Fairfield County Business Journal articles from December 2000

Fairfield County Business Journal archives from December 2000

Kimberly Mac sews fantasy in her fashion.
December 4, 2000... By conventional wisdom, the road to success in the strobe-lit world of high fashion runs between two cities: New York and Paris. With designs on becoming one of the premier names in women's fashions, Kimberly Mac has blazed her own trail,...

Bridgeport scraps Harbour Place project.
December 4, 2000... Bridgeport officials have deep-sized plans for Harbour Place -- a $1 billion waterfront retail-entertainment center -- after the project's third financial backer in three years dropped out just before Thanksgiving. Mayor Joseph P. Ganim...

Champion Plaza sale imminent.
December 4, 2000... International Paper property carries $105 million price tag International Paper Inc. is negotiating with two real estate companies and a New York City investment banker to sell 1 Champion Plaza in Stamford for $105 million, real estate...

Shaw's has more in store for county with acquisition.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Shaw's Supermarkets Inc. will more than double its presence in Fairfield County in the next few months with five of the 18 Grand Union stores it has agreed to purchase from the ailing grocery chain's top creditor. Shaw's will add Grand...

The Electoral College and other nastiness.
December 4, 2000... Opinion The people spoke, but it was not their final answer. By the time you are reading this, we may have a new president. Or not. This could drag on for a long time, even allowing foreign guerrillas or terrorists to sneak into the...

10 firms attract $80.3 million in venture funding.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Ten Fairfield County companies received more than $80.3 million in venture funding during the third quarter, with. Stamford's RealCall Inc. receiving half the total. Home-Link Services Inc. of Shelton, which deploys Internet-enabled...

Agency to represent Connecticut Tourism.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... The Connecticut Tourism Council has selected a marketing advertising and in-state public relations team to spearhead a campaign on behalf of the Office of Tourism. The $6 million contract for tourism services runs from Nov.10, 2000,...

Investor confidence key to U.S. economy.(stock exchange for 2001)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Bob Zuccaro, president of Target Investors Inc.'s Grand Prix Fund in Wilton, thinks the stock market will rock and roll next year. "The events of the past year have forced the stock market down too far," said Zuccaro, a 33-year industry...

Building bridges.(telecommunications)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Today's confusing telecom landscape is a far cry from lawmakers' vision of a user-friendly market In thc mid-1990s, lawmakers peered long and hard into a crystal ball as they pondered the future of telecommunications. What appeared was...

eMarketer.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... According to eMarketer's November 2000 eCommerce: B2C Report, thc past year has brought considerable volatility to the business-to-consumer sector. In 1999, only 10 percent of consumer Internet companies were profitable, eMarketer expects 35...

Online Branding.
December 4, 2000... The report further notes that the most assertive pure-plays will. adopt an offline approach to supplement their online branding and profitability strategies. By early 2001, many dot-corns will open retail outlets in select cities to increase...

Group of occasional buyers.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 4, 2000... Internet users continue to swell the ranks of online buyers. In 2000, the number of Americans who have bought online will reach 55 million or roughly 25 percent of the overall population 14 and more years of age. This group of occasional buyers...

Online shoppers.(demographics)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Online shoppers are similar demographically to Internet users, and both groups are more affluent and educated than the average American. The gender gap, however, continues to narrow to the point of near parity.

Gender Gap.(in online shopping)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 4, 2000... Despite the narrowing of the gender gap among Internet users, when it comes to buying online, women still lag men when it comes to buying online. For example, in 2000 they still constitute only 41 percent of all online buyers. However, this...

Holiday Shopping Season.(online shopping forecasts)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 4, 2000... Last December's holiday shopping season was touted as a major litmus test of Internet shopping. Many e-tailers received low grades for on-time delivery and customer service, and the press had a field day reporting on the mishaps. But looking...

At the speed of light.(telecommunication services)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Advances in technologies set pace for tomorrow's market Ask Andrew Odlyzko what the telecommunications industry will look like Jive years from now and he'll tell you to look for higher bandwidth and faster connections. On the...

