LI Business News articles from September 2004

LI Business News archives from September 2004

LaFlor Spices skips NYC, lands in Suffolk.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi LaFlor Spices Co., which packs and distributes spices to retailers throughout the Northeast, has acquired 25 Hoffman Ave. in Hauppauge, where it plans to consolidate its operations from Brooklyn and Queens. The...

Pier 1, Modell's Sporting Goods to fill The Wiz space.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Vacant for nearly two years, a former site of the now-defunct The Wiz electronics chain in Bohemia will soon welcome two new tenants: Modell's Sporting Goods and Pier 1 Imports. Modell's, which will take 19,500...

Sybari Software delays IPO amid frigid waters.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter More than three months after filing for an initial public offering, Sybari Software Inc. and its underwriters have yet to pull the trigger on the deal, and analysts say that an unforgiving capital market is largely to...

Credit card-style gift cards becoming more popular.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale For years, Ronkonkoma teenager Meghan Wheeler has had a tradition of trekking to the mall after Christmas and her birthday as the unfortunate new owner of some fashion gifts from her mother. "I never liked what...

Cablevision wins suit on 'secret' rates.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter An East End summer-house owner who charged that Cablevision Systems has a "secret" winter-rate schedule said he would appeal the dismissal of his class-action lawsuit. On Aug. 11, U.S. District Court Judge Denny...

Fortune magazine says healthcare is this year's hottest industry.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Last year home mortgage companies were hot. This year it's the healthcare industry, according to Fortune magazine's annual list of the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the country. Healthcare firms took one of...

KeySpan gets new chief for gas business.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik ***** CORRECTION: In a story about Kamco Building Supply's sale of its site at the Enterprise Park at Calverton ("Kamco drops out at EPCAL," LIBN, March 5-11) the reported sale price was incorrect. Kamco sold the...

Long Island woman climbs corporate ladder of family's auto biz.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi When it comes to car-buying decisions, men might salivate over heavy horsepower, high-powered sound systems and leather interior, but women hold the keys. Upending an old stereotype about men's car-buying...

Lleyton Hewitt wins 2004 TD Waterhouse Cup in Commack.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Australian Lleyton Hewitt easily won the 2004 TD Waterhouse Cup in Commack last week, coasting to a straight-set win over Luis Horna of Peru in the finals on Sunday. Hewitt, a former U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion,...

Manhattan McDonald's to carry McVeggie Burger.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Where's the beef? It won't be in some of McDonald's burgers in Manhattan starting this fall. The McVeggie Burger, made by Hain Celestial, is coming to Manhattan, according to a Securities and Exchange filing by the...

New investor conference builds pipeline to Wall Street.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter A new regional investor conference will bring Wall Street to Long Island this month. Twenty of the Island's elite companies will be making their case to institutional and private investors on Sept. 23 when Long...

Nixon Peabody eyes Israeli companies for new business.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Could Israeli's thriving tech industry prove to be a promised land for U.S. law firms seeking to market their services? At least one law firm is hoping that will prove the case. Law firm Nixon Peabody has...

Merger closing, cuts coming at North Fork Bancorp.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff North Fork Bancorp has told 320 employees at GreenPoint Financial Corp. that their services will not be needed after North Fork closes on its GreenPoint purchase in early October. The news came as North Fork's...

Acclaim Entertainment's future in doubt.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff After sending its employees home and closing its doors, computer-game maker Acclaim Entertainment faces long odds that it can be resurrected, an industry analyst said. Financially strapped Acclaim had made no...

Southwest Airlines expands LI service to Orlando.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff As part of a far-reaching expansion of its operations nationwide, Southwest Airlines said that as of Oct. 31 it will offer one additional daily nonstop flight between Long Island MacArthur Airport and Orlando. The...

Globecomm Systems wins $1.9M contract.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Globecomm Systems Inc. has won a $1.9 million contract from an existing customer, the satellite communications provider announced. Globecomm originally won an $8.3 million contract from the same unnamed customer,...

