LI Business News articles from September 2007

LI Business News archives from September 2007

Melville-based Arrow Electronics Inc. wraps Europe buys.
September 4, 2007... Byline: David Reich-Hale Electronics distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. said Tuesday it has closed its $32 million acquisition of Centia Group Ltd. and AKS Group Nordic AB, Europe-based distributors of software and access infrastructure....

Big deal for Comtech Telecommunications Corp.
September 4, 2007... Byline: David Reich-Hale Comtech Telecommunications Corp. said Monday it has nailed down a $605 million contract with the U.S. Army for its movement tracking system. The deal, to be handled by Comtech's Maryland subsidiary, follows...

RexCorp ups bid for 755 acres of land in Calverton.
September 6, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg RexCorp has raised its offer for 755 acres of land in Calverton to $125 million, with strings attached. A letter sent by RexCorp Chief Executive Scott Rechler to Riverhead Supervisor Phil Cardinale Wednesday...

Nassau and Suffolk hospitals have room for improvement.
September 6, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder Several Nassau and Suffolk hospitals have room for improvement in their costs and quality of care, according to The New York State Health Accountability Foundation's report card evaluating New York and hospitals and...

Southold bridge gets makeover.
September 6, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Less than a week after the state said it was expanding its Web site to include more information on the condition of its bridges, the regional director of the New York State Department of Transportation said...

Long Island Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention adds to board.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Ellen P. Birch, vice president of Realtime Reporting and the Realtime Center for Learning, has been appointed to the board of directors of the Long Island Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention....

Harold L. Kestenbaum joins Uniondale law firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Franchise attorney Harold L. Kestenbaum has joined the Uniondale law firm Ruskin Moscou Faltischek as of counsel. Kesetnbaum will also chair the firm's new Distribution and Licensing Practice Group and serve as a...

New York State's Hospital Review and Planning Council appoints chairman.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Jeffrey Kraut, senior vice president of strategic planning and marketing at the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, has been appointed chairman of New York State's Hospital Review and Planning Council.

SUNY Stony Brook hires James Quigley as instructor.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff SUNY Stony Brook has hired environmental and political scientist James Quigley as an instructor. The school also announced that mathematician Alexander Retakh, an expert in representation theory and...

Commack-based Nautilus appoints Stephan Hoffman project consultant.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Commack-based construction consulting firm Nautilus has appointed Stephen Hoffman project consultant. Hoffman's responsibilities will include analyzing project documentation, critical path method...

VP of the State Bank of Long Island designated as 2007 Woman of Distinction.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Kathleen Stanley, vice president of State Bank of Long Island, was designated by New York State Assemblyman Rob Walker as a 2007 Woman of Distinction. Stanley is responsible for expanding State Bank's...

Melville-based Stantec hires senior commissioning/validation specialist.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Long Island Business News Staff Scott Latimer has joined the Melville-based architecture and engineering firm Stantec as senior commissioning/validation specialist at one of the firm's Life Science and Technology Centers. Latimer...

Commentary: Odds are, this is Elmont's last chance.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Martin Cantor Governor Eliot Spitzer has a golden opportunity to revitalize the Elmont business district with his plans for Belmont Racetrack. It's a long time coming for a beleaguered community that has struggled for years to...

Commentary: Leahy fumbles after Craig crumbles.
September 7, 2007... Byline: John Kiernan Every year or so I write a column straight from the "What in the World Could They Have Been Thinking?" file. The protagonists never cease to amaze me, and I also believe they amaze the readers of this newspaper. ...

Commentary: Another moral black eye for the GOP.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Jerry Kremer Politicians constantly bemoan the fact that Americans have no respect for this country's political process or the people who are part of it. The events of the past few months haven't done much for the political...

Commentary: Out East: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Jeff Miller Waiting on (and pricing) LI's 'vintage of the century' There's no disputing taste. Whoever coined that expression should hang out in the tasting room of an East End vineyard for a while. There's nothing but...

Long Island Technology Briefs: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder On the next frontier, BNL joins DNA, nanoparticles Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory are studying how to control both the speed of nanoparticle assembly and the structure...