Better advertising gives high-techs an added edge.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Have you noticed that the fast-moving high-tech companies who are rolling out new products and services are rolling out ad campaigns just as fast? That's because these companies know that innovative products and services can take them only...

Millennial trends in packaging.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Branding is changing to "engage the emotions of the consumer, not just his or her eyes and ears," according to Anthony J. Pearson, senior vice president of marketing at BERNI Marketing & Design in Greenwich. "Advertising's traditional...

Change through chat.(customer service at online shoppers)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... It's one of the most frustrating things about shopping on the 'Net: You see something that catches your eye, but you need some more info before you buy. Does it come in red? And just how long will it take for it to arrive? For too many...

WORK/LIFE SOLUTION.(Lifecare.com)(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Westport-based Lifecare.com has launched a new Net service housing all its work/life services in one place. From its website (LifeCare.com), the company can steer users to a cradle-go-grave series of services from prenatal advice to geriatric...

SURVEY SAYS.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Almost half (42.3 percent) of the 1,205 respondents in a survey released Nov. 28 by the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA.org) agreed with the statement "Technology is our business." Two-thirds (66.7 percent) said their...

GO, STATE, GO!(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Bristol based ESPN and sister networks ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ESPNews will carry a different sort of cheerleading this month. They'll contribute airtime for new commercials promoting the state as a tech mecca. Gov. John Rowland appears in the...

NEW NAMES.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Effective Nov. 30, Corp. of Norwalk will call itself Applera Corp. (applera.com). The new name is intended to reflect both the company's operating businesses, the Applied Biosystems Group and the Celera Genomics Group. Applied is also a new....

P/T WK, GD BENS.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Part-time holiday employees at Verizon Wireless (verizonwireless.com) stores statewide, are being given stock options and tuition reimbursement -- benefits traditionally awarded to full-timers -- in hopes that they'll stay with the company past...

TWICE AS NICE.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Telecom product development firm OSS Corp. has doubled its headquarters space in Shelton, at One Enterprise Drive. OSS (osscorporation.com) is undertaking the expansion in anticipation of a 50 percent increase in the company's workforce, says'...

Tailwind.com, a business-building network.
December 4, 2000... Tailwind.com -- an online business-building network based in Stamford -- has raised its first round of venture capital and it is off and running. After Brad Fisher sold his last business (Aim 21 creative management systems for advertising...

Newsmakers.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Tammy Tucker was appointed vice president of executive accounts at HealthMarket, Norwalk, a developer of self-directed health care products. Tucker has 17 years of sales and marketing experience, most recently as vice president of sales at...

Assisted and Independent Living Facilities.
December 4, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Up Close.
December 4, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

Stock Watch.
December 4, 2000... [TABLE HAS BEEN CLIPPED]

ARC.
December 4, 2000... ARC, Greenwich and Stamford, a provider of services for people with developmental disabilities, received a $50,000 grant from the John H. and Ethel G. Noble Charitable Trust, Greenwich. The grant will support ARC Family Resources and the...

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.
December 4, 2000... The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, Norwalk, was awarded a $25,000 grant from Wordwide Clairol Inc., Stamford, a hair products company, to fund its "Career Exploration Night for Girls" in 2001. The event provides girls with an opportunity to...

Blue Chip Marketing Group.(Brief Article)
December 4, 2000... Blue Chip Marketing Group, Stamford, was retained by Homet Corp., Darien, a manufacturer of precision castings of alloys, to create and produce marketing materials related to its recent acquisition by Alcoa.

The Stratford Red Cross.
December 4, 2000... The Stratford Red Cross, Stratford, voted to merge with the American Red Cross of Southeastern Fairfield County, Bridgeport, which serves residents in Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe and Trumbull. It is expected that the Stratford office...

Frameshop's success is home-based.
December 11, 2000... The success of Troy Amuso and Denise DiGrigoli's Frameshop Art Services business is based on the homes of their customers. The partners have a combined 30 years of experience in the art and design industry. Amuso was graduated from the...

