LI Business News articles from February 2006

LI Business News archives from February 2006

NY State Supreme Court throws out vote giving Peter Schmitt presiding officer's post.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell A State Supreme Court judge on Wednesday threw out last week's vote by the Nassau County Legislature giving Republican Peter Schmitt the presiding officer's post.Judge Joseph P. Spinola said the presiding officer...

Outgoing Republican administration raids pension fund in Town of Brookhaven.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell During the last quarter of 2005, the outgoing Republican administration in the Town of Brookhaven tapped a pension fund to pay for $2 million in unrelated expenses.Town Supervisor Brian X. Foley, a Democrat elected...

Bankrupt Christmas decoration and casual furniture retailer Treasure Island to shutter its 16 stores.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Bankrupt Christmas decoration and casual furniture retailer Treasure Island will shutter its 16 stores sometime in March, blaming increased competition for its downfall.Locally, the 35-year-old Mahwah,...

Manhattan-based EDO lands $30 million submarine contract.
February 1, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik EDO Corp. has won a $30 million contract to provide sonar equipment to Lockheed Martin for four Spanish submarines.Lockheed Martin has the primary contract to provide combat systems for the Spanish Armada's S-80A...

Computer Associates makes name change official.
February 1, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Computer Associates International is officially no more. CA on Wednesday announced it has legally changed its corporate name to "CA, Inc.", effective immediately. The company had announced it would make the name...

Suffolk County in search of sewer aid.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Good sewers make good neighbors. At least that's what Suffolk County leaders hope as they try to persuade Nassau County to lend Suffolk some excess sewer capacity to help meet its growing need for wastewater...

Board named for revamped LI regional planning agency.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty The county executives of Nassau and Suffolk have nominated a new slate of board members to run the Long Island Regional Planning Board following an overhaul of the agency that gave the county leaders more say...

Targeting the Health Savings Account market.
February 3, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale President George W. Bush claims to have found the cure to much of what ails the health care industry: health savings accounts. And banks are eager to administer the vaccine.Health savings accounts permit account...

Union turns up heat on Woodbury-based cleaning contractor.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Ken Schachter A union representing janitors and commercial cleaners has upped the ante in its long-running battle with a major cleaning service by running a newspaper advertisement warning potential lessees at a Woodbury office...

Plusses & minuses: Interview with Sandra Monteferrante, lady mathematician.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Earlier this week, President George W. Bush outlined a plan to spur more Americans to follow careers in math, science and engineering. Sandra Monteferrante (whose name means "iron mountain" in Italian) was the first...

Suffolk County pols spar over job vacancies.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell There are more than 1,000 vacant jobs in Suffolk County government, and Legis. Ed Romaine wants to fill every one of them. Sort of.Romaine, who sits in the Republican legislative minority, faces an uphill battle,...

Matchmaking in the workplace.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn The folks on Wisteria Lane aren't the only ones finding comfort in the arms of another. Cupid, apparently, is also busy at the workplace.According to one poll, 27.5 percent of office workers say they've had an office...

Caithness Energy gets okay to build power plant in Yaphank.
February 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Caithness Energy has won another round in its effort to build a power plant in Yaphank.New York State Supreme Court Judge R. Bruce Cozzens Jr. this week denied Atlantic Point Properties' application for a temporary...

Schechter names CEO of Stony Brook University Hospital.
February 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Stony Brook University Hospital, being led by interim Chief Executive John S.T. Gallagher, has named Alan Schechter chief operating officer. But don't expect Schechter to take the CEO role any time soon."He's not being...

South Nassau Communities Hospital breathes new life into old campus.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik South Nassau Communities Hospital is gearing up to open a 170,000-square-foot, $85 million addition to replace some existing facilities and increase capacity.Furniture and equipment already are being moved into the...

Woodbury-based Intelli-Check Inc. shares get boost with new booked business.
February 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Shares of Intelli-Check Inc. (AMEX:IDN) rose 12 percent to $5 after the firm said it booked $3.1 million orders for 2005, beating its goal of $3 million.The Woodbury-based maker of equipment that is used to verify...

