LI Business News articles from August 2008

LI Business News archives from August 2008

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: August 1, 2008.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Worldwide delivery for DHL, Nassau Girl Scouts Delivery company DHL and the Girl Scouts of Nassau County partnered to ship 35,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to troops overseas. Local law enforcement protected...

Aging Out: Extensive experience no longer viewed as an asset.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Tom Farley doesn't need to look in a dictionary to find the definition of downsized. Farley rose to director of communications and assistant vice president at London-based Willis Corroon, one of the largest brokerages...

Getting the most out of your life insurance policies.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik When Joseph Laino's wife Carol died of cancer several years ago, she left behind a loving family and financial help in the form of a life insurance policy. Laino didn't need the money to live. Instead, he used it to...

Many Long Island senior citizens are hanging on to their homes by a thread.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik A couple living in the same house in Brookhaven for 40 years was between a rock and a hard place, facing high property taxes, utilities and a cost of living difficult to sustain on a fixed income. They didn't want...

Interest grows in retirement savings.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Today's 401(k) plan is not your parents' pension plan. The company pensions of yesteryear were largely replaced by 401(k) plans, which are offered by most companies today. Companies didn't want to fund the...

Ones to watch: Long Island financial planners.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Frederic Bruckner Principal Margolin, Winer & Evens At this Garden City-based accounting firm, Bruckner specializes in estate and gift tax planning and complex property transfers, including real estate and closely...

Away Team: New York Jets relocate practice facilities from Long Island to New Jersey.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels When the New York Jets opened its last training camp at Hofstra University last week, a gray sky and steady rainfall weighed heavy on the small group of fans who braved the elements to watch their home team...

Identity crisis: Toronto-Dominion Bank to eliminate Commerce name, rename branches TD Bank.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Banking analysts are baffled by Toronto-Dominion Bank's decision to eliminate the Commerce name, a brand that transformed retail banking with its fast-food restaurant convenience and generous perks. ...

Wage fight comes back to Hauppauge Industrial Park.
August 1, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Another labor dispute is heating up in the Hauppauge Industrial Park. Ticked-off representatives from the Local 7 carpenter's union are picketing Hauppauge-based Liberty Moving and Storage because they claim...

Commentary: Looking back, he should have mentioned the Danish.
August 1, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Some good number of the 200,000 Berliners who turned out to hear Barack Obama speak the other week must have done so out of pure linguistic curiosity. What carefully mastered line of the Deutsche mother tongue,...

Bee keepers: Colony collapse disorder not a problem for Long Island beekeepers.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy A disaster wrapped in a mystery, which has devastated agriculture in 35 states, has bypassed Long Island. At least for now. The phenomenon of vanishing honeybees, which produce that sweetest of foods and...

Group of Shelter Island residents says 'no' to rehab.
August 1, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg A group of angry Shelter Island residents is hoping the town's Zoning Board of Appeals will squash a controversial plan to revamp an historic inn into a ritzy rehab center. James and Linda Eklund this winter...

Long Island startup tackles accountants drought.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser A duo of high school teachers is going after two crises at once: the accounting industry's shortage of talent and Long Island's brain drain of young workers. Trish Portnoy and Patricia Stack, career educators at...

Second act planned for run-down Westbury theater.
August 1, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg This is the latest in LIBN's occasional series, Abandoned LI - about those lingering commercial Island properties that haven't found the right buyer or tenant. Past patrons of the now dark Westbury Movie...

Two Minutes with Pietro Bottero, executive chef of Westhampton Beach's Annona Restaurant.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Pietro Bottero was named executive chef of Westhampton Beach's Annona Restaurant, which is located on the second floor of auto dealership Manhattan Motor Cars of the Hamptons. With a taste for fast cars, love of local...

Commentary: Don't go off track.
August 1, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Editorial How's this for a bad deal: Long Island Rail Road President Helena Williams says the third-rail project, which would encourage a heavier influx of reverse commuters, could be delayed by budget woes. At the...