Many kids following family footsteps into Long Island real estate.
September 7, 2007... Growing up on Long Island, Craig Weiss had summer jobs in his father's commercial real estate business, T. Weiss Realty. But after graduating from the University of Richmond in Virginia with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Weiss...

A building debate over apprenticeship requirements on Long Island.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Where apprenticeships are concerned, Oyster Bay is on board. The town is the latest on Long Island to require contractors working on private buildings 100,000 square feet and larger to offer apprenticeship...

EPA: Ban ozone-depleting air conditioners by 2010.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik The air conditioning industry is getting a breath of fresh air as federal regulations phase out ozone-depleting units from homes and commercial buildings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is slowly doing...

Ones to Watch: Long Island Real Estate/Construction Professionals: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Jaclyn Bertuglia: Account executive, Laro Service Systems Bertuglia has become a major part of this 31-year-old Bay Shore cleaning, maintenance and janitorial company with $65 million in annual sales and 900...

Commercial lending feels real estate's ripple effect on Long Island and nationwide.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik The credit crunch and mortgage industry meltdown aren't only leading to problems in obtaining home loans - they're increasing the cost of financing for commercial construction. But experts hold mixed views about...

Long Island accounting firms announce staffing changes: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Holtz Rubenstein Reminick in Melville appointed Stephen Aponte senior manager. Aponte specializes in tax planning and compliance for individuals and businesses of all sizes, and assists privately held investment...

Long Island teen tackles Tourette's stereotypes.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Kennth R. Cerini Affecting some 200,000 Americans, Tourette Syndrome is a disorder like no other. Falsely stereotyped by the media, Tourette's is largely misconceived. Education is the key to understanding, and the Long Island...

Accepting the challenge at Greenstone/Fontana of Hauppauge.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Name: Ron Paragallo Agency: Greenstone/fontana New title: Vice President of Creative Services Awards: Best on Long Island Huntington resident Ron Paragello has joined advertising agency Greenstone/Fontana...

Why I left behind the big firm.
September 7, 2007... In viewing the dismaying trend of big-city law firms breaking the $1,000-per-hour billing threshold, I am reminded why I left behind a large national firm with 1,500 attorneys for a smaller one that offers me more control and -- perhaps most...

West Babylon-based Target Group Media designs informative, entertaining Web sites.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Giant letters emerge slowly from the sea, pushing aside screen-drenching waves, spelling "Trump on the Ocean" in golden glory. Intro to a new film? Animated advertisement? Good guesses, but wrong - simply a...

With Long Island lenders, bigger isn't always better.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Laura Theis Long Island community banks are ready to thwart the notion that bigger is better, at least in terms of mortgage lending. But national mega-banks maintain the old adage. Big-time players such as North Carolina-based...

Trio sticks together as things fly apart at Melville-based American Home Mortgage.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Laura Theis The rapid demise of Melville-based American Home Mortgage left 1,500 Long Islanders without jobs. But for Kimberly Collins, Leslie Baran and Mary Ann Benzola, the closing of the nation's 10th largest mortgage lender was...

Long Island walk-in clinic helping reduce emergency room overcrowding.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder You know the scene: The emergency room is packed with irritable children, hastily bandaged limbs and several skateboard tricks gone wrong. Life-threatening injuries roll by on gurneys as you sit and wait for someone...

Great Neck waterfront plan grounded.
September 7, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Efforts to rezone - and eventually redevelop - 19 acres of Great Neck waterfront have run aground again. The Village of Great Neck rezoned the industrial zoned property on Shore Road to a "waterfront...

Syosset-based Star Industries celebrates 40 years in business.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Never call his booze "cheap." Martin Silver prefers "popularly priced" when describing Georgi Vodka. And don't get your nose up in the air about the quality of Georgi, the flagship spirit of Silver's...

Oyster Bay Town Board accepts hamlet study and cracks down on illegal housing.
September 7, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Very little grass has grown recently under the feet of the Oyster Bay Town Board. The board has been busy, approving an environmental bond issue, accepting a new hamlet study and cracking down on illegal...