Netsmart Technologies signs nearly $1 million in deals.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Netsmart Technologies Inc. said it had been awarded four contracts valued at $965,000. The supplier of enterprise-wide software for health- and human-services providers said the contracts were issued to its Creative...

Henry Schein: flu vaccine will be on time.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Henry Schein Inc. stated that it expects to ship its flue vaccine in early October, as expected. The company issued the guidance in response to a press release distributed Thursday by Chiron Corp., which stated that...

Commentary: Long Island businesses to consider healthcare costs.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Heading into Labor Day - the unofficial end to summer and the return to regular business as execs scuttle back to the office from playtime in the Hamptons - there's plenty to celebrate about business on Long Island. ...

Commentary: New York State fails to create Nassau Empire Zone.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff To the Editor: Nassau County is one of only 11 counties in New York State that does not have at least one Empire Zone. Suffolk County has three such zones and Queens County two. An Empire Zone designation is vital to...

Commentary: Message to Kerry: Get over it and 'soldier on'.
September 3, 2004... Byline: John Kiernan Former Senator Max Cleland's trip last week to President Bush's ranch in Texas ostensibly to demand that Bush sign a letter condemning TV ads critical of Senator John Kerry's Vietnam service was a desperate act. I...

Commentary: For Republicans, the faces change, but the names remain the same.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Jerry Kremer Did you ever see a movie called "Captain's Paradise"? It wasn't exactly Academy Award material, but it had some funny moments. Alec Guinness was the ship's captain, and every time he crossed over some boundary line, he...

The long goodbye begins for Fleet Bank name.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Marketing experts say that most customers have no idea that an acquisition is in the works until a bought-out company changes its name. Trying to change that, and avoid surprising customers, Bank of America has...

New York gains VC momentum.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale So Long Island didn't garner any VC financing for the second quarter, according to the PricewaterhouseCoopers/Venture Economics/National Venture Capital Association MoneyTree Survey, but the rest of the New York...

Tax-free clothes week in New York.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale We're in the midst of a tax-free week for clothes and footwear in New York. Shoppers have through Sept. 6 to buy clothing items totaling $110 or less and avoid being taxed. For those who don't have the time to...

Behind the headlines at Computer Associates' annual meeting.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Headlines emerging from the recent Computer Associates annual meeting focused on the defeat of a shareholder proposal to have the company press for the return of executive bonuses won as a result of fraudulent...

SearchHelp plans to purchase maker of digital ID systems.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Bethpage-based SearchHelp Inc. (OTC: SHLP) has signed a letter of intent to purchase Digital Card Systems, a maker of digital photo identification systems. Under the letter of intent, SearchHelp, a maker of...

Center of Excellence in Wireless and Info. Tech. holding conference.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Symbol Technologies Chief Executive Bill Nuti and Computer Associates Chief Technology Officer Yogesh Gupta will be among those delivering keynotes at a conference by the Center of Excellence in Wireless and...

Retail development spurt keeps Breslin Realty busy.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Wilbur Breslin, president of Garden City-based Breslin Realty Development Corp., announced that his company is in the midst of building 1.7 million square feet of retail space in the New York metropolitan region and...

Treeline Companies sees leasing activity at 200 Garden City Plaza.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Leasing transactions for more than 20,000 square feet have been consummated at 200 Garden City Plaza, a 130,000-square-foot office building owned by Treeline Companies. New tenants at the complex include Bornstein...

Cornerstone Development acquires Islip industrial site.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi The real estate investment company Cornerstone Development has acquired an 80,000-square-foot industrial building at 181 Freeman Ave. in Islip. The building is situated on seven acres and can be expanded up to 30,000...

Dowling College establishes grants for building and construction trades.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi Dowling College will fund Public Service Grants equivalent to 25 percent of regular tuition charges to eligible members of the Nassau-Suffolk Long Island Building & Construction Trade Council, allowing them to attend...

Movies on the cheap at Staller Center for the Arts.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Over the summer, the Staller Center for the Arts held its Stony Brook Film Festival. The July event included showings of "Swimming Upstream", a movie starring Geoffrey Rush, "Garden State," with Natalie Portman and...