Commentary: The answer is blowing in the wind.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Richard Kessel This is clearly the summer of our energy discontent. With oil prices at record highs, the cost of gasoline is averaging more than $4.15 here on Long Island, electric bills have already increased twice this year, and...

Commentary: Ryan made it personal.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Harvey Levinson Often in government, you encounter individuals who - in their dogmatic partisan manner - will say anything to bolster their agendas with inaccurate sound bites. So, when I read Desmond Ryan's malicious diatribe in...

Commentary: Energy independence will require bold leadership.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Alfonse d'Amato Newsday recently manipulated a photograph of former LIPA Chairman Richard Kessel to allow the reader to infer Kessel should have known better than to advocate creating a solar energy array on top of a sprawling...

Commentary: Election coverage grand, but voters aren't listening.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer There are less than 100 days until the most pivotal national election in our lifetime. The media is trying hard to keep us interested in the doings in Washington and around the world. Is it time for the public to tune...

Commentary: Out East: August 1, 2008.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller A Southold by any other name smells just as sweet President Bush and family will be vacationing in Southold this summer. Imagine if the above sentence were true. Imagine the blast of international attention on...

Long Island Financial Briefs: August 1, 2008.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser VC investors say economy will slow down future IPOs Venture capitalists expect the economy to drag down the initial public offering market until 2010, according to an industry survey. Out of 297 venture...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: August 1, 2008.
August 1, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Flowerfield is still blooming, despite legal battles Flowerfield is not pushing up daisies. Gyrodyne Co. of America owns the 68-acre property in St. James - the remainder of the original 318 acres once...

At home on the range: Bohemia-based Xtraordinary Home Products.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy How do you grow gross revenue 800 percent in a business from year one to year two? Scott Nicholson, president and founder of Bohemia-based Xtraordinary Home Products, did just that, from the company's launch in...

Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council's new Board of Directors chair, Kevin Lawlor.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Kevin Lawlor TITLE: Chairman ORGANIZATION: Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council OTHER JOB: Chief Executive of Huntington Hospital Huntington Hospital chief executive Kevin Lawlor is the newest chairman of the...

Long Islanders on the Move: August 1, 2008.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Accounting Lisa Marinelli-Bowman has been elected president of the Suffolk chapter of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is a partner at Owen Petersen & Co. She has served in a variety...

Commentary: Champion of the underserved.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R. Cerini While the health care community is going through radical change, many members within the industry also have been forced to change their ways. The Nassau Health Care Corp. has changed because it wants to better...

Go green by donating home improvement items to Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk's ReStore.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Instead of throwing out excess building materials or household appliances, some Long Island companies and individuals donate them to the Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk's ReStore in Ronkonkoma. The ReStore is...

Commentary: IRA rollovers: How to stash your retirement nest egg.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Michael Jappell Whether you are a boomer saying goodbye to the daily grind or a Gen-Xer moving on to the next level of your career, retirement or a job change can create an ideal time to ask yourself what you want to do with your...

Even this optimist knows the economy is falling fast.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Raymond J. Keating If I still dabbled in adult beverages, I sure could use a stiff drink right now. Why? Well, I'm gloomy about the U.S. economy - not just where we are currently, but where we seem to be headed. This is...

Commentary: Even this optimist knows the economy is falling fast.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Raymond J. Keating If I still dabbled in adult beverages, I sure could use a stiff drink right now. Why? Well, I'm gloomy about the U.S. economy - not just where we are currently, but where we seem to be headed. This is...

Commentary: Levine on Leadership.
August 1, 2008... Byline: Stuart R. Levine Keep your board members focused and productive Last month, I was delighted to participate in the Yale Governance Forum, an annual event that is organized by The Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and...

LIBN News Briefs: Auguat 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels It's OK to Steal A technology staffing company accused of luring a systems administrator away from another employer could not be sued for aiding and abetting his breach of fiduciary duty, a U.S. District...

