Business news in brief

Delaware County emergency services leaders conducted a drill Thursday night in Tinicum Township to address safety issues that might arise in the event of an accident involving a crude-oil train. The drill was the latest exercise organized by the Local Emergency Planning Committee, which is developing an emergency-response program to address an oil-train disaster, said Ed Doyle, chairman of the Local Emergency Planning Committee. The exercise, at the Lazaretto Ballroom in Tinicum Township, included local emergency responders and representatives from the area rail companies and the Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Association, Eddystone Rail Co., Sunoco Logistics, Monroe Energy, and Boeing. - Andrew Maykuth

Comcast Corp. will officially open its new Xfinity store at 3903 Aramingo Ave. on Friday. The store employs nine workers. The Philadelphia-based cable giant has said it plans to improve or replace most of its 24 stores in this region over the next several years. At the stores, Xfinity subscribers can pay their bills or return equipment. - Bob Fernandez

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, which has about 1,000 employees in the Navy Yard, said Thursday it would give $5 million to nonprofit organizations with programs designed to help children in Philadelphia eat healthier food and exercise more. The Philadelphia Foundation will administer the IMPACT grants, and the recipients are the Food Trust, Greener Partners, Common Market, Village of Arts and Humanities, Norris Square Neighborhood Project, Philadelphia Freedom Valley YMCA, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Youth Network, and the Enterprise Center Community Development Corp. Equal Measure will get a grant to help evaluate other nonprofits receiving aid. "Healthy communities are the backbone of strong, sustainable societies," said Donna Altenpohl, GSK's vice president of U.S. public policy. "The $5 million IMPACT grants will amplify the great work already underway by these exemplary local nonprofits to help middle and high school students embrace healthy lifestyles and lead the way for a healthier Philadelphia." - David Sell

The Edison Electric Institute on Wednesday recognized Peco Energy Co. for restoring electric service to more than 715,000 customers knocked out by a February 2014 ice storm, the second-worst storm Peco has experienced, after Hurricane Sandy. Peco was among 12 utilities that received an Emergency Recovery Award during the EEI CEO Conference and Board Meeting in Washington. - Andrew Maykuth

Aramark Inc., the Philadelphia-based food service giant, named Stephen P. Bramlage Jr. as its new chief financial officer. Bramlage, 44, succeeds Fred Sutherland, 63, who will retire in December after nearly 35 years with the company. - David Sell

A Minnesota judge has endorsed a settlement in which Target Corp. will pay $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over a massive data breach in 2013. Preliminary approval by U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson will allow people to begin filing claims ahead of another hearing for final approval in late October or early November. People affected by the breach can file for up to $10,000 with proof of their losses, including unauthorized charges, higher fees or interest rates, and lost time dealing with the problem. Target's data breach in 2013 exposed details of as many as 40 million credit and debit card accounts and hurt its holiday sales that year. Meanwhile, Target reportedly will raise employee pay to at least $9 an hour this year, following in the footsteps of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and TJX Cos., a person with knowledge of the matter said. Target will make the change next month, though there might not be a formal announcement. - Bloomberg, AP

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates fell this week, remaining near historically low levels. Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said the national average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage declined to 3.78 percent from 3.86 percent last week. The average rate for a 15-year mortgage slipped to 3.06 percent from 3.10 percent. - AP

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago president Charles Evans said in a research paper that interest rates should remain near zero longer amid "substantial uncertainty" about inflation and employment. "The biggest risk we face today is prematurely engineering restrictive monetary conditions," Evans wrote in a paper released Thursday that was cowritten with three Fed bank researchers. They said the risk of premature liftoff exceeds the risk of delaying too long Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region expanded more slowly in March than the previous month as new orders slipped. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said Thursday that its index of regional factory activity ticked down to 5 this month from 5.2 in February. Any figure above zero indicates expansion. - AP, Bloomberg