LI Business News articles from August 2005

LI Business News archives from August 2005

Simons Foundation funds research.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory scientist Michael Wigler uses math to uncover the genetics of autism. Hedge fund manager James Simons uses math to interpret complex financial markets. So it seems only fitting...

LI-based Family Service League earns accreditation.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Huntington-based Family Service League this month was reaccredited by the Council on Accreditation. COA is an international accrediting body that examines a not-for-profit's practice standards, including human...

Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program seeks help.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline & Support Program needs a little help from the community. The organization seeks breast cancer survivors, family members and friends or anyone concerned about...

Long Island Game Farm to hold annual Save The Cats Day.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Manorville-based Long Island Game Farm will hold its annual Save The Cats Day on August 6. A portion of the event's proceeds will benefit Port Jefferson Station's Save-A-Pet Animal Rescue. Save-A-Pet will...

Woodbury-based Pet Peeves names 2005 grant recipients.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Woodbury-based Pet Peeves Inc. named its 2005 grant recipients. Each year the organization awards several companion organizations that support abused and neglected animals, as well as offer education and pet...

Band of America supports workforce development services.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Bank of America awarded a $15,000 grant to the Middle Country Library Foundation. The money will support workforce development services at the library's Miller Business Resource Center, as well as fund the...

Cross-border benefits lure small businesses.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn Just how do state regulations affect entrepreneurial growth? A new study by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy shows that bankruptcy exemptions, taxes, unemployment programs, and access to health...

DiversityBusiness conducting 'Top Small Businesses in America' survey.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn DiversityBusiness, a small-business Internet portal, is conducting its sixth annual "Top Small Businesses in America" survey. The results of this year's survey will determine the nation's top 500 small businesses and...

Real estate industry sees boom in number of brokers.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Priscilla Garston, a publishing consultant who lived in the Hamptons and commuted to Manhattan, eventually got tired of traveling the length of Long Island to go to work. So Garston, who had moved from Manhattan...

Home auctioning catches on as buyers bank on the gavel.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik The luxurious waterfront residence on Main Road in East Marion comes with a guest house, a detached three-car garage, its own pier and deep-water mooring. It's selling for at least $1.4 million, but not in the...

Real estate firms stake out marketing territory on the Web.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik The truism in the real estate industry may still be that everything comes down to location, location, location. But lately the addresses that matter most for real estate brokerages often are on the Web. The...

What bubble? Long Island brokerages still on the hunt for talent.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik In residential real estate sales, hyperbole is the coin of the realm. But ask Long Island real estate brokers how their business is today and you get a list of superlatives that, even for this industry, stands out....

Buyer beware? Not if you have a pro working for you.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Kimberly Senior, an associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman, a few months ago helped a Canadian family realize their American dream. With the family of four in tow, she toured neighborhood after...

Home owners work the Web to sell it themselves.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik When Michael and Kimberly Bahr decided to sell their two-bedroom condo in Yaphank, instead of hiring a real estate broker, they opted to advertise their home through For Sale By Owner's Web site. Bohemia-based For...

LI-based Symbol Technologies' interim CEO trying to restore credibility.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter In the wake of Symbol Technologies' faulty financial forecasting and the abrupt exits of its chief executive and chief financial officer, interim CEO Salvatore Iannuzzi is on a credibility crusade. In an...

Huntington chamber changing name again to settle lawsuit.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik For a very short time, the organization traditionally known as the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce began calling itself the Nassau Suffolk Chamber of Commerce at Huntington. Now it's switched and wants to...

Kimco Realty finds success on Long Island.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty With a Rite Aid and Payless ShoeSource, the nondescript Bellmore Shopping Center shares little with the sprawling Bridgehampton Commons, where tenants include Banana Republic, Williams-Sonoma and Cold Stone...

Proposed seaborne liquid natural gas terminal: the $6 billion question.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter Even before its formal application has been filed in Washington, Broadwater has stirred up a squall of criticism. Some security advocates fret that building the seaborne liquid natural gas terminal in the middle...