Hauppauge's Custom Computer Specialists: Human face of technology.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy No good deed goes unpunished. Just ask John McSweeney, president of Hauppauge's Custom Computer Specialists, who had to scramble when a good deed almost sent a huge contract south. Twelve years ago the New York...

How to... Choose a commercial real estate attorney.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Commercial real estate transactions are rife with legal and business issues that require expert navigation. If you have commercial real estate dealings, a good attorney with experience in commercial real estate...

President, CEO, Sandy Weil: Proginet's prodigy.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder NAME: Sandy Weil POSITION: President and Chief Executive Officer ORGANIZATION: Proginet HOBBY: Sailing Today Sandy Weil became president and chief executive of software company Proginet Corp., taking the reins...

Long Islanders on the Move: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Business Cablevision Systems Corp. promoted Robert Doodian to senior vice president of corporate employee relations and staffing. He will oversee employee services, staffing functions and internal communications...

Commentary: Unions are counting on Dems to win this November.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Raymond Keating I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in economics. And much of my career has been spent researching and writing about the economy and related policy issues. Yet, some of my best economics lessons were learned...

Commentary: Smart owners, safe pets.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Kenneth R. Cerini Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on Louisiana has left many people on Long Island concerned with disaster preparedness. While people dedicate significant time to emergency planning, there is rarely any...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder LI's Red Cross chapters get $5M grant The Suffolk and Nassau chapters of the American Red Cross have received a $5 million grant from the New York Senate to help with hurricane preparedness on Long Island. ...

Career coaching in LI: In your Corner.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik The booming business of career coaching Professional guidance can help with advancement or a change in industry A man who worked in financial services told friends he'd love to change careersto something involved...

Success in LI: Education TV isn't child's play.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Mitchell Kriegman left his daughter's Southampton elementary school class not just with the memory of a pleasant visit, but with a hit TV show. I walked into my daughter's second-grade classroom. They all study...

Seminars: On-the-job training.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Because continuous learning is good for employees' career growth - and for the company that employs them - many businesses offer seminars in the workplace. The seminars may focus on job tasks, soft skills or...

Charity in LI begins at school.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Brooke Mathlin graduated from Stony Brook University in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in public health she can put on a wall, and some experience under her belt. Her curriculum extended into a career with some...

Ones to Watch: Long Island educators.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Claude Solnik Nora V. Demleitner Dean and Professor of Law Hofstra University School of Law The dynamic, new dean of Hempstead-based Hofstra's law school, Demleitner is the first woman to serve in this capacity. She received...

LI-based University Polygraph: Inconvenient Truths.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy I'm a liar. And Joel Reicherter found me out. I was caught while sitting in the office of his elegant Lloyd Harbor house in the wooded hills above the Sound where his company, University Polygraph, is based. Two...

High number of foreclosure properties in U.S., LI: Vandals move in.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Property preservation companies on Long Island and nationwide are so overwhelmed by the high number of foreclosures that an increased number of abandoned homes are falling victim to vandalism, burglaries and...

Banks hike charge for overdrafts.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Some of the nation's biggest banks are making more money than ever on Long Islanders who overdraw their accounts as they grapple with rising food, fuel and other costs. Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America...

Garden City Hotel deal dead.
August 8, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg The Garden City Hotel is back on the market. Although the whopping $91 million offer from South Shore developer Allen Rosenberg for the landmark property stunned observers this winter, hotel Executive Vice...

No camp, much labor, when reading Solzhenitsyn.
August 8, 2008... Byline: John Kominicki Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian literary giant who exposed the horrors of the Soviet regime in such works as The First Circle and The Gulag Archipelago, has died. I have yet to meet anyone who has actually...

LI entrepreneurs and Golf Club Experience: Private access.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy About four years ago, one guy from Wantagh and two from Merrick, friends and golf fanatics all, realized they were not members of a private golf course or country club, even though they were successful businessmen....

