LI Business News articles from January 2006

LI Business News archives from January 2006

Globecomm Systems nets $4.6 million in contracts.
January 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Globecomm Systems Inc. today announced it has been awarded "multiple" contracts from a single, unidentified customer collectively worth about $4.6 million.The firm said the contracts are to help a United States-based...

New look, more breaking news at LIBN.com.
January 3, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Long Island Business News, the region's premier source for business news, has launched a new look and format to its popular Web site, www.libn.com."Besides offering all the bells and whistles our readers have asked for,...

Babylon Town Council adds Bishop, Halpin.
January 3, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Former six-term Suffolk County Legis. David Bishop was appointed to Babylon's four-person town council by Town Supervisor Steve Bellone on Tuesday.Bishop replaces Wayne Horsley, who was elected to the county...

Bedminster, N.J.-based Verizon Wireless completes $400M wireless revamp.
January 3, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Verizon Wireless announced that is has completed nearly $400 million in enhancements to its New York State network in 2005, including major improvements on Long Island.The Bedminster, N.J.-based firm said the...

Nassau's director of real estate planning and development heads to private sector.
January 3, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Sheldon Cohen, Nassau's director of real estate planning and development, has left the county for the private sector.He has been named senior managing director of real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis'...

Comtech Telecommunications Corp. lands $3.6 million contract.
January 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Comtech Telecommunications Corp. won a $3.6 million contract for equipment used to jam electronic signals for an unnamed international buyer.Shares of Comtech (Nasdaq: CMTL) rose 72 cents in mid-day trading to $31.43...

Farmingdale-based P&F Industries acquires Pacific Stair.
January 4, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty P&F Industries Inc., a manufacturer and distributor of air powered tools and hardware, now owns Pacific Stair Products, the companies said Wednesday.The price was not disclosed.Farmingdale-based P&F Industries...

Southwest Airlines reports strong December.
January 4, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik While much of the airline industry is ailing, Southwest Airlines Co. is adding passengers.Long Island MacArthur Airport's principal carrier announced that it flew 5 billion revenue passenger miles or miles based on...

Newsday, union in tentative deal.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Carl Corry Newsday management and its union reached a tentative agreement over a new contract Thursday in a deal that could avert a strike. The accord, approved by the union's executive board, still needs approval from union...

LI-based CA acquires Web firm.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Software giant CA is branching out. The Islandia company said Thursday it inked a deal to acquire Wily Technology, a privately-held Web transaction watchdog, for $375 million in cash.CA, formerly known as...

LI-based Gentiva Health Services plans Healthfield buy.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Shares of Gentiva Health Services Inc. jumped about 20 percent in midday trading Thursday to $17.35 after the firm announced it will acquire home care provider The Healthfield Group for $454 million.Atlanta-based...

Audiovox expands Sirius reach.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Audiovox Corp. is getting Sirius.The firm has launched a new satellite radio system that can be used both in the car and home. It released the new product at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on...

MSC Industrial sales, income increase.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. reported Thursday that first-quarter net income jumped 23 percent to $31.9 million and sales rose 12 percent to $295.9 million.Chief Executive David Sandler said demand for the firm's...

Hauppauge Digital launches MediaMVP.
January 5, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Shares of Hauppauge Digital Inc. rose about 16 percent to $5.66 in midday trading Thursday after the firm unveiled a new wireless device at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.The maker of digital...

Long Island education institutions announce staffing changes: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Michael E. Russell was appointed to the State University of New York Board of Trustees. He had been on the Stony Brook University Council. Russell is a director of investments at Wachovia Securities...

HJMT Communications in Westbury names account executive.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff HJMT Communications in Westbury named Lori Ellyn Alexy an account executive in the firm's special events division. She had worked as a writer and a producer at WOR-AM radio.

Summit Security Services announces staffing changes.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Summit Security Services in Uniondale named Valerie Van Nuis director of human resources. She has been director of human resources for InfoHighway Communications, Manning Selvage & Lee, Robert A....