Long Island Business News Follow Ups: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: LIBN staff LI economy still livin' on the edge Long Island's economy is still on the edge of a recession, according to Pearl Kamer. In April, LIBN reported that the Long Island Association's chief economist had spotted...

Fla. firm plans Wi-Fi network for Long Island.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder Google couldn't do it in San Francisco. Earthlink pulled out in Chicago. But e-Path Communications is confident about its chances on Long Island. In fact, e-Path is certain it can bring wireless Internet access to...

Two Minutes with Roger Shand, business mgr. of electrical workers union.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Roger Shand, 56, is the business manager of Local 1049 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, taking on his duties in February with the 2,500 Long Island local. Before, during and after British-based...

Commentary: Washington shares blame for mortgage crisis.
September 7, 2007... Byline: LIBN staff It took an unprecedented mortgage crisis with ramifications across numerous business sectors to get our representatives in Washington to pay attention to the real estate industry. But even as the industry tumbles and...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Dueling protests over Brookhaven's proposed tax Close to 200 people - mostly realtors - came to Brookhaven Town Hall Tuesday to sound off against the town's proposed 2 percent real estate transfer tax. ...

Long Island Medical Briefs: September 7, 2007.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder Small packages: SB debuts new brain procedure He had been hospitalized twice in a month, and still Joseph Chibbaro had no idea what was wrong. A former star baseball pitcher for Cortland State, the 60-year-old...

Big Apple Herpetological to expand services to other pets.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Entrepreneurs look for opportunities everywhere. Steven Spitz, living in a one-bedroom New York City apartment with his pet snake, was no different. It started in 1993 when Spitz, a fourth-grade teacher, visited...

How To...Choose an air charter company.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Private charters have something over commercial airlines: convenience. You can take off when you want, significantly reduce your check-in time and land at thousands of airports inaccessible to commercial planes....

Networking sites let Long Island advertisers have some fun.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Nicolas Stanco created a sleek, fun Web site (www.tacorack.com) for his Ronkonkoma-based company, La Cook-a-Rack-a, a purveyor of racks for cooking tacos. The site includes a few customer testimonials, and if...

Long Island-based Right At Home offers in-home supportive care and personal assistance.
September 7, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Before taking the plunge into a startup, it's good to have some experience with the industry's currents and shoals. Lilethe Acevedo started as a home health-care provider in her native Florida, working for her...

RexCorp Realty partners with Midtown Equities.
September 11, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg RexCorp Realty has agreed to partner with Midtown Equities for work on three developments, including a project to build 244 luxury condos in North Hills. The new company called RexMidtown Development LLC, will...

New York state's First Lady tackles brain drain.
September 11, 2007... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Though the loss of New York talent to other regions affects the entire state, "something is really amiss" on Long Island, the state's First Lady Silda Wall Spitzer concluded Monday night. And powerful Long...

Melville-based Verint Systems posts higher revenue.(Financial report)
September 11, 2007... Byline: David Reich-Hale Melville-based Verint Systems Inc. on Monday reported second quarter revenue of $129.5 million, a 40 percent increase from the same period a year ago. However, the analytic software company posted a net loss of...

New suburban center in Nassau County still in planning stages.
September 12, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg RexCorp chief executive Scott Rechler told a group of business leaders Wednesday that the plan to redevelop 77 acres surrounding the Nassau Coliseum is still in the planning stages and adjustments are being made to...

Development group to form steering committee for Nassau Coliseum redevelopment.
September 13, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Long Island's best and brightest will have a chance to weigh in on a $2 billion proposal to redevelop Nassau Coliseum and 77 Hempstead acres. The Lighthouse Development Group, a partnership between software...

Commentary: Time to drop the curtain on Troopergate.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Jerry Kremer Broadway has almost any type of production that you could ask for - comedy, drama, music, poetry. Albany has its own kind of theater, but unfortunately the only production in town is at the state capitol and it's a...

LI hospitals get mixed grades on 'report card'.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder Several Long Island hospitals shine and others show room for improvement in the quality of care they offer, according to the New York State Health Accountability Foundation. A foundation "report card" released...