Atkins Nutritional landlord expects diet firm to trim HQ.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty While Atkins Nutritionals Inc. labors to slim its operations and emerge from bankruptcy, landlord Rechler Equity Partners is gearing up to market the low-carb company's headquarters. Atkins, which filed...

2-minute drill with Ari Sonesh, founder of CosmoCom.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter When Ari Sonesh started CosmoCom, his first few hires worked out of his home. The Israeli Navy veteran funded those early months with options from his previous employer, Comverse Technology. Now, nine years later,...

Small biz health groups make another go at Congress.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn It should be easier for small businesses to afford health insurance for their employees if a bill passed last week by the U.S. House of Representatives ever makes it through the Senate. It's tried eight times over the...

Smith Haven mall expansion plans likely to be approved.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff The Smith Haven mall's expansion will likely soon be approved, says Frank DeRubeis, the Town of Smithtown's planning director. Submitted revised drawings were turned in last month. That's "usually a sign that they're...

Target Corp. opens shop in Medford.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff Target Corp. has opened its latest Long Island shop in Medford. The 143,240-square-foot store just off the Long Island Expressway opened July 24, said land owner Glenn Feldman with Feldman Properties. (The Wal-Mart...

Sen. Clinton calls for LI master plan.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Carl Corry Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed developing a master plan for Long Island that would "re-imagine" how the region addresses its needs for housing, energy and transportation, among other issues. Speaking to a group...

NY Community Bancorp buys LI Financial Corp.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff New York Community Bancorp, itself a takeover target about a year ago, has agreed to acquire Long Island Financial Corp. in a stock deal worth about $70 million. The deal, slated to close in the fourth quarter, gives...

LI-based Atkins Nutritionals pens Chapter 11.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff Ronkonkoma-based Atkins Nutritionals filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York. The privately held firm, founded in 1989, said it ended 2004 with...

LI-based Computer Associates closes on Niku Corp. acquisition.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff Computer Associates International Inc. has completed its $350 million acquisition of technology governance software maker Niku Corp., the company said. "The Niku acquisition gives CA a leading solution in one of the...

Long Island's real estate investment trusts reel in profits.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff Just as Long Island's real-estate market continued to remain robust, many of Long Island's real estate investment trusts and real estate-related stocks reeled in profits for shareholders. Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE:...

Commentary: Exec.'s sudden exit leaves gaping hole in LI's corporate leadership.
August 5, 2005... Byline: LIBN Staff Bill Nuti's exit from the Long Island corporate stage was nearly as sudden as his emergence as a regional advocate. Brought in only three years ago to help right-size Holtsville-based Symbol Technologies, he wasn't...

Commentary: Regular Joes not concerned about Plame case.
August 5, 2005... Byline: John Kiernan It is difficult to understand all of the time, effort and money being spent to determine who leaked the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame to the press more than two years ago. Plame was never put in danger by the...

Commentary: Bush continues to give senators no respect.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Jerry Kremer I always thought the best job in America was being a U.S. senator. It's much better than being a village trustee or a school board member, but it has its drawbacks. Senators get the best restaurant reservations, the...

Deer Park, three other locations on tap for Bank of Smithtown.
August 5, 2005... Byline: David Reich-Hale Bank of Smithtown, which has fueled its deposit growth in part through branch expansion, is headed to Deer Park, Coram, Nesconset and Bohemia. The bank pushed deposits to $645 million at the end of the second...

NY Commercial Bank names new chief operating officer.
August 5, 2005... Byline: David Reich-Hale Douglas C. Manditch is about to get a new job. The chief executive of Long Island Financial Corp. will become the new chief operating officer of New York Commercial Bank. This comes after Long Island Financial...

Refinance share of mortgage activity falls.
August 5, 2005... Byline: David Reich-Hale The refinance share of mortgage activity for the week ending July 22 fell to 43 percent of total applications, down from nearly 46 percent the week prior, though still representing a robust refinancing market. The...