In praise of keeping it all in the family.
December 11, 2000... Last month, the University of Connecticut's School of Business Administration celebrated a select group of companies which have managed to keep success all in the family. No, Archie Bunker and Meathead were not on hand, just the executives...

Danbury's MicroCast goes off-line.
December 11, 2000... In the fall of 1999, Danbury's MicroCast Inc. was poised to usher in a revolutionary change in the broadcasting industry, promising to begin "streaming" television programs to home PCs via the Internet in early 2000. Throughout a good part...

AT&T discounts service as it joins local market fray.
December 11, 2000... As part of its foray into the local telephone service market in Fairfield County and Westchester County, N.Y., AT&T Corp. is offering business customers savings of 10 percent. AT&T, which has so far provided primarily long-distance, voice...

FASB weighs change in accounting method.
December 11, 2000... The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) of Norwalk has reached a tentative decision to modify certain provisions of its September 1999 proposed "Statement, Business Combinations and Intangible Assets" to require use of a...

Letter.
December 11, 2000... Private non-profit agencies at a funding crossroads To the editor: We are the directors of private agencies in Fairfield County who serve people with mental retardation and their' families. Connecticut has long been a pioneer in the...

Amplification and Corrections.
December 11, 2000... The addresses and phone numbers for Chase Manhattan Bank were incorrect in the Nov. 20 Banking and Finance resource and Advertising Guide. The correct information for Fairfield County is 999 Broad St./Floor 1, Bridgeport, CT 06604,...

Westchester lags local area in attracting venture capital.
December 11, 2000... During the third quarter, nine Fairfield County businesses received more than $106 million in venture funding, while two in Westchester County, N.Y., won only $6.6 million. In the first three quarters of this year, 25 Fairfield County...

New software product encrypts corporate data.
December 11, 2000... To stop unauthorized access to their computer data, savvy corporations set up screening systems known as firewalls. Iain Mackenzie, chief executive officer of Communication Horizons L.L.C. in Darien, sees a major defect in this approach --...

Office Buildings.
December 11, 2000... Office Buildings (greater than 200,000 square feet) Ranked by square footage of largest building built in or after 1970; alphabetically in event of tie ...

Networked computing, web-based apps are IT priorities.
December 11, 2000... Technology spending is up sharply in the United States, according to the Worldwide IT Trends & Benchmark Report 2001., released by META Group (www.metagroup.com) of Stamford. Spending on information, technology (IT) by U.S. business...

How to make the most of your e-learning experience.
December 11, 2000... For millions of employees, learning valuable business skills is a prelude to win fling the gold in the Corporate America career challenge. Acquiring this training through Internet-based courses, or e-learning, is flaunted as a new-approach...

Thomson Learning to acquire IT test and certification service.
December 11, 2000... Thomson Learning of Stamford said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Galton Technologies Inc., a provider of test assessment and certification services for the information technology (IT) industry. Financial terms were not...

Conair reaches $1 billion sales.
December 11, 2000... Conair Corp of Stamford, which celebrated its 41st anniversary this year, has reached another milestone. The company that grew from a Brooklyn, N.Y-based supplier of professional hair rollers started with a $100 investment, into a...

Dynamics of pricing eyed.
December 11, 2000... One of the biggest bombshells in e-shopping this fall was the introduction of "dynamic pricing." Long expected, this concept surfaced at Amazon.com where buyers found the site was charging different prices to different customers for DVDs. ...

Steroid misuse.
December 11, 2000... Girls and boys are now equally caught up in the social pressure for a muscular body image currently lauded in popular culture, says Charles Yesalis, Penn State University researcher who contends that these pressures are leading girls and boys...

DNA storage for consumers.
December 11, 2000... HealthScreen America (www.healthscreenamerica.com), which markets early disease detection tests directly to consumers, will be collecting and storing clients' DNA to prevent disease in the future. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based company has an...

New privacy rules.
December 11, 2000... The Clinton Administration is expected to issue new privacy rules soon concerning medical records which, for the first time, will give consumers a federal right to inspect and copy information in their medical records. Anyone who receives, or...

