Valley Forge Educational Services

The Malvern-based Valley Forge Educational Services, which offers a continuum of school-year and summer educational programs and integrated clinical services, has received a grant from bestselling author James Patterson to support its Read to Pet Pals program.

Scholastic Reading Club will also match each dollar of Patterson’s donation with “bonus points” that teachers can use to acquire books and other materials for their classrooms. VFES was selected among thousands of applications for funding grants. Patterson has personally donated $3.5 million to school libraries nationwide.

The VFES Read to Pet Pals program provides students of various ages a unique opportunity to improve their reading fluency and confidence in a supportive environment by reading to therapy animals from the nonprofit, Pals for Life. Many of the students have a diagnosis of mild-to-moderate autism and struggle with their social connections and communication skills. The Read to Pet Pals program not only develops the students’ literacy skills, but also nurtures their abilities to interact socially with one another, the therapy animals, and the volunteer handlers.

Fox Rothschild

Fox Rothschild has announced that the firm has been named to the honor roll in 15 categories in the 2017 BTI Client Service A-Team report.

BTI is a leading provider of strategic, client-based research in the legal community. Now in its 16th year, BTI’s client performance survey assesses how law firms “stack-up” and highlights firms known for delivering excellent service. The in-depth research process relies on interviews with more than 330 leading legal decision-makers, and focuses on 17 criteria that drive the best relationships.

Additionally, in BTI’s overall ranking of the AmLaw 200 firms for Client Service Performance, Fox Rothschild placed No. 85 on the list.

Galera Therapeutics

Malvern’s Galera Therapeutics says it has raised $15 million from California’s Sofinnova Ventures to prepare its drug candidate GC4419 for Phase 3 registration with the Food and Drug Administration.

According to the company, “the drug is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of severe oral mucositis,” an infection affecting head and neck cancer patients under radiation therapy.

Galera had previously raised more than $42 million from New Enterprise Associates, Novartis Venture Fund, and other venture and angel investors.

Chester and Delaware County SCORE

Twenty-three veterans with dreams of starting their own business began the Saint Joseph’s University 2016 Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ) program. These Veterans ranged in age from 28-52 and represent five branches of the United States military and many years of service to the country.

Chester and Delaware County SCORE volunteers were invited to provide mentorship to these veterans during the program and to help them plan and present their business idea in the Venture Pitch Competition at the end of the program. Birgit Williams, a veteran and SCORE client, was a winner of the competition with her business startup called 75 Fox Trot Construction LLC.

Having worked as a project manager in a family-owned construction business, and then completing a Construction Management Certificate Program at Temple, Williams plans to bid for government construction projects. Winning the Venture Pitch Competition has given her $5,000 in seed money and free in-kind services from a website developer, as well as exposure to training and networking opportunities.

iPipeline

Red Herring, the globally-renowned technology magazine, has announced the winners of the prestigious 2016 Top 100 Global Award. Exton’s iPipeline – a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions for the life insurance industry – was among the international winners who competed for the honor.

Red Herring, known for its focus on global innovation and technology companies, selects the most promising tech companies from more than 40 countries from around the world every year, and issues awards to those with great market potential in North America, Europe, and Asia.

“It’s an honor to be selected as a Red Herring Top 100 Global Award winner,” said Tim Wallace, iPipeline’s CEO. “iPipeline is focused on expanding the insurance industry’s most comprehensive platform to deliver increasing value to our customer base. Innovation is the catalyst for our growth, advancement, and success.”

DNB First

The Board of Directors of DNB Financial Corporation, parent of DNB First, one of the first nationally-chartered community banks to serve the Greater Philadelphia region, has declared a cash dividend of $0.07 per common share for the fourth quarter of 2016 to shareholders of record on Dec. 12.

The cash dividend will be paid on Dec. 22, 2016.