LI Business News articles from August 2006

LI Business News archives from August 2006

Proactive energy conservation urgings of Long Island Power Authority seem to be paying off.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti The proactive energy conservation urgings of the Long Island Power Authority seem to be paying off. Long Island customers consumed 5,583 megawatts of power by 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to LIPA. That usage is...

Municipal governments across Long Island respond to heat wave.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Public officials may catch some heat now and then - today, they're fighting it. Municipal governments across the Island are responding to the heat wave by shifting outdoor workers' hours to shield them from the...

FCC gives initial OK to WLIE sale to Starboard Media.
August 1, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale WLIE is one step closer to God. The Federal Communications Commission has given initial approval to the sale of locally owned WLIE-AM to Starboard Media, a Wisconsin-based Catholic talk radio network. Back...

Shareholders of National Grid Plc endorse Long Island-based KeySpan merger.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Shareholders of National Grid Plc on Monday overwhelmingly approved the purchase of Hicksville-based utility KeySpan Corp. Grid shareholders gave their assent at the British company's annual meeting in...

Cerro Wire Coalition encourages Canon USA to stay in Nassau County.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty With news that Nassau aims to keep Canon USA within its borders, the Cerro Wire Coalition is encouraging county officials to steer Canon toward the 39 acres in Syosset where Taubman Centers Inc. plans a...

CA Inc. files its delayed 2006 annual report, completes internal review of stock options program.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti CA Inc. said after the market closed Monday that it filed its delayed fiscal 2006 annual report and completed an internal review of its stock options program from 1996 to the present. That review found fault...

Passlogix Inc. to add eight software engineering jobs to its Long Island facility in Amityville.
August 1, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti Downtown Amityville has never been considered a hotbed of software development, but that may soon change. Passlogix Inc., a Manhattan-based developer of single sign-on technology (think...

Long Island-based Netsmart buys public health software company.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Software maker Netsmart Technologies said Wednesday it acquired Greenville, S.C.-based QS Systems, which sells record-keeping software to public health organizations. Netsmart, which sells its software to...

Symbol Technologies Inc. reports second-quarter profit.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Symbol Technologies Inc. reported a second-quarter profit on Tuesday, reversing a loss from a year ago. The maker of bar-code scanning equipment posted net income of $27.2 million, or 11 cents...

Hauppauge-based Medical Action Industries reports liff in first-quarter profit.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Medical Action Industries said Wednesday its fiscal first-quarter profit climbed 4 percent, just shy of analysts' estimates. For the quarter ended June 30, Medical Action - which makes disposable medical...

More than 5,000 Long Island Power Authority customers face heat wave without power on Wednesday.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti More than 5,000 Long Island Power Authority customers were facing the mammoth heat wave without air conditioners or fans Wednesday afternoon. LIPA reported that some 5,500 customers were without power at 3...

Nassau comptroller warns of $100 million structural deficit.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell After years of running a surplus, Nassau County is heading toward a $100 million structural deficit, Comptroller Howard Weitzman warned legislators on Wednesday. In his mid-year budget report to the county...

Long Island Power Authority begins construction of world's largest superconductor cable.
August 2, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti Construction of the world's largest and highest-voltage superconductor electricity transmission cable began today with a Long Island Power Authority groundbreaking ceremony. LIPA said the half-mile,...

Business bills stall as regime change in N.Y. looms.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The political lineup in Albany appears headed for a big change in January, and the looming leadership shift helped stall three of the state's biggest economic development initiatives. "I think a lot of people are...

Energy research center at Stony Brook Univ. gets $35M boost.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Carl Corry Calls for more affordable alternative energy resources to help slash the nation's reliance on fossil fuels may soon be answered. And the response will come from Long Island. Bringing together a host of local...

Nothing doing with Hub redevelopment plans in Hempstead.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell More than a month after Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi signed a deal propelling the coliseum redevelopment forward, the $1.6 billion project is... where, exactly? It's in a few places, one of which is...