Murder by the numbers.
December 11, 2000... A series of brutal murders is associated with baseball and fans are plagued by fear every second of the game. The whodunit is the backdrop for a new accounting textbook by D. Larry Crumbley of Louisiana State University, Douglas E. Ziegenfuss...

Who will benefit and how?
December 11, 2000... Compensation outlook is cloudy at best as external factors exert unexpected influence The year 2000 could be considered a banner year for employees who leveraged a tight labor market to secure flexible work arrangements, creative benefit...

Cut benefits to workers and have them thank you.
December 11, 2000... How do you attract and retain valuable, trained employees? All companies at, some time must address this question. In addition to offering competitive rates of compensation, employers must offer competitive benefit packages. A simple health...

EmployeeMatters looks ahead following Intuit merger.
December 11, 2000... Six months, after it started operating, Stamford's EmployecMatters.com has accepted a merger proposal from Intuit Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Under the definitive merger plan, Intuit will pay $39 million for EmployeeMatters, an online...

E-buyers beware.
December 11, 2000... Is no secret that many of us find each day too short for our hectic schedules, especially near year's end. With the holiday season. imminent and time at a premium, consumers have increasingly turned to the Internet for their shopping needs....

Tips for successful recruiting on the Internet.
December 11, 2000... In many instances, the job market is no longer run by employers offering jobs but by candidates selling their specialized skills. Like seemingly innumerable recent business changes, technology lies behind this drastic power shift. About...

Malls see sales increase for holiday weekend.
December 11, 2000... The 2000 holiday shopping season at the nation's mails got off to a positive start over the Thanksgiving weekend, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reports. Sales in mall specialty stores increased 2.4 percent compared to...

The Walter H. Wheeler, Jr. Leadership Award.
December 11, 2000... Celebrated by an audience of over 450 members and guests, William J. Morgan, Managing Partner of KPMG LLP, received the Walter H. Wheeler, Jr. Leadership Award, from SACIA, the Business Council of Southwestern Connecticut, at a ceremony held on...

The National Economic Outlook and the Regional Forecast.
December 11, 2000... On January 25, 2001, Rae Rosen, Senior Economist and Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will peer into her magic ball for SACIA's fourth annual Economic Outlook and Regional Forecast. Her past presentations have been on track, what will...

Governor and Speaker of House Name Transportation Strategy Board to Recommend Changes to State's Transportation Policy.
December 11, 2000... The state's transportation summit "Strategic Solutions: From Gridlock to Growth," convened in September by Governor Rowland and Speaker of the House Moira Lyons (D - Stamford), attracted an audience of 200 business and political leaders from...

E - Workforce Matters.
December 11, 2000... Issues, Trends and the Impact of e: WORKFORCE 2001 On Thursday, December 14, SACIA and the Connecticut Small Business Development Center will present data, analysis and an opportunity for dialogue with three experts who will share their...

Fairfield County Companies Granted IT Training Dollars.
December 11, 2000... H1B visas - much in the news lately - are used by companies to retain foreign workers for positions they have not been able to fill from the current labor pool. In a recent SACIA analysis of H1B visas issued to Connecticut companies, 52% of the...

Academy of Women Achievers.
December 11, 2000... Marianne Keevins of Bridgeport, president and chief executive officer of 3030 Park, Bridgeport, a non-profit continuing-care, retirement community, was inducted into the Academy of Women Achievers of the YWCA of the City of New York. Keevins...

Diane Safran.
December 11, 2000... Diane Safran of Westport, educational director at the Attention Deficit Disorders Institute (ADDI), Westport, and Dr. Renata Weissberg of Fairfield, a child psychiatrist and behavioral pediatrician at the ADDI, presented an all-day seminar at...

Edward C. Fredericks.
December 11, 2000... Edward C. Fredericks of Stratford, an investment advisory associate in the Westport office of the MONY Group Inc., attained the Executive Committee status at Skandia, a financial service organization. The Executive Committee is an education...