Long Island Board of Realtors names "Realtor of the Year".
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff The Long Island Board of Realtors named Ralph Bove "Realtor of the Year." Bove is senior vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Long Island not-for-profits announce staffing changes: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff The United Way of Long Island named Tara Tate senior vice president of its HIV/AIDS grants management department. She had been assistant bureau director of the Bureau of Community Support Services for...

LI-based Insula-Dome Skylights names regional sales manager.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Insula-Dome Skylights in Yaphank, a manufacturer of skylights and roof windows, named David J. Schupp regional sales manager of its Long Island territory. He had been Insula's Suffolk County territory...

Long Island medical facilities announce staffing changes: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Huntington Hospital's Women's Health Center named Micheline C. Chu as infertility specialist. She also is a member of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System's Center for Human...

Suffolk County National Bank names assistant VP.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Suffolk County National Bank named Mark Harrigan assistant vice president and branch manager of the bank's Hauppauge branch. He had been assistant vice president in charge of client retention at North...

Commentary: The secrets to a successful strategic plan.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Stuart Levine Last year I addressed a group of marketing execs for large national law firms. I took a show of hands of people who had strategic plans. Only about 20 percent of them raised their hands. Strategic planning is like...

How to choose the right accounting firm.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Bernadette Starzee If you need to change accountants focus on the reasons why. According to Mark Meinberg, managing partner for Syosset-based Feldman, Meinberg & Co. LLP, the reasons you're looking to change should guide you in...

Nassau County's Board of Cooperative Educational Services names exec. director of preschool programs.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II James F. Wilde was promoted to executive director of preschool programs and special projects at The Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County, more commonly known as Nassau BOCES. For eight...

Long Island couple finds success offering pet and home sitting services.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Going out of town and not sure what to do with the dog? That's where David and Theresa Denara come into play. They are the husband-and-wife team who opened West Islip-based Long Island Pet and Home Sitters in August...

Interview with Vincent DiRubbio, president and CEO of St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Kenneth Cerini Technological innovations have created more options for hospitals. We have seen treatments become more accurate and less invasive due to medical breakthroughs. At St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, technology has...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Girl Scouts Nassau grantsThe Nassau County Bar Association We Care Lawyers Fund has pledged money to the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. The grant will support GSNC's Where You Live Troops in Hempstead.The Where...

Long Island accounting firm nixes merger with Manhattan firm due to differing corporate culture.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik A successful Long Island accounting firm was within a hairsbreadth of merging with a successful Manhattan firm.It was a marriage made in heaven, a deal where, in a single swoop, Melville's Nussbaum Yates & Wolpow...

SBA loans lend a hand to small businesses in need.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Woodbox Stove Co. was in the hot seat. Its landlord decided to sell the building last year and the distributor of fireplaces, stoves and barbecues just didn't have enough cash on hand to buy its own building. Woodbox...

Old fashioned buying cooperatives are catching on.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Ask Mr. Jay Appliances., a Smithtown-based appliance retailer, how it manages to compete against regional giants as P.C. Richard & Son and such national chains as Best Buy. Its answer: Cooperation. Whether they're...

LI's small businesses target Spanish speaking market.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik While Hispanic entrepreneurs, naturally, tap Long Island's growing Hispanic population, small business operators in general are making greater efforts to win over these customers.They're doing everything from...

Long Island Small Business Briefs: January 6, 2006.(Company Profile)
January 6, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Ring my bellOn Dec. 8, Adrienne Giannone, chief executive and president of Edge Electronics in Bohemia, presided over the closing bell at the Nasdaq. Giannone joined eight other female executives, all of them members of...

Commentary: Tackling Medicare costs will burn the public.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Jerry Kremer Here's a simple political question to start off the year 2006. What state has the most costly Medicaid program in the nation, one of the country's highest state budgets, and has one of the nation's best educational...

Latin-owned businesses keep Long Island's Main Street economies alive.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Local planners bemoaning the loss of traditional community centers on Long Island need to take a second look. On scores of Main Streets, from Freeport to Brentwood, Hicksville to Hempstead Village, downtown business...