State of N.Y.'s Liquor Authority thrown for a loss.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Quite possibly the only thing more dispiriting than the New York Jets' performance last season would be a Jet-centric restaurant without a liquor license. Fortunately, a Nassau County judge last month took care...

Network neutrality sitting on the back burner.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti The debate over network neutrality is stuck in neutral - and it's likely to stay that way until after November's elections, according to one Long Island expert. "Net neutrality" concerns the speed at which...

Follow ups.
August 4, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Flounder up Two months ago, in a story about the plight of lobstermen after the Great Die-Off, commercial fisherman John Davi said how lucky he was to secure licenses to land fluke at a time when he was making money...

Techie vs. Geek in hot compu-battle.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti The computer experts at TeleTechie don't think of themselves as geeks, nor do they feel a need to carry fake badges. But there's no harm, they say, in zipping between service calls in sporty Mini Coopers...

L.I. Blog roll: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Drink up In Lenndevours, blogger Lenn Thompson disputes iconic wine writer Robert Parker's recent review of Long Island wine. Particularly, Thompson takes issue with he reviewer's claim that Long Island wines...

Brookhaven's Empire: May the workforce be with you.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Amid all the talk about the economic benefits of Empire Zones, it's easy to forget the state established the program to help distressed areas pull themselves up. The Town of Brookhaven, which celebrated the...

Study shows franchises keep on trucking.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn The booming franchise industry will keep on keeping on. Since 2003, nearly 900 concepts have been introduced, 500 of them in the last year alone, according to a new study from the International Franchise Association,...

Interview with Tom Gillett: Manager, emergency preparedness for KeySpan Corp.
August 4, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale One year after Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Gulf Coast, companies throughout the country are taking extra time to make sure they're prepared if another storm hits. On Long Island, all eyes are on the utilities....

Advanced Center for Alternative Energy at Stony Brook is a bright idea.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Some things are just meant to happen. Just as Stony Brook's Yacov Shamash was meeting with KeySpan Chief Bob Catell about bringing together the region's energy programs for the common good, state...

Commentary: Politics part of keeping the power on.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato For nearly a week, the community of Astoria flickered along on a fraction of electrical power, losing refrigerated food, staring glumly at silent air conditioners and keeping fire watch over flickering candles in...

Commentary: As terrorism looms, alerts dwindle.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jerry Kremer This is the summer of alerts. We have been exposed to heat alerts, thunderstorm alerts, tornado alerts and a half-dozen other types of alerts. Whatever happened to those terror alerts that we were subjected to during...

Commentary: A bad way to exert energy.
August 4, 2006... Byline: James L. Larocca According to James Woolsey, a former director of the CIA, the United States borrows $1 billion every working day to import oil, with an ever-increasing share of it coming from the Middle East. According to...

Letter: The choice: More power or no lights.
August 4, 2006... To the Editor: I was very glad to see Long Island Business News support LIPA's off-shore wind project in a recent editorial entitled, Going with the Wind. You are right - we must start somewhere. In fact, I am writing this letter on...

Long Island Financial Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Executive confidence cooled by higher energy costs Senior executives are not so bullish on the immediate future of the U.S. economy, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Management Barometer Survey....

Long Island Technology Briefs: August 4, 2006.(Company overview)
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti Telephonics defensive about new company offensive Farmingdale's Telephonics Corp., founded in 1993 as a manufacturer of headsets, has expanded into a major player in the area of integrated information and...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Gourmet food to replace sports in Lake Grove Sports Plus' ride is over. Earlier this year, land owner Blumenfeld Development Group proposed a shopping center on the Lake Grove site housing the...

Long Island Legal Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Improving a profession's image, one lawyer at a time The Association of Trial Lawyers of America recently took some flak when the organization rebranded itself the American Association for Justice. The Wall...

Long Island Healthcare Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik The court of health care will now come to order There is already a family court and there are some special courts to handle drug users. But how about a health-care court? Legislation has been introduced in the...

