LI Business News articles from June 2004

LI Business News archives from June 2004

LI Power Authority: KeySpan, ANP plants still possible.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Although the Long Island Power Authority kept the joint proposal from KeySpan Corp. and American National Power for two power plants on Long Island out of its $4 billion plan to expand the Island's supply of energy,...

Technology Flavors & Fragrances creates taste in variety of foods, beverages.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik It was the moment of truth. Debra Braun, wearing a white chemist's smock in a lab at the Amityville headquarters of Technology Flavors & Fragrances, poured some ginger extract into a soup she was creating for...

Manufacturers seek new skills in workforce.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn The Long Island manufacturing and defense industry may be picking up, but it's still a mere shadow of what it used to be. John Lombardo says he has the solution that could reinvigorate the industry. Lombardo,...

Robo-doc assists in heart surgery.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik In a little-marked but ground-breaking medical milestone for this area, doctors at North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset have performed the first robotics-assisted heart surgery on Long Island. The hospital...

L.L. Bean sues Atkins Nutritionals, three other cos. over pop-up ads.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Outdoor sportswear retailer L.L. Bean, claiming its Web site has become a fat target for pop-up ads installed through "spyware," has filed suit against low-carb proponent Atkins Nutritionals Inc. and three other...

Food executives discuss best practices at culinary arts program.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Carl Corry Even though he suspects it's a passing fad, Jim Perdue hopes the low-carb craze will last forever and continue to drive dieters to his high-protein poultry products. But as the chairman of Salisbury, Md.-based Perdue...

LIJ Medical Center on tap for new ER.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Long Island Jewish Medical Center is slated to break ground on a $34 million expansion of its emergency department that will more than double the size of its existing facility. This will be the first major revamp...

Kiss Nail Products to buy Intershoe distribution center.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Kiss Nail Products Inc. is in contract to acquire the distribution center of high-end footwear seller Intershoe Inc., a move that will nearly double its space holdings and expand its warehousing and distribution...

OSI Pharmaceuticals to announce results of clinical trials for cancer drug.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff In the course of any drug trial, there comes a time when hype is replaced by hard data. That moment is approaching for Tarceva, the lead cancer drug of OSI Pharmaceuticals. On June 8, OSI CEO Colin Goddard...

Nassau Health Care CEO to leave within the week.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Nassau Health Care Corp. CEO Richard Turan said he'll make himself available to the group - even after he leaves his position. But he may be heading out the door and shedding his title in a matter of days, not weeks,...

Signature Bank opens two more Long Island offices.
June 4, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Signature Bank, which first cracked the market in 2002, has opened two more Long Island offices, in Rockville Centre and Melville. The Manhattan-based commercial bank has 11 offices, targets privately owned...

LI man runs successful chemical tracing company.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff In the early 1990s, a recession was nipping at the heels of the Long Island business-consulting firm of Jay Fraser. He earlier had fled Madison Avenue after managing accounts for business icons like Johnson and Johnson,...

Huntington awarded $600K brownfields grant.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Rosmaria Mancini The Town of Huntington has received a $600,000 state grant to clean up a three-acre parcel centered in the Veterans Nature Study Area that was once used for the disposal of refuse and ash from the Veterans...

LI hospitals brace for merger of two health insurers.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Long Island hospitals are bracing for tough negotiations as two of Long Island's biggest health insurers, UnitedHealth Group and Oxford Health Plans, prepare to merge. The merger will create a powerhouse that...

Manchester Technologies sells software units to Va. company.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff In a $5.2 million cash deal, Manchester Technologies Inc. sold its software development, services and IT fulfillment units to a Herndon, Va.-based company in order to focus on its fast-growing Electrograph Systems...

NY Mets terminate broadcast agreement with MSG Networks.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff In a blow to Cablevision Systems Corp.'s MSG Networks, the New York Mets have exercised an option to terminate their broadcast agreement for the 2006 baseball season. MSG received the Mets' $54 million buyout payment...

Park Electrochemical shuffles exec deck.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Circuit-board materials maker Park Electrochemical Corp. announced changes at the top levels of its marketing and technology operations. The firm said Eddie Mok, country service manager in China, has been named...

Nassau Health Care CEO resigns.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Nassau Health Care Corp. Chairman Richard Turan has resigned after three-and-a-half years on the job. The resignation comes less than a month after Turan accepted an $86,000 retroactive pay raise in December, while...

Commentary: LI Power Authority's energy plans should be commended.
June 4, 2004... Byline: John Kiernan For several years, the Long Island Power Authority was criticized by some in the media and some public officials for not having a plan to deal with the future energy needs of Long Island. Despite LIPA's good record...

Commentary: Upstate New York: the 51st state?
June 4, 2004... Byline: Jerry Kremer Whether a resident or a tourist, you'll agree that there is no state quite like New York. From Buffalo to Montauk Point, it possesses a unique character that no other state in the nation can boast. New York is home...