With Lighthouse erased from project plans, developer Charles Wang carrying on.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Responding to growing community outcries and local leaders' reluctance to approve anything that would alter Nassau's skyline or lack thereof developer Charles Wang has abandoned his beloved 60-story...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Riverhead's downtown Post Office set for redoFor seven decades, Riverhead's downtown U.S. Post Office, complete with old-fashioned brass boxes, was the place for residents to stop in to mail letters and...

Long Island Medical Briefs: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik NHCC plans to cut costs, increase revenueThe Nassau Health Care Corp., parent of Nassau University Medical Center, has a turnaround plan that would cut costs by $21 million and increase revenue by about $16 million....

In sales, preparation is key.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Preparing for sales calls is time well spent, experts say. And buyers are not very receptive to those who skip this step. "If buyers perceive you as unprepared, you won't get that chance" to call on...

Commentary: New issues for aging suburbia.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Carrie Meek Gallagher Taxes, home prices, traffic. Long Island's problems all seem to get worse and worse. It makes you wonder: Will we ever be able to solve them? The affordable housing problem, which this column discussed last...

Commentary: Museum Row is missing from plans for Nassau's HUB development.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Art Rossoff As far as one can tell, none of the four contenders for the HUB development has offered Nassau much in the way of art or culture. We will have sports, commerce and housing and, undoubtedly, exciting architecture. But in...

Long Island Financial Briefs: January 6, 2006.
January 6, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale It's 2006 and much to the surprise of some analysts, Westbury-based New York Community Bancorp is still around.Rather than getting bought up by the likes of Citigroup or HSBC, the opposite happened: NYCB went on a...

Member of Berkman, Henoch, Peterson & Peddy discusses Long Island's increase in foreclosures.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik With the good news comes the bad. A real estate boom lined the pockets of realtors and sellers. However, residential foreclosures also have been on the rise. LIBN spoke to Bruce J. Bergman, a member of Garden...

NY's small biz climate gets mixed reports.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Adina Genn Depending on which report you read, New York's business climate is either fostering small business growth, or killing it.Small business hiring and salaries are up, according to SurePayroll, a Chicago-based payroll...

Rising interest rates leads to increased interest in SBA loans.
January 6, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff While the Empire State Certified Development Corp. gears up to offer Small Business Administration 504 loans on Long Island, the incumbent provider says its business is picking up.Roslyn Goldmacher, president of the Long...

Estee Lauder Cos. joins Standard & Poor's 500 index.
January 6, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff It must be selling a lot of Youth Dew.Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder Cos., which has extensive Long Island operations, joined Standard & Poor's 500 index this week. It edged out Mercury Interactive Corp., a software...

NY Community Bancorp ends week with stock at $16.52.
January 6, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff Though New York Community Bancorp (NYSE: NYB) ended the year with a bang it closed its Long Island Financial Corp. purchase the thrift's stock price for the week dwindled 3 percent to $16.52.The Westbury-based company...

Commentary: Gov. Pataki's technology support is too little, too late.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Gov. George Pataki used his State of the State address on Wednesday to announce plans for a hybrid economic development program aimed at boosting jobs in high technology. The governor's proposed tech...

Commentary: Forgotten middle class needs new tax system.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato Twenty-five years ago, when I began my Senate career, the burning economic issue of the day was inflation in all its ugly manifestations, including sky-high interest rates that were crushing home owners. The...

Managers scoop up CoolBrands franchises.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik CoolBrands has lost its taste for franchising ice cream and frozen yogurt parlors.On Dec. 23, the company sold its franchise operations, including about 600 ice cream and frozen yogurt parlors, to former managers for...

Mixed LI housing report.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty After a two-month dip, the median price of a single-family home in Suffolk fetched $400,000 in December, up 2.6 percent from $390,000 in November.Nassau County wasn't as lucky. Its median price of $482,000 was...