Success a stone's throw away for 'innovative' thinker of Hauppauge-based Innovative Stone.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Karen Pearse started Hauppauge-based Innovative Stone with $5,000 in seed money provided by her dad in 1981. The company has been in growth mode ever since. A supplier of natural stone to commercial and residential...

How to ... Choose a payroll services provider.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Many companies think it pays to have someone else handle their payroll. Managing payroll, after all, can be time-consuming, especially if you have a high employee turnover rate, if your employees are paid...

Center for the Creative and Performing Arts in South Huntington honors Dr. Jerrold Ross.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Kate Patton The Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, America's largest summer arts day camp, dedicated its newest center to Dr. Jerrold Ross. The new Jerrold Ross Discovery Center, which caters to Usdan students...

On the move.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Culinary Lawrence Weiss, a chef and instructor at the L.A. Wilson Tech Center in Huntington, was inducted into the American Academy of Chef's American Culinary Federation. Education Craig Lehman...

Scarsdale firm helps the little guys survive big digital threats.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Most small businesses install Internet firewalls to protect their corporate data. Individuals do the same to safeguard against identify fraud. Yet many of the off-the-shelf products are not robust enough, rendering files...

Interview with Jean Kelly, executive director of The INN in L.I.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Ken Cerini There are 37 million American families living below the poverty line, which is set at $19,307 a year for a family of four. With increasing prices in real estate and inflation, times are only getting more difficult for...

The rundown.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Ward Melville concerts The Ward Melville Heritage Organization in Stony Brook is holding weekend concerts every Sunday this summer at its Village Green at Stony Brook Village Center. The organization,...

Financial institutions competing for the Hispanic dollar.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik A lot has changed for Maria Rodriguez Chin since she left Venezuela last year, but one thing hasn't: She still does her banking in her native language. Rodriguez Chin completed a deposit slip in Spanish at Chase's...

Bern, baby, bern: No denying The Bernanke Factor.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Few people can move Wall Street with a couple of words, but when Benjamin Bernanke speaks, the markets listen. And oh, yes, Wall Street moves. So when the new chairman of the Federal Reserve System - who took the...

Today's advanced ATMs showcase tomorrow's promises.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Kate Patton People want their cash and they want it fast - and apparently, that's all they want. The short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful introduction of non-financial features at Automatic Teller Machines has proved at...

Bank executives don't think ATMs will ever replace humans.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Kate Patton Thirty years ago, the introduction of the automated teller machine stirred doubts about the future of bank tellers, even bank branches - just as credit cards once generated visions of a cashless society. Cash has...

As ATMs evolve, so do their security measures.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Kate Patton Watch your back. ATM security has been a concern for bank owners and operators - not to mention customers - since 1969, when the first automatic teller machines were installed on Long Island. Since then, the ATM has...

Long Island Financial Institution Executives to Watch: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Norman Hunte Long Island office manager, The U.S. Small Business Administration The SBA itself doesn't make any loans, but plays a major role in lending by guaranteeing loans made by others. So Hunte, who leads...

On board: The not-so-secret life of bank directors.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Caroline Linton When Capital One Financial Corp. announced the acquisition of North Fork Bancorp., both parties said the decision was overseen by their "board of directors." The draconian-sounding, sometimes elusive boards -...

From Chinese to Swahili, banks bust up language barrier.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik It's banking without borders, and it's happening right here in the USA. Financial institutions are equipping ATMs with the capability to speak as many as a dozen languages and hiring employees fluent in the...

Floundering up for commercial fisherman in N.Y.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Two months ago, in a story about the plight of lobstermen after the Great Die-Off, commercial fisherman John Davi said how lucky he was to secure licenses to land fluke at a time when he was making...

Civil Service Employees Assn. of L.I. oppose acquisition of Keyspan by British company.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Civil unrest You might remember that last month Sen. Clinton and KeySpan's electrical workers union started rumbling about the proposed $11 billion acquisition of the Hicksville utility by...