Long Island Financial Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale When New York Community Bancorp issued a statement in mid-May that it was examining strategic alternatives, there was a firestorm of rumors that the parent of Roslyn Savings Bank was going to sell itself. ...

Long Island Technology Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Long Island has its technology honor intact thanks to tiny Webb Institute. The tuition-free school in Glen Cove, which offers classes in naval architecture and marine engineering, apparently has its IT house in...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Continuing its steady growth in the Long Island market, Simone Development Cos., the New Rochelle-based real estate development firm, recently signed 95,583 square feet in leases at seven industrial properties it owns...

Long Island Legal Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Rosmaria Mancini Touro College's Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center held its 22nd commencement ceremony at the City Center in Manhattan last week for more than 160 graduates who will soon begin to make their mark on Long Island's legal...

Long Island Marketing Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Belle Britney's first bottles of wine come out in 2007. But that doesn't mean it's too early to market the product, and that's what the Barnet family - owners of the winery - are doing. They have planted grapes...

Long Island Medical Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Olympus may be best known for its consumer-oriented cameras, which take conventional and digital pictures of everything from sunsets to mountain slopes, but the firm recently announced a deal involving "snapshots"...

Long Island's very own cooking school.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn Here's an occupational group that isn't likely to get outsourced overseas any time soon - food services. In fact, the National Restaurant Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group, predicts that in 10 years,...

Long Island accounting firms announce staffing changes: June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Israeloff, Trattner & Co. in Garden City has appointed David Sangesland senior staff accountant, Dean Garner staff accountant and Gina Latif associate staff accountant. All three will be responsible for managing...

Suffolk County National Bank appoints VP, bank manager.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Suffolk County National Bank has appointed Paul Hawkins vice president and bank manager at its East Hampton location and John McDonald assistant vice president and branch manager at its Montauk location. ...

Long Island health care firms announce staffing changes: June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Clyde I. Payne was elected chairman of the board of directors of Southside Hospital in Bay Shore. Payne, the associate provost of Dowling College and a member of the advisory board for Teacher Centers, earned his...

Bankers Life of NY appoints customer service representative.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Lucy Negron was appointed customer service representative at Bankers Life of New York in Woodbury, where she will be responsible for processing policy service requests and general accounting transactions. ...

Sister United in Health appoints African-American outreach educator.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Donna Bacon of Amityville was appointed African-American outreach educator for Sisters United in Health in Hempstead. SUH provides information and services to Long Island African-American women and Latinas about...

Long Island real estate firms announce staffing changes: June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Jeff Bass was appointed manager at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's East Islip branch office, where he will be responsible for overseeing agent training and support, advertising, recruiting and internal...

Long Island Entrepreneurial Briefs June 4, 2004.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn Horrific floods. Political uprisings. Fred Lambrou, owner of Greenport-based Artists Gallery, a 16-year-old gallery that specializes in Haitian art, has seen it all. And while unsettling events like recent floods...

High school students, realtors help Habitat for Humanity.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Elwood High School students recently joined with Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk and the Long Island Board of Realtors to dedicate a home in Huntington Station to a local family. Although Elwood High School has been...

Free forum offered for cancer patients and their loved ones.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick On June 26, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the American Cancer Society and Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are presenting an educational forum, entitled "Meeting the Challenge of a Cancer Diagnosis," for cancer patients, their...

Mercy Medical offering free skin-cancer screening.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick Mercy Medical Center will be conducting a free skin-cancer screening on June 19 from 9 a.m.-noon in the St. Anne's Center on the Mercy campus. The screening is by appointment only, and appointments can be scheduled...

Working Org. for Retarded Children golf outing raises more than $105,000.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick The Working Organization for Retarded Children & Adults recently held its 17th annual golf outing fund-raiser in Sands Point. More than $105,000 was raised, all of which will go toward providing comprehensive care to...

Decision: Women in Commerce brings professionals together.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Ken Cerini For 25 years, the organization called Decision: Women in Commerce and the Professions has brought together professional women with a common goal of providing each other with support and networking opportunities while...

Insider sales reap millions for LI executives.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik The past year may have been the best of times for some companies, and the worst of times for others, but for a handful of insiders at Long Island's largest firms, it was the right time to liquidate much of their stock...

Weight Watchers CEO tops in women's compensation.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Linda Huett, the president and CEO of Weight Watchers International Inc., weighed in as the highest-paid female executive at a public company based on Long Island in 2003. At No. 15 overall, Huett topped other...

Move to expense options boosts restricted stock.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff The furor in recent years over big options payouts to public company executives has led some boards of directors to choose alternative methods of rewarding their corporate stars. One way has been through restricted-stock...