The Treeline Cos. to rent office space in Brooklyn.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty The Treeline Cos. has inked a 10-year deal to rent nearly 19,000 square feet of office space for Massey Knakal Realty Services' new Brooklyn headquarters.For the next decade, Massey Knakal will lease 18,750...

Mellville-based Reckson Associates wraps up Westchester buy.
January 6, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Melville-based Reckson Associates Realty Corp., which specializes in class A office space, closed on a 14-buiding office portfolio in Westchester County for about $255 million, or $163 per square foot, on...

Computer Associates sells 3D software unit.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik CA has sold its 3D software subsidiary, MultiGen-Paradigm Inc., to Parallax Capital Partners. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.MultiGen-Paradigm makes software used for visualization, simulation and training...

Long Island paper chain acquired.
January 9, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Long Islander Newspapers, started 167 years ago by poet Walt Whitman, was sold to a Queens-based chain of community papers, the companies announced Monday.Long Islander Newspapers, a chain of four weekly community...

Defense contractor EDO buys communications company.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Defense contractor EDO Corp. on Monday announced the purchase of a communications company, EDO's third acquisition in the last year.EDO closed the deal for NexGen Communications LLC on Dec. 20 for an undisclosed sum,...

Nu Horizons stock rises on sales growth.
January 9, 2006... Byline: David Reich-Hale Nu Horizons Electronics Corp.'s shares were up 9 percent to $11 in pre-market trading Monday after the company announced Monday that sales rose 27 percent in its quarter ended Nov. 30.The electronic components...

Long Island breaks weather records in 2005.
January 9, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II According to meteorologists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, 2005 was a record-breaking year for Long Island weather. Last January, snowfall amounted to 29 inches, eclipsing...

Suffolk County eyes land buys.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Suffolk County is aiming to preserve a pair of "significant" East End parcels.County Executive Steve Levy filed legislation to authorize the planning steps to acquire Boys Harbor, a former youth summer camp in...

Long Island-based Molloy College launches leadership institute.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Molloy College said it plans to assemble some of the region's top up-and-coming leaders in an elite group whose aim is to reverse Long Island's most pressing social and economic problems.The program, called The...

Defense contractor EDO lands Raytheon missile deal.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Defense contractor EDO Corp. said that Raytheon Co. selected it to design and develop a new electronic control unit for the AGM-65 Maverick missile. EDO (NYSE: EDO) didn't disclose the terms of the contract.James M....

Long Island energy company KeySpan boosts profit forecast.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Energy company KeySpan Corp. on Tuesday predicted profit growth in 2006 on expectations of greater distribution and generation performance.The utility, which supplies natural gas to Long Island, operates most of the...

Sofa-bed retailer Jennifer Convertibles posts profit gain.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell Sofa-bed retailer Jennifer Convertibles announced its third consecutive profitable quarter Tuesday even as its stock exchange threatened to yank the company's listing.The Woodbury-based firm posted unaudited income...

Great Neck-based Feldman Mall Properties, Cheesecake Factory strike deal.
January 10, 2006... Byline: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty Great Neck-based Feldman Mall Properties Inc. inked a deal for upstate New York's first Cheesecake Factory.The restaurant chain will dish its heaping portions and signature desserts from 10,000 square feet at...

Long Island Power Authority eyeing rebates, rate freeze.
January 11, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik The Long Island Power Authority on Wednesday presented a plan to provide ratepayers with $40 million in rebates in the form of a one-time $35 per-consumer refund. LIPA would also freeze electric rates for two...

Nassau police payroll stays in line.
January 11, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell The Nassau County Police Department has kept payroll costs in check despite a nearly two-fold increase in overtime since 2002, according to an audit issued Wednesday.County Comptroller Howard Weitzman said a study of...

OSI Pharmaceuticals focuses sales forceast.
January 11, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Harrell OSI Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday announced sales increases for flagship drug Tarceva while narrowing its forecast for Macugen, the macular degeneration product.OSI, based in Melville, reported Tarceva sales of $275...