Commentary: Bush's commitment on reducing Mideast oil dependency lacks energy.
February 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Editorial President Bush launched a ho-hum effort this week to reduce the country's reliance on Mideast oil imports by 75 percent over the next two decades. Rightly so, he suggested a big increase in research into...

Commentar: Save the Tappan Zee by outsourcing.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato The Tappan Zee Bridge is a critical transportation corridor that, if it were shut down tomorrow, would cause such enormous economic havoc to New York's economy that it would plunge our region into recession. Long...

Commentary: Nothing exact, or even close to it, in politics.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Jerry Kremer Chancellor Otto Von Bismark isn't exactly my favorite politician. But for some strange reason, the man who unified Germany in 1881 has left behind many good quotes for weekly columnists.Asked to offer his opinion on...

Commentary: LI taxes, at best, are a burden.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Carrie Meek Gallagher Ask people what Long Island's biggest problem is and the No. 1 answer, by far, is taxes.The 2006 edition of the Long Island Index, released last month, features a special analysis of this important issue. Here...

LI Financial Briefs: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: David Reich Hale Although most chief executives of "fast-growing" private companies believe that fewer government regulations are better, more than one in four is borrowing practices from the Sarbanes-Oxley compliance experience of...

Long Island Legal Briefs: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Suffolk examines changes to justice systemOf the 2 million inmates doing time in American jails and prisons, 16 percent have some kind of mental illness, according to the U.S. Justice Department.In Suffolk County jails,...

How to ... Decide whether and what to outsource.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Just about anything can be outsourced. Human resource functions, computer services, accounting, sales, even your entire staff. But why hand it off to someone else?According to a survey by the Outsourcing...

Long Island Healthcare Briefs: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Tenaglia's dream of cancer center is realizedMichael Tenaglia didn't live to see the good work that will be done by a new cancer center named in his honor, but he will live on in the work done at the facility.The...

Training program brings BOCES to the workforce.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Steve Earley wants "BOCES" to bring more to mind than the words "high school" and "vocational education." He'd like you to think "professional training." Earley heads up The Training Source, the professional and...

Commentary: Execs should learn from Ford's key mistakes.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Stuart Levine Like a lot of people, I find it easier to analyze someone else's challenges than my own. It's just easier to be objective when your own actions aren't in question. What's happening at Ford offers the perfect chance...

Educators and government officials see need to increase number of students studying science.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Once bogged down in theoretical tomes, New York Institute of Technology engineering freshmen these days are building small robots that locate and extinguish fires, burst balloons or operate toy cars. The program is...

NY state's brownfield incentives not enticing enough.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik New York State's Brownfield Cleanup Program seems to have been created for guys like Jeffrey Pliskin. The president of Carle Place-based Pliskin Realty & Development Inc. specializes in cleaning up tracts contaminated...

Environmental impact studies create a whole industry of consulting.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik The Hamlet at Willow Creek, a condominium development and 18-hole golf course, opened in 2004, replacing farmland and fields. But long before soil had been removed or a shovel hit the dirt, a mountain of paperwork had...

Verizon VP Anthony J. DiMaso named to board of Long Island Software and Technology Network.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Anthony J. DiMaso, vice president of strategy and development for Verizon Communications, was named to the board of the Long Island Software and Technology Network. LISTnet works to build collaborations between...

West Babylon-based Create Connections offers clients new kinds of entertainment events.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn One March evening in 2005, art therapist Dina Palma invited a group of her girlfriends to her house for an evening of art. She'd covered her walls from floor to ceiling, turning them into giant canvases, and she and her...

Interview with director of Sid Jacobson JCC, offering social service programs to LI community.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Ken Cerini On Long Island, you can find various community centers and places for social interaction. But some community centers have evolved to become more than just places to socialize. In East Hills, the Sid Jacobson JCC serves...

Long Island Non-profit Briefs: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II LIFWG helps the theaterThe West Islip-based Armid Theatre Company received a grant from the Long Island Fund for Women and Girls to its All She Wrote reading and discussion series. All She Wrote presents plays...

