At the start of a new year we thought we’d take a look back at the stories that made 2015 such an exciting year to be living and doing business in Chester County.

Sikorsky Finds a New Home at Lockheed Martin

One of the biggest stories of 2015 was UTC’s sale of Sikorsky which proved to be an ongoing saga as the number of qualified and interested suitors got gradually whittled down over several months. In the end Lockheed Martin emerged victorious, buying the helicopter manufacturer for around $9 billion with the deal clearing its final regulatory hurdle in November.

Catch up on the details of how the sale turned out.

June Layoffs at Sikorsky as Oil Prices Tumble

Back in June, Sikorsky was forced to lay off 120 workers and also chose not to renew the contracts of a further 600 at its Coatesville operations center citing the need for the cuts as a direct result of the dramatic fall in oil prices during early 2015. This situation caused major oil companies to significantly scale back their capital investment which in turn drastically reduced the number of new orders for Sikorsky’s commercial helicopters.

See how falling oil prices affected other Chester County companies.

West Chester’s Old Armory Gets a New Lease of Life

Uptown! Entertainment Alliance finally found its new home after a five year search when it agreed to purchase West Chester’s historic National Guard Armory building in December. The nonprofit organization now plans to completely renovate the building and turn it into its new theater and create a cultural hub in the borough with the unveiling planned to coincide with the building’s 100th anniversary in 2016.

Learn about the plans for the Armory.

FIS Agrees to Buy SunGard for Over $9 billion

In August, Florida based Fidelity National Information Services agreed in principle to buy SunGard in a deal valued at around $9.2 billion in cash and stock. The surprise agreement came after Wayne based SunGard had filed for an IPO earlier in the year. However, the opportunity to sell to FIS proved too good to resist, as it will end up generating a significant guaranteed return for the seven private equity firms that purchased SunGard in 2005.

Find out more on the deal here.

Malvern Welcomes Saint-Gobain’s New North American Headquarters

To honor its 350 year history, global building materials pioneer Saint-Gobain unveiled its 320,000 square foot North American headquarters in Malvern with the cutting edge building cited as a living showcase for its industry leading innovations. The stunning location opened in October and welcomed more than 800 employees including 120 new positions on the exact day that the company was founded 350 years ago by King Louis XIV of France.

Discover the features of this innovative office complex.

PTC Invests Over $200 million in Chester County Tech Companies

Product service software company PTC saw a lot of potential in Chester County tech companies in 2015 as it first purchased Exton based Thingworx for $112 million at the beginning of the year. PTC then turned its speculative eye onto Wayne based Coldlight, purchasing the pioneer of predictive maintenance software for $105 million. In fact PTC is planning is to pair the software from the two companies together to further its futuristic strategy on data analytics.

Read more about PTC’s strategy

No Pot of Gold for the Vanguard Whistleblower

Vanguard Group tax lawyer, David Danon, found out in November that he would not be able to profit from his revelations and the resulting whistleblower lawsuit which claimed that Vanguard had underpaid its corporate taxes by around $1 billion. The ruling was made by New York State Supreme Court Justice, Joan Madden, who decided that Danon had violated ethics rules while he was a Vanguard employee.

Find out more on the ruling and how it affects Vanguard.

Victory Brewing Company Opens Two New Stunning Locations

2015 was a busy year for Victory Brewing Company as it opened two new locations in Chester County. The first was the Magnolia Brewpub in Kennett Square which opened in May offering a locally sourced menu and unique beers brewed on site. Then in November, the company opened its $2.6 million ‘Victory’ brewpub in Parkesburg at its existing brewery location on Lower Valley Road. which in addition to 30 different draft beers and a delicious menu, also offers tours of the brewing facility.

Read the reviews of the Magnolia and Victory brewpubs.

Chester County Leaders Sit Down with VISTA Today

VISTA Today took the opportunity to meet with some of the industry and cultural leaders of Chester County in 2015, to get some insight into their philosophy, background and see what has inspired them in their life. This included the chance to sit down with Rich and Kevin Gates of TFS Capital, Michael Hall, Kennett Symphony’s Maestro, as well as Aqua America’s CEO, Chris Franklin as part of the Chester County Leadership series.

Enjoy the interviews with Rich and Kevin Gates, Michael Hall and Chris Franklin–and we couldn’t forget Bill McNabb either.

Liberty Property Trust Opens up Real Estate Opportunities in Chester County

Its shift in focus towards new developments saw Liberty Property Trust placing over $100 million of its existing Chester County suburban office space on the market during the year. This will generate funds for the Malvern based company to focus on projects such as the Navy Yard in Philadelphia and the planned Camden Waterfront office project. This could represent a significant shift in the office landscape in Montgomery and other locations going into 2016.

See how things may change.