LI accounting firms add planning services.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser More local accounting firms are offering financial planning services, despite claims that offering tax work and managing a client's money represents a conflict of interest. The latest firm to jump headlong into...

Bubble bursts on indoor sports plan in Central Islip.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy The clock has run out for a Baldwin-based athletic group to find financing for its proposed indoor sports facility in Central Islip. Islip Supervisor Phil Nolan confirmed that a proposed $11...

Long drought continues for Freeport waterworks site.
August 8, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg This is the latest in LIBN's occasional series, Abandoned LI - about those Island commercial properties that linger without the right buyer or tenant. After owning this abandoned property in Freeport for more...

Two Minutes with Bob Allen: Farmingville-based TFCU.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser State of the union Bob Allen chief executive of Farmingville-based Teachers Federal Credit Union, is feeling the brunt of the subprime meltdown, even though his credit union never dabbled in the risky-loan...

Commentary: Nowhere left to go.
August 8, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff Last week Gov. David Paterson told New York residents to wake up to the possibility that we are all going to feel some pain. Unfortunately, 4.7 percent of Long Island's population are in a world of it already. ...

Commentary: Missing the point on brain drain.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Michael Watt Richard Amper contended in the July 25 issue of Long Island Business News (For LI, Saving Land Is An Economic Solution) that Long Island's economic well-being depends on local municipalities using taxpayer funds to...

Commentary: The Island's hunger pain.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Paule Pachter The poor national economy continues to compel many Americans to make difficult choices pertaining to their quality of life. Long Islanders haven't been spared the task of making many any of these choices either. As...

Commentary: The motivation for the mistakes is what matters.
August 8, 2008... Byline: John Kiernan In the fall of 2006 many people involved in state politics were shocked when a scandal broke concerning former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Hevesi had enjoyed a reputation as an astute, highly intelligent public...

Commentary: As recession looms, the answers lie with Roosevelt.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer Six months? One year? Eighteen months? It's anyone's guess how long the current recession will last. So, instead of the politicians hoping for miracles, maybe it's time for a history lesson. There is no doubt that...

Commentary: Out East: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller It isn't easy to be smack in the middle of everything Riverhead has always had a split personality. In fact, the closer you look, the more splits you find. For starters, the town is where the North and South...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg More Long Islanders fall behind on their mortgages The number homeowners who are 90 days behind on mortgage payments has more than doubled from the year before, according to statistics from liprofiles.com. ...

Long Island Financial Briefs: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser DealerTrack and its old rival clash on patent issues Lake Success-based DealerTrack and its nemesis, Michigan-based RouteOne, both released the results of a July 21 preliminary hearing on their patent infringement...

Long Island Medical Briefs: August 8, 2008.
August 8, 2008... Byline: Alison Snyder Suffolk wants to save towns, schools a few bucks Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy wants to enable municipalities and schools to be able to buy prescription medications via the county's discount contract. ...

Three Long Island companies net VC funding.
August 13, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Three Long Island companies received venture capital funding in the second quarter, an improvement from the year-ago period when the region didn't receive any venture capital. Bay Shore-based Laro Service Systems,...

Melville-based Bovie Medical Corp.'s profit climbs on one-time gain.
August 13, 2008... Byline: Long Island Staff Report Melville-based Bovie Medical Corp. said Wednesday second-quarter profit jumped 30 percent on a one-time gain from a contract settlement. The electrosurgical product manufacturer posted profit of $1.4...

Long Island unemployment reaches 5 percent.
August 14, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Long Island's unemployment rate hit 5 percent in July, the highest it's been since July 2003. The unemployment rate in Nassau and Suffolk counties jumped 1 percent from July of last year and inched up 0.3 percent...

Wine Industry: Sour grapes.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy That crisp Pinot Grigio or mellow Cotes du Rhone is costing you up to 20 percent more than last year, not because it's cleaner on the palate or smoother going down. It's because of the rapid spike in what it costs to...

