VISTA Today Daily News Business Briefs are concise stories that bring you up to date with what’s going on around Chester County.

Pope Visit’s Transit Pass Sales Temporarily Suspended

Problems on its website caused SEPTA to suspend its on-line sales of transit passes for the Pope’s visit on September 26 and 27, although they expect to resume sales today

While the site was tested over the weekend for sales of 1,700 tickets per second, it seems that the interest level in getting early tickets yesterday was significantly higher, creating an overload which caused the pages to not load, errors, and problems with selecting and paying for tickets.

RRD: The Papal E-Commerce site is temporarily closed while resolve problems. We apologize/will update when more info. is available

— SEPTA (@SEPTA) July 20, 2015

Two local companies, Wayne-based CapTech and Philadelphia-based Zivtech, helped SEPTA design and operate its on-line sales site, and representatives of both companies were at SEPTA headquarters yesterday, trying to fix the issue.

“The majority of the passes are still there, No one needs to worry that they’re not going to be able to get a pass” said SEPTA spokesperson Jerri Williams.

Quarterly Dividend Declared by Triumph Group

Board of Directors of Triumph Group has declared its regular quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share on its outstanding common stock.

Headquartered in Berwyn, Triumph Group, designs, manufactures, and repairs aircraft components, accessories and systems for a significant portion of the worldwide aviation industry.

The dividend is in line with its previous quarterly earnings and it has been consistent since 2006. The dividend will be paid on September 15, to all shareholders of record on September 1.

Several A&P Stores Facing Closure

Several stores in Philadelphia area will be closed as a result of A&P filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A Pathmark in Swedesford Plaza in Berwyn, a Superfresh off Skippack Pike in Center Square, and the one on Columbus Boulevard in Philadelphia will be among the 25 stores A&P is aiming to close, meaning affected shoppers will need to start looking for alternatives.

According to documents filed with the court, A&P is asking to be allowed to quickly close 25 underperforming stores that have sustained significant operating losses. By closing the stores, A&P says it expects to obtain about $20 million in savings and generate about $48 million in proceeds from their sale.

West Expands Manufacturing Capacity at Scottsdale Facility

West Pharmaceutical Services said yesterday that it has expanded the capabilities of its Scottsdale, Arizona, facility to meet increased customer demand for the SmartDose Electronic Wearable Injector.

The expansion in Scottsdale will enable the Exton based manufacturer of delivery systems for injectable drugs and other healthcare products, to improve its development and production of SmartDose to cope with increasing demand for the product.

Eric Resnick, West’s President of Pharmaceutical Delivery Systems and Proprietary Products, said “We designed SmartDose to be an easy-to-use, intuitive and reliable drug delivery system that can help boost adherence for injectable medications – and the customer response has been tremendous.”

Zonoff Platform Works with the new Apple HomeKit

Apple has unveiled its version of home automation products sporting a “Works with Apple HomeKit” logo, bringing the era of voice operated household and security products closer, but did not include Zonoff in the process.

Malvern product developer Zonoff, the brains behind the Staples Connect-branded home-control system, sees the future in this type of connectivity. Its Connected Home Software Platform allows household devices to communicate through a variety of different ways such as WiFi and Bluetooth.

Zonoff platform could also work with HomeKit, if Apple decides to open its application programming interface. Their chief marketing officer, Kevin Garton recently commented, “When large technology players get involved in a market, it’s ready for mass adoption.”