Business News

New Jersey’s first Panera Bread concept store emphasizing delivery, takeout and catering opened Aug. 12 in the Crossroads at Somerset center on Elizabeth Avenue. The new concept store, called “Panera To You,” is part of the St. Louis, Mo.-based company’s “Panera 2.0” initiative, which emphasizes the use of technology to ease the process of ordering and delivering food. Company officials, along …

We recently sat down with Daniella Harris, owner of Anytime Fitness at 920 Hamilton St., to talk about Anytime’s unique outlook on personal training. Q: What’s your businesses’ philosophy? A: We’re solutions-focused. We focus in getting results for our clients. We do that primarily through guided training. So whether it be one-on-one personal training or small group or team training, …

Creative Backup Care Options has added Knowledge Universe, the leading national private provider of early childhood education and care, to its Backup Care provider network. CBCO provides backup care to mid-sized companies and seeks to expand the presence of Backup Care as a whole in the workplace. Backup Care is an employee benefit that provides temporary care for employees’ children, adults and …

It wasn’t officially open yet, but the new Hardee’s restaurant on Route 27 was celebrated June 12 with a ribbon cutting. Attending were township officials, representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Hardee’s corporation, and the location’s franchisee, Bhupen Patel. The store was scheduled to open 10:30 a.m.. June 15. Patel is a veteran of the fast food business, having owned between …

Changing the way in which mental health services are delivered is the goal behind a recently opened facility on Davidson Avenue. Anew Wellness, 270 Davidson Ave., opened its doors in December 2014 to offer treatments for adolescents and adults suffering from mental and behavioral issues, and also those whose problems are exacerbated by drug addiction. The center’s principals see themselves as …

Hundreds of job seekers descended upon The Imperia on Easton Avenue May 5 for a job fair. The fair, sponsored by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) and the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce, was “phenomenal,” Danielsen said. “It exceeded our expectations,” he said. Danielsen estimated that between 400 and 500 people visited the nearly 100 companies that participated in …

Anytime Fitness in the Franklin Court Shopping Plaza on Hamilton Street is celebrating its first anniversary throughout May by offering free outdoor exercise classes. Called “Free Workout Saturdays,” the classes, designed for people at every fitness level, will start at 10 a.m. in the plaza’s overflow parking lot. “Everyone realizes that exercise is good for you,” Daniella Harris, owner of Anytime …

A group of township Girl Scouts visited the Willow Creek Rehabilitation and Care Center April 18 to get hands-on lessons in physical and occupational therapies. The scouts – about 23 from various troops in the township – spent the day performing exercises and learning about the equipment used in different therapies. Created by Jazmine Tooles, a therapist at the center …

The Somerset branch of Investors Bank continued its sponsorship of the Franklin Youth Initiative with a $10,000 grant. The donation was announced at the March 24 Township Council meeting. Deputy Mayor Kimberly Francois thanked ban officials who showed up to the “check” presentation, noting that Investors has been the “sole corporate sponsor” of the youth initiative. “We want to say, …

First Bank branches – including the branch at DeMott Lane and New Brunswick Road in Somerset – donated a record amount of time and money in 2014 to the communities that they serve, according to findings released today from the company’s corporate citizenship program. First Bank tracks “corporate giving” to ensure that its philanthropy grows along with its assets, according to …