Long Island home insurance providers reevaluating risk exposure.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Laura Theis Rattled by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, major Long Island home insurance providers are reevaluating their risk exposure - and leaving many homeowners out in the cold. With some of the most expensive storms in the...

Cambridge Home aims to capitalize on second-home mortgage market.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Laura Theis Long Island's economically elite may have an advantage over the common mortgage borrower in the current credit crunch. Cambridge Home Capital, a Great Neck-based mortgage bank, is reporting a certain stability in...

Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce wants some coin from video-gaming plan.
September 13, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg The Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce is opposing a plan to put video lottery terminals at the Belmont Park racetrack. But the group is willing to revisit the idea if the proposal adds local school tax...

Best practice: Get paid, and make it quick.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Edward Poll Recently, I moderated an American Bar Association panel discussion on financial best practices. Not surprisingly, the best practice all participants agreed on was that lawyers and law firms need to get their fees paid...

Commentary: As China looms, we must protect our patents.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Alfonse D'Amato There are an awful lot of commentators out there preparing to learn Chinese, the language of what they believe will be the sole superpower of the 21st Century. Given its population base, its commitment to a robust...

Big land deals in Bethpage.
September 13, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg The future is now for 49 acres in Bethpage once owned by Northrup Grumman. CB Richard Ellis in Woodbury, which consults Nassau County on real estate, recently brokered two deals totaling over a million square...

Suffolk County hires Newmark Knight Frank.
September 13, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Suffolk County has hired commercial brokers Newmark Knight Frank to consult on real estate matters. The Melville office of Newmark Knight beat out a handful of competing firms for the consulting job. ...

Allstate Insurance to comply with State of New York request.
September 13, 2007... Byline: Henry E. Powderly II Allstate Insurance Co. on Wednesday said it will comply with a state request that it stop non-renewing homeowners insurance to customers who do not carry other Allstate insurance. The Illinois-based...

New York State Appellate court denies Oyster Bay request to appeal ruling.
September 13, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg A New York State Appellate court on Wednesday rejected the Town of Oyster Bay's request to appeal a ruling that forces it to give specific reasons for why it would reject a proposal to build a mall on the former...

Long Island banks announce staffing changes: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Community National Bank has named Bethpage resident Victoria LeFayt assistant vice president and branch manager of the bank's new Woodbury branch. Prior to Community National Bank, LeFayt was vice president and...

A look at some of Long Island's empty commercial properties.
September 14, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Businesses come and go, but the buildings they occupy remain, even when their tenants are swallowed by the mists of history. Languishing amidst the commercial landscape, these abandoned monuments to failure can...

Westbury-based PL Development adds two new sales directors.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Westbury-based PL Developments has added two new sales directors. Kari Caruso joins PL Developments after serving as national accounts manager for Leiner Health Products; Mark McCumby formerly worked as director of...

Long Island real estate firms announce staffing changes: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Craig Weiss, son of T. Weiss Realty Chief Executive Officer Ted Weiss, has joined the Melville firm as lead leasing and acquisitions agent. Prior to joining T. Weiss, he was a trader at Scout Capital Management in...

Melville-based Progressive Marketing Group hires manager of client relations.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Bay Shore resident Julie Robinson-Tingue has joined Melville-based Progressive Marketing Group as manager of client relations. Robinson-Tingue is responsible for creating and managing comprehensive public relations...

Long Island medical facilities announce staffing changes: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Agnes T. O'Connor, administrator of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook University Medical Center, has been awarded the Johnson & Johnson Community Healthcare Improvement Project Award. O'Connor was honored...

Long Island financial firms announce staffing changes: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds The Long Island chapter of Financial Executives International has reelected Neil M. Kaufman president. Kaufman is chairman of the corporate and securities practice of Davidoff Malito & Hutcher of Garden City; he...

Community Education Council for Public School District 28 elects president.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Joseph Trotti, a partner in the Litigation Practice Group at Capell Vishnick in Lake Success, has been elected president of the Community Education Council for Public School District 28, which represents schools in...