DirecTV pushes its NFL package.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Both big satellite companies, Dish Network and DirecTV, along with Cablevision's digital cable system, offer Major League Baseball, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association season passes. ...

HSBC Bank to launch new promotional campaign.
September 3, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Looking to win over new customers, HSBC Bank launched a campaign in the spring, offering free binoculars to its customers and their friends willing to open an account there. Then the binoculars gave way to a...

Computer Associates stock up 3%.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Computer Associates International Inc.'s (NYSE: CA) stock rose 3 percent for the week to $24.51 after the company announced that it has begun selling two security software packages, eTrust EZ Armor 2005 Security Suite...

Acclaim Entertainment stock drops to 10 cents.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff How low can Acclaim Entertainment (NasdaqSC: AKLM) go? The company's stock dropped another 41 percent, to 10 cents, after negotiations with a potential lender didn't produce a new credit line and an extension...

One firm's voyage from Waverunners to yachts.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Tony Villareale began his career in boating at age 13, when he took a summer job at a Westhampton beach club cleaning yachts. By the time he went to college, his little production had grown into a full-fledged...

Developmental Disabilities Institute names new director of development.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Rockville Centre resident Daniel Rowland was named director of development at the Developmental Disabilities Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Smithtown that provides programs for developmentally disabled...

Holtz Rubenstein adds two to audit department.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman John Pavuk and Joseph Purpura were named to the audit department at Holtz Rubenstein. Pavuk will be a senior accountant. He spent 10 years as a financial recruiter before returning to school and earning a...

Long Island educational facilities announce staffing changes: Sept. 3, 2004.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Peter Stanisci was named director of information technology at Touro College Law Center. He will be in charge of the school's computer network. Previously, he led the IT department at several companies,...

LI financial institutions announce staffing changes: Sept. 3, 2004.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Joseph Burns of Malverne has joined The Marshall Group. He will manage the firm's East Coast loan-origination efforts. With more than 15 years in the field of commercial banking, he previously worked for Merrill...

Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser adds patent atty. to staff.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Dermott Cooke has joined the Garden City law firm of Scully, Scott, Murphy & Presser as a patent attorney. He will assist in preparing and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications. Cooke is a biological...

LI nonprofits announce staffing changes: Sept. 3, 2004.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Barry Karlin was elected president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of the chamber for 10 years. Most recently, he was on the executive board as director at large. Thaddaeus Hill,...

SIGMA Staffing names two new VPs.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Melville-based SIGMA Staffing has appointed Ronda Scharlat vice president and Melanie Ford vice president of operations. In addition, Hally R. Gottleib was named director of accounting at the finance division. ...

Albrecht, Viggiano IT director designated fraud examiner.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Douglas Hart, IT director at Albrecht, Viggiano, Zureck & Co. in Hauppauge, has been designated a certified fraud examiner by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Hart passed the CFE exam and met the...

Ex-HR exec. opens tea shop.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn Pat Sileo delved into entrepreneurship by creating a five-year plan. In it, she wrote something like this: Leave the corporate world and open a tea shop by age 50. That was in 1999, when she was 45. This past January,...

Pederson-Krag Center addresses shifting mental-health populace.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Ken Cerini For more than 45 years, The Pederson-Krag Center has been providing behavioral health services to an underserved population in Suffolk County that faces several challenges in its quest to find treatment, housing and...

Teen fights disease through fund-raising.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Rather than sitting home and playing video games, one 15-year-old Long Island boy is taking action to fight juvenile diabetes. John Carlos Routh, who was diagnosed with the disease several years ago, raised $7,500...

LI Alzheimer's Foundation holding pet walk fundraiser.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Break out your leashes and get ready to take a walk to fight Alzheimer's Disease. The Long Island Alzheimer's Foundation is holding its third annual "Paws to Remember Pet Walk." The walk, to be held Sept. 12 at...

Holiday greeting-card sales support American Cancer Society.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman From September through December, the American Cancer Society will be selling holiday cards whose sales will help contribute to the fight against cancer. The cards cost between $25 and $40. Contact the American Cancer...