Comverse chief says 'no' to bonus, 'yes' to stock ops.
June 4, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Comverse Technology Chairman and CEO Kobi Alexander waived a $500,000 bonus approved for fiscal 2003 by the firm's compensation committee. But as the chief of one of Long Island's most high-profile technology...

Suffolk County economic development commissioner spot still vacant.
June 4, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff It has been five months since Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy took office, and still no one has agreed to become the county's economic development commissioner. It's not that the county hasn't been trying. There...

Synergy Brands Inc. to sell its cigar operations to Calif.-based Business Consulting Group Unlimited.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Banking on the fame of "The Apprentice" reality TV show winner Bill Rancic, Synergy Brands Inc. plans to sell the cigar business it bought from Rancic and its other cigar operations to a firm that will spin it off as...

Long Island Power Authority Chairman to model for celebrity fashion show.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Long Island Power Authority Chairman Richard Kessel has been a consumer advocate and an energy executive. Now he's about to take his turn at modeling. Kessel, along with about 40 local politicos and business...

13 execs up for Ernst & Young awards.
June 11, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Thirteen Long Islanders have been named finalists in the 2004 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards - a total that surpasses any other in the New York metropolitan region. In all, there are 35 finalists...

Long Island Business News wins 3 Press Club awards.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Carl Corry Long Island Business News won three Press Club of Long Island Media Awards at the organization's annual dinner June 3, including first place in the weeklies-business category for a series highlighting the growth of...

Commentary: Remembering the Gipper.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff "Politics is just like show business," then-president Ronald Reagan once noted. "You have a hell of an opening, you coast for awhile, you have a hell of a closing." Looking back, Reagan gave us one helluva close. In...

Long Island Financial Briefs: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Should a broker invest the money of a 79-year-old woman into aggressive, risky growth funds? Well, that's what happened to a Commack woman, who lost about $100,000 after being placed in what Robert J. Cava said...

Long Island Technology Briefs: June 11. 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Briarcliffe College students may be dancing, surfing or slinging guns. But whatever they do, their movements will be captured in digital form. That's the plan under a new deal between Briarcliffe and Glen...

Video conferencers vie to keep clients as air travel rises.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Video and Web conferencing providers, whose growth has been stoked since 9/11 by jitters over terrorism and SARS, say their value proposition will help them retain their new clients even as business travelers return...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Long Island's industrial market continues to be a strong point in the economy, said CB Richard Ellis' Jack O'Connor at the Real Estate Practitioner's Institute event held on June 3 at Long Island University's C.W....

Long Island Legal Briefs: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Rosmaria Mancini With every spring comes the inevitable parade of brides and grooms exchanging solemn vows of marriage. While few couples enter marriage anticipating divorce, about 10 percent of them end up parting ways by the end...

Long Island Marketing Briefs: June 1, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale On June 18, there are a couple of ways you could watch the big Canadian Football League battle between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the British Columbia Lions. One, you can drive to Canada, find a bar, buy a...

Long Island Medical Briefs: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik The North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has a new chairman of the board. Daniel C. de Roulet, a businessman and member of the family that donated the land on which North Shore University Hospital at...

Founders of Bellmore-based company creates comedy show fund-raisers for nonprofits.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn If laughter is the best medicine, standup comedians John Larocchia and Cara Amore are in the business of healing. That's because Larocchia and Amore aim to dish out plenty of laughs as the founders of Bellmore-based On a...

Madison, N.J.-based consultant advises others on how to balance work and life.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Natalie Canavor Now that so many career doors are open to women, we find ourselves in a world where work threatens to overwhelm our lives. Few jobs offer a 9-to-5 option these days, and more of us are thinking about how to balance...

Long Island Non-profit Briefs: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Make-A-Wish hosts benefit concert Make-A-Wish Foundation of Suffolk County is holding a benefit concert at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on Sept. 2. The concert will feature a special performance from...

Two of Long Island's premier tech companies endure corporate scandal.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter As two of the region's most prominent technology companies sputtered through convulsive investigations in recent months and ousted executives did the corporate "perp walk," the nation's eyes have turned to Long...

Firm files $150M suit against Riverhead.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini Mark Houraney, principal of North East Holdings, has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the Town of Riverhead for breach of contract and discrimination relating to the use of the 10,000-foot runway at Enterprise...

Commentary: Higher taxes? Blame corporate scandals.
June 11, 2004... Byline: John Kiernan The indictment of seven high-ranking executives of Symbol Technologies last week was a sad chapter in the history of Long Island business. The indictment closely follows the legal problems of some top officials of...

Commentary: Reagan's standard hard to copy in GOP.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Jerry Kremer Political parties exist because they are all different. Their philosophies are never the same. Their candidates will never look alike. Their advertisements are worlds apart. The only thing that puts them on the...