Commentary: Out East: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Jeff Miller Big Duck's little migration could be a huge boost Recently, a slew of bold-face names flocked to East Hampton for the mega-colossal "White Party" thrown annually by Sean "Diddy" Combs. According to breathless...

Long Island Real Estate Briefs: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg Is NYU considering a Long Island campus? At the Association for a Better Long Island's get-together last week at the Maxwell & Dunne Steakhouse's Race Palace in Plainview, Island movers and shakers bet on the...

Long Island Medical Briefs: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder State's medical malpractice task force names names Major players in the health industry are being brought together to sniff out solutions to the high costs of medical malpractice and insurance. Members of the...

Long Island Technology Briefs: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Alison Snyder At BNL, hold the cocoa butter and pass the nanorods Brookhaven National Laboratory scientists have developed a way to improve your sunscreen. Researchers have worked out new ways to make or modify the nanorods...

Mineola orthotics, prosthetics firm gets a leg up.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy A heavy investment in the newest technologies and constant generation of new ideas has resulted in a decade-long growth spurt for East Coast Orthotic & Prosthetic. From a two-man operation in a 250-square-foot...

How To...Plan a company holiday party.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Bernadette Starzee Attending a company holiday party should be fun, but planning one is a lot of work. Get started as soon as possible, as the best venues book early. First, determine exactly how much you can spend. Your budget...

Nassau Board of Cooperative Educational Services happy with Robert J. Hanna.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds Name: Robert J. Hanna Title: Deputy superintendent Organization : Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County Degree: Ph.D. in educational administration and policy studies The Nassau Board of...

Long Island accounting firms announce staffing changes: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds East Hills resident Zafar Bin Basher has joined the Melville-based firm Marcum & Kliegman as partner in charge of business valuation. Prior to joining the firm, Bin Basher was a director at Lazar Lipton Valuation...

Long Island Nonprofit Briefs: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Erin E. Edmonds EAC sets fundraising record The Education and Assistance Corp. raised a record $236,392 June 25, when it hosted a day of golf and its Tropical Paradise Evening dinner. More than 200 golfers participated in...

Commentary: Neglected elderly? Not on this watch.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Kennth R. Cerini When it comes to working with the elderly, even the most eager volunteer is often less-than-eager to participate, and therefore the geriatric population is often neglected. Luckily, the Elder Watch Foundation lives...

Bellmore's 'Chocolate lady' sculpts a new brand of success story.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Ambrose Clancy Broke, with a cafe bill to pay, Lee Perrotta, an art student traveling through the south of France, offered to wash dishes. Her kitchen duty not only paid for her meal, but she soon had a regular job - and an...

Long Island companies use extra-curricular sports to build team spirit.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Long Island companies run great lengths to encourage teamwork. Company-sponsored sports teams foster team spirit and morale, according to executives; they inculcate discipline, teach employees to handle pressure...

Long Island's tech sector hangs the 'help wanted' sign.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Wanted: Scientists. Must have five years' experience and be willing to relocate to Long Island. Yes, there's a premium on big brains here on Long Island. As the Island's tech sector rallies - fueled by a growing...

Long Island companies finding their inner Web staffs.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik When it comes to Web operations, companies are finding talent close to home by retraining existing employees for the digital age. Ronkonkoma-based VAI, an IBM software provider and integrator, first began...

Debating the pros and cons of an online education.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Joseph Harten, a student at Empire State College and retired New York Police Department sergeant, recently finished an emergency management class without ever meeting his teacher. Harten, studying for his...

Ones to Watch: Long Island Human Resources Professionals: September 14, 2007.
September 14, 2007... Byline: Claude Solnik Bob Byrnes: Risk manager, The Alcott Group Byrnes brings 25 years of experience to his job at an employer organization providing human resource-outsourcing services to other organizations. He is responsible for...

Islip planning to redevelop west side of MacArthur Airport.
September 14, 2007... Byline: David Winzelberg While one side of Islip's MacArthur Airport has a gleaming new terminal building, the other side of the airport is starting to show its age. That's one of the reasons the town is seeking proposals to redevelop...