Datahr Rehabilitation Institute.
December 11, 2000... The Datahr Rehabilitation Institute, Brookfield, a provider of health and human services for people with developmental disabilities and neurological conditions, was awarded a two-year $300,000 grant from the Pepsi Bottling Group Foundation,...

Broadford & Maloney Inc.
December 11, 2000... Broadford & Maloney Inc., Greenwich, a public relations, advertising and marketing agency focusing on the graphic arts industry, and AD Communications Ltd., Esher, Surrey, England, a media relations agency covering the print, publishing, paper...

Corporate Management Solutions Inc.
December 11, 2000... Corporate Management Solutions Inc., Shelton, a provider of equity compensation management software and services, announced that the company has changed its name to Transcentive Inc., reflecting its future business direction.

Newsmakers.
December 11, 2000... William Petrella was appointed general manager of The Westin Stamford, Stamford, a hotel owned and managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Most recently, Petrella was general manager at The Westin Grand, Washington, D.C. Prior to...

Stock Watch.
December 11, 2000... Stock Watch For the period ending Wednesday, December 6, 2000 This Last Company/Headquarters Exchange Symbol week's week's...

Shafted?
December 18, 2000... Hole-in-one contest leaves magazine holding the bag When a little white dimpled ball disappeared into a cup one rainy May night in New York City's Central Park, it forever changed Woody Harford's life and touched off a million-dollar...

eLEC Corp. pulls plug on Norwalk.
December 18, 2000... Agrowing telecom is leaving Norwalk. for a Westchester County, N.Y, city eager to follow in its footsteps by reviving its downtown with small technology businesses. eLEC Communications Corp. will move its headquarters arid principal...

Dictaphone files Chanter 11 bankruptcy.
December 18, 2000... Dictaphone Corp., Stratford's venerable manufacturer of communication recording systems, filed for bankruptcy protection in November just nine months after being acquired by a European maker of speech recognition software for $500 million. ...

Blumenthal sues to block Con Ed-NU merger.
December 18, 2000... The proposed $7.5 billion merger of The Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. with Northeast Utilities (NU) continues to move toward final approval despite Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's request to block the...

Wanna make somethin' of it?
December 18, 2000... I hadn't been born yet -- I don't think -- when they coined the term "ink-stained wretch" to describe members of the press. Some may disagree, but I don't think I'm a wretch. Ink-stained, well, that's a different story. I can remember, as...

Amplifications and corrections.
December 18, 2000... The List published Dec. 4 (page 10) contained an incorrect web address for Ashlar of Newtown. The correct address is www.masonicare.org

Back to basics for better sales.
December 18, 2000... Why do some salespeople consistently sell far more than others? Is it luck? The gift of gab? Being assigned the "right" accounts? Rarely do these factors play a crucial role. What matters is the basics, such as those that follow: *...

Don't be run off the road by adversity.
December 18, 2000... You can expect to find 23 roadblocks in your way today, everything from the minor annoyance of a traffic jam to a major snafu on the job. How you handle these incidents might reveal how successful you are in life. Paul Stoltz, an...

Pitney Bowes to spin off office systems business.
December 18, 2000... Directors of Pitney Bowes Inc. in Stamford have unanimously approved a plan to spin off the company's office systems business to stockholders as an independent, publicly traded company. The new business consists of operations in the United...

AutoInfo completes Sunteck merger, exits bankruptcy.
December 18, 2000... AutoInfo Inc. of Stamford said it has secured new financing totaling $575,000 in the form of 10-year 12 percent convertible debentures and has consummated the acquisition of Sunteck Transport Company Inc. in exchange for 10 million shares of...

Most Internet crime goes unpunished, Gartner concludes.
December 18, 2000... Governments at all levels have failed to fund resources adequately to address cybercrime, so criminals exploiting the Internet have little fear of law enforcement, according to researchers at Gartner Group Inc. in Stamford. Law enforcement...

Cygnus, North Castle make deal.
December 18, 2000... Cygnus Business Media of Westport and North Castle Partners of Greenwich have made separate acquisitions designed to strengthen their presence in their respective markets. Cygnus acquired Locksmith Publishing Corp. of Park Ridge, Ill., a...