Bad loans drive down leasing biz in LI.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Auto manufacturers are pulling the plug on lease programs to avoid steep losses on returned sports utility vehicles and other fuel-inefficient cars that have lost significant value because of record-high gas prices....

East End gets a lift.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy What else does that 60-year-old pirate need, sailing along in a ragtop Benz, loudly deciphering the world to the 23-year-old Brazilian model who is hanging geisha-like on every word but really wonders what prenuptial...

LI Author: Eats of Eden.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Ron Douglas was living a double life. He worked for JPMorgan as a finance director in the investment services department, making a handsome living. His wife Nilaja worked at Morgan as well, and the two of them...

Industrial condos pitched for Brookhaven.
August 15, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Industrial condominiums are making a comeback. In the 1980s, industrial condos flourished in Hauppauge and Ronkonkoma, giving smaller businesses a chance to own rather than rent their spaces. After a long...

Law firms lean on an alumni network.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Michael Samuels and Dick Dahl A few years ago, attorneys would never dream of maintaining official contact with the law firms that terminated them. But that's changing, as an increasing number of firms realize that staying in...

Interview with Jim Carver: President, Nassau County Patrolmen's Benevolent Assn.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Michael H. Samuels Team captain Jim Carver, 46, was elected president of the Nassau County Patrolmen's Benevolent Association in May after former head Gary DelaRaba retired following 20 years on the job. He has big shoes to...

Commentary: Levy's bill must be next.
August 15, 2008... Byline: LIBN Staff It's one down, one to go in Albany, where state officials are making headway on affordable housing, the central issue choking this region's economic growth. Last week, Gov. David Paterson signed a bill that dictates...

Commentary: The pain is all too real for LI.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Martin R. Cantor New York has budget problems and, soon enough, so will Long Island households. Since Long Island sends close to one-third more money to Albany than it gets back, it is certain that Albany will try to balance the...

Commentary: Pain ahead.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Richard Kessel Gov. David Paterson's first major crisis has developed as New York's economy has entered into a recession, and the state faces a whopping $26 billion budget gap over the next three years and a $6.4 billion deficit...

Commentary: Obama's long on funds, short on direct-mail savvy.
August 15, 2008... Byline: John Kiernan To say that this has been a surprising presidential campaign with many twists and turns over the last 18 months is a gross understatement. A year ago, Sen. John McCain's candidacy had been written off by the...

Commentary: Presidential candidates keep the voters guessing.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Jerry Kremer John McCain is a U.S. senator and former prisoner of war. Barack Obama is a senator who is considered a rock star by many Americans. Do we really know who they are? No, not at all. America relies on the media to...

Commentary: Out East: August 15, 2008.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Jeff Miller As economy tightens, here's something to chew on Here's how bad the food crisis has become: In Bolivia, the government is urging farmers to switch from coca to rice and corn because they're more valuable than...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: August 15, 2008.
August 15, 2008... Byline: David Winzelberg Alrose grabs an executive from Garden City Hotel South Shore developer Allen Rosenberg may have lost his chance to buy the Garden City Hotel, but he's found one of its key employees. Rosenberg, whose failed...

Long Island Financial Briefs: August 15, 2008.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Laura Glasser Insurance company Geico dropped its attempt to increase rates in the state at the request of New York State Insurance Department Superintendent Eric Dinallo. Dinallo said that higher gas prices are causing New...

LIBN News Briefs: Auguat 15, 2008.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Michael H.Samuels To Catch a Thief An employee who was fired for reporting a co-worker's possible crimes can sue for retaliatory discharge, the Mississippi Supreme Court has ruled in answering certified questions from the 5th...

John A. Hill & Associates of East Northport: Jack of all trade shows.
August 15, 2008... Byline: Ambrose Clancy After 30 years managing companies both private and public, filling roles as national sales manager, director of marketing and chief operating officer, John A. Hill decided four years ago to teach people how to run a...