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Governor Shapiro Announces Mondi Bags USA Expansion, 170 Jobs, Allegheny County

Governor Josh Shapiro announced that Mondi Bags USA will expand its manufacturing operations in Findlay Township, Allegheny County, creating approximately 170 new jobs over three years. The Shapiro Administration provided a $1,036,000 Pennsylvania First grant through the Department of Community and Economic Development to secure the project against competing offers from Ohio and West Virginia. The company will relocate existing operations from Oakdale, PA and Wellsburg, WV into a new 200,000-square-foot facility.

Method for Preparing Amidines from N-(alkyl lactams) via Dehydration Catalysis

USPTO published patent application US20260092067A1 disclosing a method for preparing amidines from N-(amino-alkyl) lactams via dehydration using heterogeneous catalysts including cerium oxide, boron phosphates, zirconium compounds, and phosphotungstic acid. The application (No. 19108987) was filed September 4, 2023 and published April 2, 2026, listing inventors Nicola Vecchini and Federico Mondini. This represents a new synthetic route for amidine compounds used in pharmaceutical and fine chemical synthesis.