Melville-based Reckson Associates Realty Corp. drawing attention.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty The kid-sized baseball glove in Scott Rechler's office was a joke gift, but the developer may end up having the last laugh. Rechler, head of homegrown Reckson Associates Realty Corp., received the glove...

Long Island Hospitality Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Lawrence Weiss, a chef and instructor at the L.A. Wilson Tech Center in Huntington, was inducted into the American Academy of Chef's American Culinary Federation.

Long Island Education Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Craig Lehman was named interim executive dean of health sciences at Stony Brook University. He will administer the college's School of Nursing, Dental Medicine, Social Welfare and Health Technology and...

Long Island Financial Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Arbor Commercial Mortgage in Uniondale named Lynne Viccaro assistant vice president of marketing. She had been the organization's director of marketing. Jeffrey Weiner, a financial representative for New...

Long Island Health Care Briefs: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Our Lady of Consolation Nursing and Rehabilitative Care Center named William Kelly director of plant operations. He had been a watch engineer at North Shore Manhasset Hospital. Mark Richard Wax, associate...

Long Island Law Firms announce staff promotions: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Uniondale firm of Rivkin Radler named Jeffrey S. Greener a partner in the firm's trusts, estates and taxation practice group. New York-based Brown Raysman Millstein Felder & Steiner named Richard F....

Long Island not-for-profits announces staffing changes: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Community Development Corp. of Long Island named Patricia Gambale marketing manager. She had been marketing and communications director for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Metro New York. CDC of Long...

Long Island technology firms announces staffing changes: August 4, 2006.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Hauppauge-based Vicon Industries, a manufacturer of video surveillance systems, named Marjorie Gurwin director of marketing. She had worked for Communication Specialists Inc. The U.S. Department of Energy's...

Ward Melville Heritage Organization to hold weekend concerts in Stony Brook.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Ward Melville Heritage Organization in Stony Brook is holding weekend concerts every Sunday this summer at its Village Green at Stony Brook Village Center. The organization, which operates the center,...

West Islip hospital awards scholarships.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Guilds of Good Samaritan Hospital Medical in West Islip awarded two $1,500 scholarships to Dana Legala of West Islip and Claudia Diaz of North Babylon. Legale is planning to study biology and...

Wyandanch to get its first zero-energy home.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Wyandanch will get its first zero-energy home thanks to the Town of Babylon, the Long Island Builders Institute, the Long Island Housing Partnership and the U.S. Green Building Council of Long Island. The...

Hicks Nurseries in Westbury stages tomato contest.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Can you grow the biggest tomato? The Hicks Nurseries in Westbury wants you to prove it. The farm and agriculture organization is holding its Tomato Contest on Sept. 9 at the nursery. Long Islanders can bring...

Huntington Arts Council receives grant for summer arts festival.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II The Huntington Arts Council received a grant from the New York State Music Fund to support its Huntington Summer Arts Festival. The money will support the variety of concerts in genres ranging from symphonies...

SL Green Realty Corp. buying Uniondale-based Reckson Associates Realty Corp.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty In a move engineered to free Reckson Associates Realty Corp. from public scrutiny, the company has agreed to sell itself to SL Green Realty Corp., a competing real estate investment trust, for $6 billion. ...

Melville-based Reckson Associates Realty Corp. drawing attention.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty The kid-sized baseball glove in Scott Rechler's office was a joke gift, but the developer just got the last laugh. Rechler, head of homegrown Reckson Associates Realty Corp., received the glove earlier...

CO-based division of L.I. electronic components provider takes aim at archiving.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti A Colorado-based division of local electronic components provider Arrow Electronics Inc. will immediately offer an e-mail archiving product for Value Added Reseller's, the company announced late Wednesday. ...

Long Island-based Lifetime Brands reports loss.
August 4, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Lifetime Brands on Thursday posted a loss, blaming the drop on higher sales expenses related to past acquisitions. The kitchen and home products distributor posted a loss of $1.5 million on higher, compared...