Vytra Health helps LIers quit smoking.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman Vytra Health Plans wants to help you quit smoking. Beginning Sept. 15, the company will hold a smoking cessation workshop led by Vytra Health Educations every Wednesday through Oct. 6. The program, which is free...

NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program to hold 'humor' forum.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman At a time when many cry, Jerry DiGiovanna will teach you why laughter really can be good medicine. On Sept. 21 Adelphi NY Statewide Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program will hold a forum called "Humor - The...

CDC brings Latino homeowner program to Long Island.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Wendy Friedman The Community Development Corp., in cooperation with HSBC Mortgage Corp. and Freddie Mac, announced "Mi Primera Casa," a homeowner initiative that will help Latinos become homeowners on Long Island. The program...

Town of Brookhaven opts for 'open' floor plan for new town hall.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Before the Town of Brookhaven could begin moving into its new town hall, a three-story, 73,000-square-foot white office building in Farmingville that it acquired from Allstate Insurance Co. two years ago, the firm had...

With ergonomics, the equipment is just half the battle.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Ergonomics consultant Cindy Roth was impressed by the offices of a large actuarial firm she visited in March. Roth found all the latest equipment at the sleek office: flat screen monitors, adjustable ergonomic chairs...

Stretches help sedentary workers.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Let's say you've set up an ergonomic workstation where everything's just right and you use it properly. Are you done? Experts said that's only half the battle. If you spend the whole day seated in one place, chances...

Interview with president of Baldassano Architectural Group.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Charles Baldassano, president of the Baldassano Architectural Group in Ronkonkoma, has designed some of Long Island's best-known and most high-profile structures, ranging from Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma...

The brave new facades of industrial park buildings.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi The Hauppauge Industrial Park is the nation's second largest with 14 million square feet of development spread across 1,400 acres. It has been the hub of industrial activity on Long Island for decades. But the region...

Billings up for architects nationwide.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Architects' total billings nationwide are on the rise, according to the American Institute of Architects. In its June index, the AIA reported those increased billings for the sixth consecutive month. The largest...

Steelcase Inc. lends helping hand in recycling.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Steelcase Inc. has launched a program designed to improve the longevity and allow for more environmentally friendly disposition of its office furniture. In June, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based furniture maker launched...

Carr Business Systems honored by Huntington chamber.
September 3, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Carr Business Systems, a distributor of office equipment, has won the Huntington Chamber of Commerce Regional Business Partnership Business of the Year Award of Excellence. Carr, a Melville-based company owned by...

Commentary: Bush's NY visit focuses on leadership, terrorism.
September 3, 2004... Byline: Martin Cantor The Republicans came to New York - arguably the most Democratic city in the nation - to make their case for why George Bush should be given a second term. By this point in the campaign season, with the economy and...

Companies seek to trademark their names in order to define their place in the marketplace.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Jennifer Lopez is doing it. So are North Fork Bank, Howard Stern and Symbol Technologies. Donald Trump has done it repeatedly. All, it turns out, have distinctive names that help define a place in their respective...

Increasing cost of health insurance forces companies to increase employee contributions.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Adina Genn Continued spikes in the cost of health insurance are forcing companies to increase the amount employees pay for benefits. And in an effort to contain costs, some firms plan to reduce or eliminate benefits altogether,...

Suffolk County Planning Comm. overhauls Town of Riverhead's commercial zoning map.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Nick Anastasi The Suffolk County Planning Commission has approved a massive overhaul of the Town of Riverhead's commercial zoning map, clearing the way for the town to OK the plan later this month. Town officials say the new...

Garden City-based Emerging Vision plans new marketing campaign.
September 10, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale Emerging Vision, the Garden City-based parent company of 180 franchised Sterling Vision and Site for Sore Eyes stores, plans to run a marketing campaign next year worth $3 million in an effort to drive up sales....

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System invests $15M for 'smart' beds.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik In a move that gives new meaning to the idea of bedside manner, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has invested about $15 million for more than 1,600 "smart" beds at seven of its hospitals. North...