Watch those wireless networks, online traders warned.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter That wireless network in an airport, coffee shop, home or office could be spilling the beans on your confidential financial data, a securities regulator warned. A new NASD reports cautioned that "sniffers" and...

Stony Brook physicists join underground research project.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter Stony Brook University physicists have been chosen to join a team of researchers from seven other schools in a competition to design an underground research center in Colorado. The research facility would explore...

Pall Corp. gets filtration and venting technology contract.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter Pall Corp. has landed a long-term contract to provide filtration and venting technology in American Red Cross blood-collection systems. "This is a major contract for our Leukotrap family of filter systems as the...

NY Institute of Technology students build a house for DOE's Solar Decathlon.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter New York Institute of Technology is among 19 colleges around the world named as finalists in the 2005 Solar Decathlon competition sponsored by the Department of Energy. The contest calls on students to build an...

Garden City diner replace by family-run food service management firm.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty As their children prepared to leave the nest, Elmer and Gina Whitcomb did something drastic to keep the brood nearby: they ignored a lack of experience and opened a diner in Garden City. "I don't know if...

2Q labeled less spectacular for Long Island commercial market.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Long Island's industrial availability rate is 6.8 percent - giving the Island one of the nation's lowest rates in the nation, according to CB Richard Ellis' mid-year office market report. Other nuggets:...

Coram Health and Social Services Center filling up.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Two Suffolk County tenants are starting to fill the Coram Health and Social Services Center, a 54,000-square-foot building at 80-82 Middle Country Road in Coram. Chances are they'll stick around: a 30-year...

Prudential CRES Commercial Real Estate announces deals.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Prudential CRES Commercial Real Estate in Medford helped sell the Harbor Square Mall on West Main Street in Port Jefferson to Trylon Associates. Prudential's Walter Hurney and Robert Damon worked on the deal....

Partnership purchases Lake Success property.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty A partnership between Lincoln Equities Group and the Willett Cos. purchased 1979 Marcus Ave. in Lake Success. The site commanded $53.5 million and the sales team with Cushman & Wakefield's Metropolitan Area...

Henry Schein Inc. optimistic about flu vaccine shipments.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Henry Schein Inc., the nation's primary distributor of influenza vaccine made by Chiron Corp., said that it's "cautiously optimistic" about Chiron's ability to manufacture product for the 2005 flu season. Chiron,...

Stony Brook researchers link substance to Alzheimer's.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Stony Brook University researchers have identified an accumulation of a substance in the brain they say may be linked to Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders. The studies show that accumulations of...

House passes cap on non-economic damages.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed legislation that would cap lawsuit damages for pain and suffering at $250,000. The bill is known as H.R. 5 or the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost, Timely...

Riverhead nursing home changes name.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik It's not just a nursing home anymore. Riverhead Nursing Home has changed its name to Riverhead Care Center. The institution said it unveiled the new moniker in keeping with its own greater focus on medical...

Group Health Inc. to acquire assets of ABC Health Plan.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Manhattan-based Group Health Inc., known as GHI, said it will acquire the assets of ABC Health Plan, a not-for-profit healthservices plan owned and operated by Beth Israel Medical Center and the Institute for Urban...

When faced with a roadblock, go around it.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn Imagine losing your biggest client. Would you spend what might be fruitless energy wooing it back? Or would you try to win new clients and diversify your market? Think about it, because it's an owner's biggest...

Ronkonkoma-based J. Stern Construction names new vice president.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The day after he finished college, Bob Posillico walked into Eugene Racanelli Construction and took a job as a laborer. But this month, after 17 years with Racanelli, Posillico jumped ship and was named vice...

Melville-based Marcum & Kliegman names four partners.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Melville-based Marcum & Kliegman named four partners. Richard L. Cooke is a member of the firm's SEC practice group. Ronald Storch is director and department head of the accounting services department....

LI-based Beatty, Harvey, & Associates names new partner.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Riverhead-based Beatty, Harvey & Associates named Salvatore Coco partner at the firm. He is chief architect for the Merrick and Hillside library projects.