U.S. Small Business Administration launches online tool for women entrepreneurs.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn The U.S. Small Business Administration launched MY BIZ for Women, an online tool for finding business research and assistance for women entrepreneurs.The site, http://www.SBA.gov/ women, includes information on starting...

Long Island accounting firms announce staffing changes: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff The Bohemia-based firm of Cerini & Associates announced several promotions and new hires.Kimberly Roffi was promoted to tax and accounting manager. She has worked at the firm for more than four...

Peter Schlussler with Suffolk County Clerk's Office nominated for Municipal Leader of the Year.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Peter Schlussler with Suffolk County Clerk's Office nominated for Municipal Leader of the Year by American City & County Magazine.

Long Island law firms announce staffing changes: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Uniondale-based Rivkin Radler announced several new appointments.Joseph F. Buzzell was named a partner in the firm. He had been assistant town attorney for the Town of Babylon, and counsel to the...

Long Island technology firms announce staffing changes: February 3, 2006.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Farmingdale-based Delta Computer Group named Ken Siadak field service engineer and will serve the Richmond, Va. area. Siadak had been a senior customer service engineer at Decision One in Richmond,...

Stony Brook University professor receives 2006 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Dennis Sullivan, a mathematics professor at Stony Brook University, received the 2006 Leroy P. Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the American Mathematical Society.

Bohemia-based Chromate Industrial Corp. names Eugene T. Ward Jr. district manager.
February 3, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Bohemia-based Chromate Industrial Corp. names Eugene T. Ward Jr. district manager covering its Michigan, Ohio and Western Pennsylvania territory. Ward had been a district sales manager for Wurth USA in...

Getty Real Estate Co. acquires 18 gas and convenice stores in western NY.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Getty Realty Corp., one the country's biggest REITs specializing in owning and leasing gas stations, said Monday it is acquiring 18 gas and convenience stores in western New York from Arrow Mart Convenience...

Suffolk County plans acquisition of 14 acres of environmentally sensitive land.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Legislator Jay Schneiderman said they plan to file legislation Tuesday to purchase 14 acres of environmentally sensitive land adjoining the Noyac Greenbelt.The $3...

Bohemia-based NBTY reports sales boost.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Sales for NBTY Inc. grew by more than 9 percent last month, fueled by results from North American stores, the company reported Monday.The Bohemia-based nutritional supplement maker and distributor said January...

Legislation piling up in Nassau County.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Nassau County Legislature hasn't met in 2006, and it's starting to show.On Wednesday, the county's Legislative Budget Review Office released a list of 80 pieces of legislation that have lain dormant in Mineola...

Orbit International Corp. receives contract for emergency response displays for NY, Atlanta transit.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Orbit International Corp. received a follow-on contract valued at more than $1.4 million for emergency response displays for the New York and Atlanta transit systems.Orbit, a military defense electronics...

Long Island-based Aeroflex Inc. shares heat up.
February 8, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Shares of Aeroflex Inc. jumped more than 13 percent on the news its fiscal second-quarter profits rose 44 percent, beating analysts' estimates. The company released its earnings report on Tuesday afternoon.The...

Newsday to verify circ for advertisers.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Newsday's Sunday advertisers will soon get better confirmation of the distribution of their pre-printed inserts. Tribune Co., Newsday's Chicago-based parent, has volunteered its 11 largest daily newspapers for a new...

Melville-based Fonar Corp. revenue, profit plunges.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Fonar Corp. on Thursday posted steep declines in profit and revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31.The Melville-based maker of Upright magnetic resonance imaging machines reported a loss of $5.4 million, or 5 cents...

North Shore-LIJ unveils cancer center.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System today unveiled a $17 million, 37,000-square-foot Monter Cancer Center at i.Park in Lake Success.The facility, located across the street from Long Island Jewish Medical...

Sales, stock down at Long Island-based Aceto Corp.
February 9, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Shares of specialty chemicals distributor Aceto Corp. fell 3.6 percent to $7 Thursday after the company reported lower sales.Aceto said that net sales for its second quarter were $69.5 million, compared to $76.7...