Long Island pharmaceutical firms back posting of drug trial data.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter In the wake of Forest Laboratories' agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to create an online database for drug trials, other pharmaceutical companies with Long Island operations said they would...

Daniel Kane, CEO of Nassau Health Care Corp., takes one of the toughest jobs on Long Island.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik Daniel Kane had a very short retirement. It lasted all of 33 days. Less, in fact, if you consider the time he spent vying to take over as acting chief executive officer of Nassau Health Care Corp., the embattled group...

Accountants express concern about enactment of Check 21.
September 10, 2004... Byline: David Reich-Hale The 21st Century Act, known as Check 21, could save the banking industry up to $2 billion annually, but it's not putting smiles on the faces of local accountants, who fear the legislation will put a dent in their...

Tech firms and colleges voice fears over peer-to-peer Senate bill.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff A Senate bill that would allow peer-to-peer networks and others to be sued for "inducing" children to infringe copyrights by downloading music has hit some discordant notes. The bill, S. 2560, authored by Utah Sen....

Riverhead's Tweeds Restaurant and Buffalo Bar offers bison-based entrees.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff On the heels of veggie burger launches by McDonald's and Burger King, Riverhead's Tweeds Restaurant and Buffalo Bar is pursuing healthy eating from a different angle. The eatery is introducing bison-based entrees,...

Pall Corp. allocates funds for water cleanup in Michigan.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Claude Solnik High-tech filter maker Pall Corp. makes products aimed at keeping medical, industrial and aerospace systems clean, but the company has its own mess to clean up. In a Sept. 2 Securities and Exchange filing, Pall...

Ruskin Moscou Faltischek forms alliance with a seven-lawyer firm in the Hudson Valley.
September 10, 2004... Byline: Ken Schachter Seeking a foothold in what it envisions as a fast-growth market, Ruskin Moscou Faltischek has formed an alliance with a seven-lawyer firm in the Hudson Valley. Ruskin Moscou co-managing partner Michael Faltischek...

New satellite TV service Voom featured in Wall Street Journal column.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff The Wall Street Journal, in its Heard on the Street column, reported that many institutional investors are expected to sell their shares of Rainbow Media Enterprises, which includes new satellite TV service Voom, once...

Northrop Grumman to give $125,000 to Long Island Museum of Science and Technology.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Fund-raising efforts of the Long Island Museum of Science and Technology (LIMSAT) received a shot in the arm with a planned $125,000 donation by Northrop Grumman Corp. Philip Teel, vice president of Northrop...

Town of Babylon creates community court.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Two years after asking the state for permission to create the Town of Babylon Community Court, Supervisor Steven Bellone announced that the town is proceeding with a Community Court through its municipal home rules...

Verint Systems buys German video security firm.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Verint Systems Inc. has acquired closely held RP Sicherheitssysteme GmbH (RP Security), a developer of mobile video security technology based in Flensburg, Germany. Verint bought the 50-person company for about $12...

CEO of CMP Media parent to step down.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff In a surprise announcement, Clive Hollick, chief executive of United Business Media, the parent of Manhasset-based CMP Media, said he will leave the company in May 2005. In a press release, Hollick said his successor...

Dolan Media buys Lawyers Weekly.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff Dolan Media Co., the publisher of Long Island Business News, has acquired Lawyers Weekly Inc., a 14-newspaper chain that covers the legal profession and has a circulation of more than 90,000. The acquisition included...

Commentary: Let's not give up on Southampton.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff School's in, and at Long Island University's Southampton College, everyone's understandably sad about the campus' educational lame-duck status. Sure, the graduate program of 200 students will live on, but it's tiny...

Commentary: Open space measures deserve to fail.
September 10, 2004... Byline: LIBN Staff There are several open space bond referenda in both Nassau and Suffolk counties proposed for this November. Government acquisition of land for "open space preservation," including any form of bond referendum, should be...

Commentary: GOP convention arouses anger on streets of NY.
September 10, 2004... Byline: John Kiernan The 2004 Republican National Convention last week was an interesting experience, and in some ways it was a flashback to the conventions of 1968 and 1972. In those years, the country was deeply divided over a war that...