Long Island-based CA acquires Control F1.(Company Profile)
January 11, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik In its third deal announced within a week, CA (NYSE: CA) Wednesday said it acquired Control-F1 Corp, a Canadian company that provides software to automatically prevent, detect and repair computer problems. Terms of...

ABI Research expands in London.
January 11, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Technology market research firm ABI Research said Wednesday it has opened a new London office as part of a push to grow its business in the United Kingdom and Europe in general.ABI Research President Tim Archdeacon...

Adecco makes bid for global competitor.
January 11, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Staffing giant Adecco said earlier this week that it agreed to buy a minority stake and plans to take over German staffing firm DIS AG for $769 million. Adecco (NYSE: ADO) also said that DIS AG's chief executive and...

Suffolk County bought 1,200 acres in 2005.
January 13, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff The numbers are in. Last year Suffolk County bought 1,200 acres of open space, equivalent to about 1.5 Central Parks. The county spent $47 million for the properties, most of which are on the East End. State and local...

DirecTV to offer high-speed Internet service.
January 13, 2006... Byline: LIBN Staff The epic battle between cable and satellite providers has taken a turn toward the Web. Cable companies like Cablevisions Systems Corp. have taken advantage of the satellite firms' inability to offer phone and Internet...

Doyle named chairman of the board of ASIS Int'l, LI chapter.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly The Long Island chapter of the security company ASIS International elected Mario J. Doyle to chairman of it board. He is regional director at BuildingStar Corporate Services, a Ronkonkoma-based security services...

Lim named VP/GM of Woodbury-based Veeco Instruments.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Woodbury-based Veeco Instruments named Benjamin Loh Gek Lim senior vice president and general manager of its Asia Pacific operations. Lim had worked for Unaxis, and was senior vice president of its Asia operations...

Laino named to board of trade task force.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Michael C. Laino, co-founder of Farmingdale-based special events production company Festive Productions, was appointed to the board of directors of the New York City/Puerto Rican Trade and Business Task Force. He...

Long Island Education Briefs: January 13, 2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly The Construction Management Association of America granted a special recognition award to the department of architecture and construction management at Farmingdale State University of New York.Hoftra University...

KeySpan names new VP.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly KeySpan Corp. named Albert C. Wiltshire vice president of government regulations. Wiltshire joined KeySpan in 1997 and most recently was director of community affairs.

Long Island Financial Briefs: January 13, 2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Syosset-based Sagemark Consulting, a division of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., hired Attah-jundwe Obiajula as a financial advisor. He had been a financial advisor at UBS Financial Services.Hauppauge-based AVZ...

Long Island Health Care Briefs: January 13, 2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson appointed neurologist Subbarao Bhimani to its medical staff. He had been a fellow in neurophysiology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse.South Nassau...

Lacetera elected to Hauppauge Industrial Assn.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly The Hauppauge Industrial Association elected Nicholas M. Lacetera to chairman of its board. He is president and chief executive of People's Alliance Federal Credit Union. He has long been an HIA board member.

Long Island Legal Briefs: January 13, 2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Farrell Fritz in Uniondale named Domenique Camacho Moran a partner with the firm. She had been a shareholder at Littler Mendelson in New York.Melville-based Genser Dubow Genser & Cona named Linda M. Beller an...

Hauppauge-based Apex Plastice hires new manager.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Henry E. Powderly Hauppauge-based Apex Plastics Industries named Rob Doonachar division manager for its decoratives, display ribbons and special events division. He had worked for David Sloan Creations in Valley Stream.

The Long Island Law Firm Partners Class of 2005-2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik For some attorneys, it's a huge vote of confidence in their abilities. For others, it's a recruiting tool that keeps them anchored to Long Island by sharing a sense of ownership. In all, more than two dozen new...

Partners named at Long Island law firms 2005-2006.
January 13, 2006... Byline: Claude Solnik Stephen A. AschettinoNixon PeabodyOne of nine attorneys to join the firm's insurance practice in early 2004, Aschettino, who technically becomes a partner in February, has represented a wide variety of clients, such...