LI-based Lizardos Engineering receives award from American Council of Engineering Cos. of NY.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Mineola-base Lizardos Engineering received a Gold Award for engineering excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York. The award recognizes the firm's work on specialized ventilation...

Long Island Development Corp. receives award.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Small business lender Long Island Development Corp. received the Arthur Goodman Diversity Award from the National Association of Development Companies. The award recognizes LIDC's efforts to promote women- and...

LI-based J. Kings Food Service Professionals receives award.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Holtsville-based J. Kings Food Service Professionals received a Diamond Award for marketing from the International Foodservice Distributors Association Value-Ad Marketing Awards.

LI-based Mather Memorial Hospital announces staffing changes.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Port Jefferson-based Mather Memorial Hospital named Dr. Thomas Overholt medical director of its hospitalist program. Hospitalists focus on the general medical care of the hospital's patients, following patients...

Allstate Insurance announces staffing changes.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Elizabeth Hanlon, an agent in Allstate Insurance's Riverhead branch, received the Agency Hands in the Community award. She volunteers for the Riverhead School District Youth Leadership Program. Allstate...

Long Island law firms announce staffing changes: August 5, 2005.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Douglas J. Good, senior partner at Uniondale-based Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, was named fellow of the American Bar Association. Hauppauge-based DeSena & Sweeney hired Gail J. McNally and Mitchell Goldklang....

Long Island nonprofits announce staffing changes: August 5, 2005.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Michael J. Dowling, president and CEO of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, was named chairman of the 2005 American Heart Association Long Island Heart Walk. The event is scheduled for October....

LI-based Grossman Strategies receives award of excellence.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Bohemia-based Grossman Strategies received an award of excellence from the National School Public Relations Association for its work on the Port Jefferson School District's community newsletter, Horizon.

Woodbury-based CB Richard Ellis names managing director of LI region.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Woodbury-based CB Richard Ellis named Thomas Krieger managing director of the Long Island region. He has held management positions with Prudential Financial and Equitable Life.

Garden City-based Realty Data names biz development strategist and sales exec.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Garden City-based Realty Data Corp. named Jamie Giorello business development strategist and sales executive. He had been a sales executive with Zenodata Corp.

Long Island couple launches full-service credit-reporting agency.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn Lorenzo and Andrea Pugliano bring new meaning to the term "family business." Back in October 2003, they started Wantagh-based Platinum Credit Services just as they were going on another sort of expansion plan, growing...

Soroptimist International of Nassau County: They want the best for women.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Ken Cerini Soroptimist International of Nassau County is an international volunteer service organization for business and professional women. Soroptimist is coined from the Latin words "soror" and "optima," meaning "the best for...

Suffolk County joins Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz.
August 5, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Next June, more than 800 home builders across the country will participate in Habitat for Humanity's Home Builders' Blitz. The goal: to build 1,000 homes in only one week. And three of those homes will be built...

United Way of Long Island hands out grants to ten of its community partners.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The United Way of Long Island handed out grants totaling $320,000 to ten of its community partners. For improving access to healthcare, UW awarded funds to New York Organ Donor Network, to hire a family...

LI-based Family Residences and Essential Enterprises to offer therapeutic-horseback-riding.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Family Residences and Essential Enterprises will offer therapeutic-horseback-riding sessions for people with physical and mental disabilities. The classes will be offered at the Samuel Austrian Memorial Riding...

Interview with Marnie Katzman, exec. director of Long Island Arts Council.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Ken Cerini The evolution of society has caused great change in the way we occupy our time. While many people previously used their time to create art, people today watch television and play video games. The Long Island Arts Council...

Entrepreneur Rich LaFemina buys Rapid Refill Ink franchise in Hicksville.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Adina Genn Rich LaFemina helped open a Rapid Refill Ink franchise in Hicksville in May 2004. By April, the franchisee had fallen ill, and LaFemina decided to buy him out. Now, with four months as an owner under his belt,...

