Meridian Bank

Meridian Bank, based in Malvern, has promoted Charles Kochka to executive vice president, chief lending officer. He will oversee all of Meridian’s commercial and consumer lending, as well as the merchant processing and payments group. He will also be involved in planning and implementing the bank’s strategic plans for portfolio and deposit growth. He replaces Joseph L. Cafarchio, who will assume the position of chief credit officer.

Kochka started at Meridian Bank in 2010 and has more than 30 years of experience in commercial lending in the Delaware Valley. He currently serves on the board of Seedcopa, and is the board chair of United Way of Chester County. He has also served as the board chair of the West Chester YMCA, and in 2015 was awarded the Gary R. Green Community Impact Award by the YMCA of Greater Brandywine.

“Charlie’s comprehensive knowledge of the market, breadth of lending experience, and dedication to serving our customers has prepared him ideally for his new role as chief lending officer,” said Meridian CEO Chris Annas.

Ricoh

Malvern’s Ricoh has announced that the Philadelphia Eagles have expanded their partnership with Ricoh, both as their official document solutions provider and as an official partner. With these agreements, Ricoh’s commitment to the Philadelphia market continues to build upon a six-year relationship with the Eagles. Some of Ricoh’s newest technologies are helping the Eagles make information work in the evolving world of sports, such as Interactive Whiteboards and other Workstyle Innovation Technology offerings for streamlining playbook and play-card production.

“We are proud to partner with Ricoh, an organization that works hard to provide effective, efficient, and customized solutions that address our unique needs,” said Ari Roitman, Eagles Senior Vice President of Business. “Their dedication to getting information where it needs to be, when it needs to be there, and in the format it’s needed, has been a major asset to our business and team.”

Endo

Endo International, which has its U.S. headquarters in Malvern, announced that, as part of its comprehensive organizational review, it has initiated a restructuring program. These restructuring actions will reduce Endo’s work force by approximately 90 full-time positions and will result in restructuring cash charges of approximately $15 million to $20 million. Endo expects to realize approximately $40 million to $50 million in annual run rate pre-tax cost savings by the fourth quarter of 2017.

“In a competitive and challenging healthcare environment, these difficult but necessary steps are intended to best position Endo for long-term success,” said Paul Campanelli, President and CEO of Endo. “These actions will serve to strengthen our company, and permit us to provide additional support for our core franchises and development programs.”

Stonebridge Bank

Three Lancaster County residents who want to buy the West Chester-based Stonebridge Bank, and move it to Lancaster have withdrawn their plan from state regulators, writes Tim Mekeel for the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal.

But the plan to buy Stonebridge Bank rename it Hamilton Bank remains alive, a federal court filing indicates. The withdrawal was noted on a weekly activity report by the state Department of Banking and Securities earlier this month. No reason for the action was given.

Five days after the withdrawal, though, Stonebridge’s owner disclosed that the expiration date of its agreement to sell the bank to the local buyers has been extended from Dec. 31 to March 31. The disclosure was made by Stonebridge Financial as part of its ongoing bankruptcy case. This fourth extension was granted for the same reason as the earlier ones — to give the buyers more time to win state and federal approvals of their plan, according to the filing.

Stroud Water Research Center

The Stroud Water Research Center has received a state grant to prevent soil erosion in local waterways. The Avondale-based organization received $113,000 from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the construction of riparian buffers on about 38 acres along waters in the Lower Susquehanna watershed, writes John Latimer for the Lebanon Daily News.

The grant was one of 13 awarded in five conservation districts for the planting of trees along streams covering 260 acres in Pennsylvania. That land includes 145 aces within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where municipalities have been directed by the state and federal governments to reduce soil erosion as part of a clean-up effort.