Good times at Woodbury-based Delta Financial Corp.
August 4, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale A booming loan portfolio helped push Delta Financial Corp.'s second-quarter earnings higher, the company said Thursday. Net income rose to $7.2 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, compared to $3.6 million,...

RadioShack sign exclusive distribution agreement for CA's eTrust Internet Security Suite.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti Consumers looking for antivirus software at RadioShack have only one choice, CA's eTrust Internet Security Suite, now that the two companies have signed an exclusive distribution agreement. The deal, which CA...

New Jersey governor signs bill giving Verizon Communications Inc. statewide video franchise.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill Friday giving Verizon Communications Inc. a statewide video franchise - and dealing incumbent cable operators, including Cablevision Systems Corp., a heavy setback....

Nathan's Famous Inc. reports modest earnings rise.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Nathan's Famous Inc. reported a 22-percent increase in first-quarter earnings Monday on a revenue boost of 7.6 percent. For the quarter ended June 30, the Westbury-based hot-dog company posted a profit of $1.3...

State University of New York officials call for Stony Brook investigation.
August 7, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik The State University of New York's Health and Sciences Hospitals Committee recommended Monday the creation of a new committee to review Stony Brook University Hospital's pediatric cardiac surgery program. The...

Federal Reserve leaves rates alone.
August 8, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Citing a gradual cooling of the housing market and increased energy prices, the Federal Reserve decided Tuesday to leave a key interest rate unchanged. It was the first time in two years the Fed met and didn't...

Comptroller faults manager of Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The firm that manages the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has "significantly underpaid" the county's share of revenue, County Comptroller Howard Weitzman charges in an audit due out Wednesday. Spectator...

Smithtown moves to acquire Kings Park Psychiatric Center property.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Town Supervisor Patrick Vecchio and state Sen. John J. Flanagan want Smithtown to control the 92 acres of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center earmarked for development. In a July 21 letter to Flanagan,...

Long Island Power Authority chairman pushes strategy for adding more power to Island grid.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti Long Island Power Authority Chairman Richard Kessel called Tuesday for ways to boost - and reduce - Long Island's demand for power over the next five years. Kessel, speaking at a LIPA substation in Levittown,...

Shares tank as CPI Aerostructures swings to loss.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II CPI Aerostructures Tuesday saw its stock price fall more than 15 percent after it announced a second-quarter loss - and blamed nightmarish problems with its suppliers for the fall. For the quarter ended...

North Fork Bancorporation settles shareholder suit.
August 8, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale North Fork Bancorporation said Tuesday it has settled a previously disclosed shareholder class action that challenged the bank's proposed merger with Capital One Financial Corp. As part of the settlement, North...

CA to ask SEC for extension on its first quarter 2007 earnings statement.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Jean Paul Vellotti One week after CA Inc. released its delayed fiscal year 2006 annual report, the company announced its plans to ask the Securities and Exchange Commission for a brief extension to get its first quarter 2007...

OSI Pharmaceuticals reports growing second-quarter losses.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II OSI Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said its second-quarter loss grew exponentially because of charges related to its suspension of eye disease research. For the quarter ended June 30, OSI posted a loss of $320...

Orbit International reports second-quarter profit fall.
August 8, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Orbit International, which makes electronics for both the aviation and maritime industries, on Tuesday said its second-quarter profit fell 29 percent on lower quarterly sales. For the quarter ended June 30,...

Cendant Corp. to purchase Hampton-based Allan Schneider Associates.
August 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Despite a cooling housing market, Cendant Corp. might be snapping up the Hamptons' largest private residential seller in a deal estimated at $40 million. Allan Schneider Associates, which has 12 offices...

Melville-based Bovie Medical Corp. back in the black.
August 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Bovie Medical Corp. has bounced back. The Melville maker of electrosurgical products reported Wednesday a $713,000 second-quarter profit, up from a second-quarter loss of $118,000 in the same year-ago quarter. ...