Manhattan-based Verizon Communications adds 1,000 jobs in $250M Long Island push.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter Verizon Communications has added about 1,000 Long Island jobs in the past year and will pour more than a quarter billion dollars of capital spending into the region in 2005 as it builds out its fiber-to-the-premises...

Long Island has mostly attracted lower-salaried jobs to replace lost defense and manufacturing jobs.
August 12, 2005... Byline: David Reich-Hale At first glance, the news is positive. Long Island's economy tacked on an estimated 20,000 jobs in the past two years, with a drop in only one of the past eight years. Commercial development is booming. So...

DealerTrack Holdings Inc. leads Long Island companies in Wall Street rush.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik In a little more than a week, Long Island companies have headed to Wall Street to try and raise more than a billion dollars. The latest, and one of the biggest, was DealerTrack Holdings Inc., nationwide provider...

Labor dispute unfolds at Wainscott Studios on Long Island's East End.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Ken Schachter WAINSCOTT - Cuddly TV characters Snook and Smooch have been sharing the spotlight with the Big Rat as a labor showdown unfolds at Wainscott Studios on the East End. Members of the Writers Guild of America, East,...

KeySpan requests FERC reconsider its decision about liquefied natural gas facility in RI.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik KeySpan Corp. has filed a request for a new hearing from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which in July blocked its effort to expand a liquefied natural gas facility in Providence, R.I. On Aug. 4, KeySpan...

Homeowners want sizable kitchen pantry to accommodate bulk shopping.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Loading your pantry after a Costco run can be a puzzling activity. Where do you put the 12-pack of paper towels, the mega-size cereal boxes and gallons of mustard and ketchup? Homeowners are asking the same...

Throughout Long Island and the U.S., equity buildup, low rates fuel home improvement craze.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bernadette Starzee When Lynda Ireland bought her Sag Harbor home nine years ago, it was a "very ugly contemporary sitting on a sand pile on top of a hill," she said. "No one knew what to do with it." Over the years, she has put on...

Realtors advise that major remodeling projects are not generally worth it in order to sell a house.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Is it worth it to upgrade the kitchen, add a bathroom or create a master suite just to sell your house? Probably not. While extensive renovations will certainly add to the value of your home, they cost money,...

Commentary: Fine art goes hand in hand with fine wine.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Alan Wax There's more than the wine challenging the senses at some East End wineries. At Vineyard 48 in Cutchogue on a recent Sunday, artist Carol Gold, tubes of oil paint sitting atop an old wine barrel and her works on...

Peaceful, historic Roslyn remains strong despite school's financial scandal.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Much of Roslyn's charming village center is on the National Register of Historic Places. There's the Roslyn Clock Tower, built in 1895; the Roslyn Grist Mill, which dates to the early 1700s; George Washington...

Computer Associates increases cost of benefits package to employees as its own costs rise.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Even though it has been cutting back its work force, Computer Associates International can still brag about its benefits package. But things aren't the way they used to be. There's still an on-site day-care...

Insurers handle policies with long-term care.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik If you're struck by a catastrophic illness, chances are your conventional health insurance will pick up at least some of the tab. But what if you need long-term care such as an assisted-living facility or nursing...

Long Island hospitals form teams to help treat stroke victims faster.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Long Island hospitals are forming teams to help treat stroke victims. Stony Brook University Hospital, Winthrop-University Hospital and Southside Hospital all have set up stroke centers and teams. Good...

High tech drugs shift from pills to home infusion via needles.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Every five weeks, Andria Ladigorski, nurse manager for Critical Care Systems in Plainview, delivers a kind of elixir to 10-year-old Scott Reo, a North Massapequa resident with pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric...

Health and life insurers report healthy '04 profits.
August 12, 2005... Byline: Claude Solnik Your insurance rates aren't the only thing in health care on the rise. So are health insurers' profits. Health and life insurers reported income that rose 29 percent in 2004 to $38.8 billion, helped by earnings...