Business news in brief

Food-service provider Aramark announced the construction of a new business services center in Nashville that will affect hundreds of Philadelphia jobs. An Aramark spokesman said that about 300 workers here, primarily in finance and human resources, may choose to apply for positions at the new facility or elsewhere in the company, or face being laid off over the next two to three years. The company, with global operations headquartered in Philadelphia, posted global annual revenues of $13.5 billion in its most recent annual report. The Nashville center would house up to 1,000 workers and is slated to be completed by year's end. - Curtis Skinner

Credit agency Fitch Ratings is downgrading Pennsylvania's $10.9 billion in outstanding general obligation debt because it says policymakers haven't adequately addressed rising costs that are outpacing tax collections. The downgrade, dated Tuesday, comes three years after Fitch put Pennsylvania on a negative outlook. The downgrade takes Pennsylvania from AA-plus to AA. Fitch cited state government's failure to boost funding for public employee pensions obligations and its lack of a cash reserve. The ratings agency says that signals an inability or unwillingness on the part of political leaders to make difficult fiscal decisions. - AP

Three months after his mission to South America, Gov. Corbett on Wednesday inaugurated a trade office at the Chilean Consulate of Greater Philadelphia that officials hope will help attract more traffic through the Delaware River ports. A Chilean trade delegation on a three-day visit to Pennsylvania is also exploring energy and manufacturing opportunities, according to the governor's office. The Chilean consulate, one of more than two dozen foreign missions in Philadelphia, is located in the Bourse at Independence Mall on Fifth Street. - Andrew Maykuth

Shareholders of Gardner Denver Inc., based in Wayne, voted to approve a $3.7 billion sale of the maker of industrial equipment to buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Gardner Denver, which makes air compressors and industrial pumps, said about 97 percent of shares were voted in favor of the sale Tuesday. KKR will pay $76 per share in cash for Gardner Denver, which listed 49.2 million shares in a recent regulatory filing. The companies agreed on terms and announced the proposed sale in March. The deal is expected to close in late July or early August. - AP

The U.S. economy grew throughout the country from late May through early July, bolstered by the housing recovery, consumers, and more factory output. A Federal Reserve survey released Wednesday, known as the Beige Book, showed eleven of the Fed banking districts reported "modest to moderate" growth, while the Dallas-based district reported "strong" growth for the second straight survey. The report is based on anecdotal information gathered by the regional banks. In the Philadelphia district, auto sales were described as "on fire" for the first couple of weeks of June, along with growth seen in lending and home sales and general services. Philadelphia manufacturing grew slightly after declining earlier, the report said. - AP and Inquirer staff

Telecommunications engineering firm WPCS International Inc., Exton, said it had won $5.4 million in new contracts, including jobs in Australia and China. In May, WPCS concluded a one-for-seven reverse stock split in an effort to keep its listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market by maintaining a share price above $1. The stock closed unchanged Wednesday, at $4.54. - Reid Kanaley

The initial public offering for a subsidiary of Princeton-based NRG Energy Inc. got off to an electric start, jumping more than 24 percent in the first day of trading. The IPO for NRG Yield Inc. priced at $22 on Tuesday, the company said. Shares closed at $27.25, up $5.25, or 23.9 percent. The shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NYLD. The offering raised more than $430 million. The banks managing the IPO have an option to buy 2.9 million more shares if demand is strong enough. NRG created the subsidiary to buy and operate natural gas, solar, and wind plants. Shares of NRG Energy fell 38 cents to $28.41.
- AP

The residential real-estate rebound suffered a setback in June as housing starts unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in almost a year, curbing how much construction contributed to U.S. economic growth last quarter. Work began on 836,000 houses at an annualized rate, the least since August and down 9.9 percent from a revised 928,000 pace in May, figures from the Commerce Department showed. The drop was led by a 26.2 percent plunge in multifamily projects, which are more volatile than work on single-family homes. - Bloomberg News

EBay Inc.'s revenue increased in the second quarter as its PayPal business and namesake online marketplace continued to grow. But net income fell amid higher expenses and its outlook for the current quarter was shy of Wall Street's expectations. Shares of the e-commerce bellwether declined in after-hours trading. EBay earned $640 million, or 49 cents per share, in the period, down 8 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue grew by 14 percent, to $3.88 billion from $3.4 billion. - AP