Fonar increases MRI-installation rate.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Fonar Corp. (Nasdaq: FONR) said it installed four Stand-up MRIs in April and May, up from only two during that period a year ago. Fonar President Dr. Raymond Damadian said the firm is in the process of installing...

Lowe's Home Improvement may struggle getting zone change approved.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Lowe's Home Improvement is seeking approval for a zone change needed to build a 170,000-square-foot home improvement center in Syosset, but don't put your toolbelt on just yet. The address - next door to the hotly...

Education rides high on improving economy.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Many students who toss their mortar boards into the air at graduation this year can expect to find a better job market when they land thanks to an improving economy and job market. But many graduates, educators...

Higher education costs expected to get higher.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Facing increasing health-care and technology costs, many privately owned colleges on Long Island and nationwide raised tuition last year an average of about 6 percent and expect to impose similar hikes again for the...

LI colleges upgrade dorms to meet high-tech needs.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Ryan McCormick A generation ago, Johnny moved into a shoddy college dorm equipped with a bed, a desk and an incompatible roommate. The difference today is that Johnny's dorm is a palace and it gives him access to an infinite...

Entrepreneurship education comes of age.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Students interested in business have traditionally pored over books filled with examples of how successful firms ranging from Microsoft to General Electric solve problems. The idea was to study at the feet of giants...

Long Island Education Briefs June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF The State University of New York system said that enrollment in the online courses offered through its schools is rocketing. SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King said enrollments for the 2003-'04 school year in the SUNY...

Prospects brighter for college grads.
June 11, 2004... Byline: Natalie Canavor What's the employment outlook for this year's crop of college graduates? Area colleges agree that the job market is generally looking better than it has since fall 2001 - before 9/11, that is. Some job center...

Citibank announces staffing changes for June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Ann Krolikowski and Joseph Culotta were appointed financial center managers at Citibank. Krolikowski will work at the Massapequa location and Culotta will work in Plainedge. Both will be responsible for business...

Michael Faltischek of Ruskin Moscou Faltischeck elected to board of Old Westbury Gardens.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Michael Faltischek was elected to serve on the board of Old Westbury Gardens. Faltischek is a managing partner and senior member of Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, an accounting firm in Uniondale. In addition to Old...

Garden City-based Chernoff Diamond announces staffing changes: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Jill Kennedy was appointed an associate benefits consultant and Sandy Laferiere was appointed team coordinator at Chernoff Diamond in Garden City. Kennedy is responsible for providing health and welfare consulting...

Silverman appointed associate at Sahn Ward & Baker in Garden City.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Eric G. Silverman was appointed associate at Sahn Ward & Baker in Garden City. Silverman will work on real estate law, commercial litigation, zoning and land use planning. Previously Silverman was an associate with...

Michael De Palo appointed director of business development at Bohemia-based Bri-Tech.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Michael De Palo was appointed director of business development at Bri-Tech, a provider of integrated electronic systems in Bohemia. De Palo is responsible for marketing and business development for the firm. ...

Grant appointed vp and chief nursing officer for Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Patricia Grant was appointed vice president and chief nursing officer for Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre. Grant, a registered nurse, is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the nursing staff...

Long Island non-profits announce staffing changes: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF George Richardson was named chair of Philanthropy Day 2004 by the Long Island Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Richardson is director of Planned Giving and of the Annual Fund for Hofstra...

Press Club of Long Island elects 2004-05 executive board.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF The Press Club of Long Island recently elected its 2004-2005 executive board. Long Island Business News Editor Carl Corry was re-elected to a third term as president; Robert Lipper, executive editor of Island...

Long Island real estate agencies announce staffing changes: June 11, 2004.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF Sam Zaman was appointed licensed appraiser at Becker Real Estate Services in Lynbrook. Zaman is responsible for assisting the firm in appraising homes for equity, sales and estate purposes. Previously, he was...

H2M Group names water resources project coordinator.
June 11, 2004... Byline: LIBN STAFF James E. Edgette was appointed water resources project coordinator for H2M Group in Melville. Edgette is responsible for business development in the private sector. Previously, he was project manager for William...

Huntington restaurants offering live music.
June 17, 2004... Byline: Michelle Pepe In Huntington, restaurants aren't just for dining anymore. Although the hamlet is widely regarded as a cultural center on Long Island rife with quaint shops and historical hotspots its limited nightlife has...

Small biz bucks up for inflation.
June 17, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn Rising costs and inflation on Long Island have small businesses worried. Price hikes are double what they were only a year ago, according to the National Federation of Independent Business Owners. The increases are...

Suffolk Couty may block reincorporated businesses from gaining contracts.
June 17, 2004... Byline: Rosamaria Mancini It's happening all over the United States. Businesses are reincorporating in places as diverse as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and even Ireland to reduce taxes. But under new legislation passed by the Suffolk...