Melville-based FalconStor Software profits explode.
February 9, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II FalconStor Software Inc. reported late Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profits rocketed 466 percent on portfolio growth and awards garnered by the company. The company released its financial results after...

Long Island Financial Briefs: February 10, 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Commerce says no to in-store banking crazeIn one fell swoop, Citizens Bank is about to put 40 branches in Stop & Shop stores on Long Island. Just like that, they will have 15 more branches than rival Commerce Bank,...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: February 10, 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Reckson fills space and talks about it tooWhile paying $240 million for 1.1 million square feet is easy, finding tenants for the space could be tough. Perhaps that's why Reckson Associates Realty Corp. is...

Long Island Legal Briefs: February 10, 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell LI lawyer makes history with jury verdictPsst. Last June, Hauppauge lawyer Kevin Fox won the largest jury verdict ever awarded in New York.In a settlement overseen by Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge Ralph F....

Long Island Medical Briefs: February 10, 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Stony Brook calls for clinical trial volunteersStony Brook University Hospital is looking for as many as 4,000 people to take part in an array of clinical trials related to HIV, pregnancy stress, colon cancer and...

Owners of Huntington spa obtained support from local businesses, rather than banks.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn John Vater, an owner of Huntington's Spa Adriana, has endured five bank-loan rejections. But that's never killed his entrepreneurial vision.Instead, Vater and his wife, Adriana, obtained support from local businesses,...

Women-owned businesses without employees are fastest growing sector.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Women-owned businesses without employees are growing at a faster rate than all U.S. firms without employees, according to a new report. Between 1997 and 2004, the amount of women-owned non-employer firms grew 18 percent,...

Sharon Lobel's success secret: Business is her baby.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Natalie Canavor In the early 1980s, Sharon Lobel rejoined the workforce after taking time out to raise her daughter and see her into high school. She had previously been a buyer for Bloomingdale's and dabbled in enterprises like...

Bedell Cellars names new chief operating officer.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Bedell Cellars has promoted Trent Preszler to chief operating officer, making him responsible for leading all aspects of Bedell's business functions, from its finances to public relations.The South Dakota...

Bohemia-based Repell-em Consumer Products making garbage bag that's bitter to the critter.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn You open the front door, ready to start the day, only to find that some little critter has ripped into your garbage. Bones and trash are strewn all over the lawn.Terry Feinberg, 43, has been there, done that. He claims...

How to ... Choose a forensic accounting firm.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Forensic accounting has come into the spotlight in recent years, in the wake of the shocking scandals at Enron and other large corporations, and the need to investigate money trails of terrorists. But for the most...

Interview with executive director of the Huntington Arts Council.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Ken Cerini What would life be without the arts? The arts provide a splash of color to an otherwise black-and- white world. Whether it's music, painting, dancing or any other kind of expression the arts are such an integral part of...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: February 10, 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II A place to call homeCandice and Timothy Fowler and their children, Joshua and Caleb, received the gift of a new home, thanks to Habitat For Humanity.Habitat began construction on the Islip home at 240 Leaf Ave....

Long Island's Top 10 real estate deals of 2005.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty An historic lease. The sale of the region's premier office building. The takeover of pristine land to make way for a regional tech hub. These are a few of the stories that grabbed our attention in 2005. For...

Virtual office centers provide un-real estate.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Totus Business Centers has about 100 tenants at the 105 Maxess Road and 330 South Service Road office buildings in Melville, including 45 tenants that occupy no square footage at all. That is, assuming you don't count...

Solar power: A victim of its own success.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Peter Moloney, president of Moloney Family Funeral Homes, last spring decided to install solar panels at his funeral homes in Holbrook, Lake Ronkonkoma, Bohemia, Central Islip and Hauppauge. Then he waited. And...

Retailers hit stop sign in efforts to post company colors on Long Island.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Retailers are running into uniform signage policies set by shopping center operators and municipalities that stop them from slapping their logo and company colors up on facades.Starbucks' green and white logo, for...

Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County raises the solar roof.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik When the Colluzzo family moved into a home Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County built in North Bellport late last year, they weren't just getting closer to their dream. They were getting their place in the sun, or...

Labor gains in race for state Assembly seat.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell It comes down to the numbers.Ernie Mattace, a political director for the union that represents retail workers, is running in a special election on Feb. 28 for a seat in the state Assembly. Special elections produce...

Nassau power fight leaves Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau in lurch.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Nassau County Legislature's failure to meet in 2006 has poked a sizeable hole in the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau budget.Because of a flap last year between the county and state Legislature,...

Long Island Business and Technology Center quietly seeking suitors.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Rudin Management Co. Inc., still struggling to create a slice of Silicon Valley in the heart of Long Island, is entertaining potential buyers for its Long Island Business and Technology Center in Great...

State Bancorp vows appeal on $44M jury verdict.
February 10, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale State Bancorp executives are pushing ahead with plans to ask a U.S. District Court judge to throw out a jury verdict that cost the bank $44 million in damages and sent its stock price tumbling.Barring that, the...

Blind eye turned toward job-hunting employees.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn As the job market heats up, employees will intensify their job searches, forcing owners to compete for workers and revamp retention strategies, experts said. "The job market is cooking," said Joel Hamroff, president of...

First National Bank of Long Island takes part-time approach.
February 10, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Forget the hoopla over seven-day banking and extended hours. First National Bank of Long Island says it's finding success with unconventional approach: fewer hours inside office buildings instead of retail...

Interview with Theresa Ahlstrom, new managing partner of KPMG's Melville office.
February 10, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Theresa Ahlstrom, 44, has some big shoes to fill. The new managing partner of KPMG's Melville office replaces Larry Waldman, who is leaving after 33 years at the firm, the last 11 as the managing partner. Ahlstrom...

Affordable housing by any name.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell What are local leaders talking about when they refer to affordable housing, workforce housing and next-generation housing on Long Island? Aren't they the same thing? It turns out they're not."Affordable" refers to...

1-800-Flowers testing cell phone, PDA advertising.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik 1-800-Flowers.com is testing out a new type of advertising via cell phones and personal digital assistants.The firm is running ads through Irvine, Calif.-based AskMeNow's AskMeAnything mobile service, which charges...

Huntington Town Board approves half-year moratorium on golf course permits.
February 10, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff For at least the next six months, Huntington's golf courses have gotta stay green.The town's board unanimously approved a half-year moratorium on approvals, grants and permits by town agencies for private golf-course...

Commentary: Still waiting for Nassau County Legislature to meet in 2006.
February 10, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff What's the sound of one Legislature clapping?The Nassau County Legislature hasn't met in 2006, and now more than 80 pieces of legislation are experiencing their own brand of hibernation. Most of the measures deal with...

Shares of American Technical Ceramics Corp. jump 32%.
February 10, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Shares of electronic component maker American Technical Ceramics Corp. (AMEX: AMK) jumped 32 percent to $12.75 last week after the firm reported strong sales to the military and wireless telecom markets. The Huntington...

Commentary: New political alliance to evaluate candidates based on views on housing, rail road.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Last October we applauded the Long Island Association's political action committee for endorsing candidates based on their support for affordable housing. But we also noted that it failed to show...

Commentary: Tom Golisano no-go is no loss to the GOP.
February 10, 2006... Byline: John Kiernan I think most people involved in New York politics were surprised last week when upstate billionaire Tom Golisano announced that he would not run for governor this fall. Golisano had been a major distraction to Gov....

Commentary: Unfair cuts, unjust spending fill Bush's budget.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Jerry Kremer How far is it from Long Island to Washington, D.C.? The simple answer is it's five hours by car and one hour if you take the LaGuardia shuttle. If you are a person, group or institution that depends on federal money to...

Commentary: Bush's budget full of gaffes.
February 10, 2006... Byline: Martin Cantor The latest budget by President George W. Bush, other than the small bit on alternative minimum tax relief, leaves much to be desired by Long Island's beleaguered taxpayers and cash strapped households. Thanks to cuts,...