District Attorney's Office, the alliance said. - Harold Brubaker