The miserable economy is giving Americans a case of the Grinches, a new survey from Yonkers-based Consumer Reports has found. About two-thirds of people polled said the tough economy is changing holiday habits at their households. The changes include setting a spending limit for gifts (37 percent), making homemade gifts (14 percent) and not exchanging [...]

Days after announcing third-quarter results, IBM has announced that it signed a seven-year deal in the fourth quarter with a bank in the Netherlands. IBM was hired by Lanschot Bankiers to provide a variety of services, including help desk, network, telecommunications, mainframe, data center and transformation services. Van Lanschot Bankiers is the oldest independent bank [...]

IBM Corp. has opened a Global Service Delivery Center in Egypt, Big Blue’s first in the region. Initially, IBM will have 100 employees there but expects to have 1,000 in a few years. The center provides business consulting and software-related services to clients in the region as well as in France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and [...]

Hypres Inc. of Elmsford, a developer of superconducting microelectronics technology and digital radio-frequency products, said it has delivered two Digital-RF receiver systems to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Office of Naval Research. The systems are test beds for evaluating digital radio-frequency technology for wireless communications applications such as satellite and tactical communications, signals intelligence, electronic [...]

Pentegra Retirement Services of White Plains, a provider of retirement products and services in the banking and credit union markets, is in the process of acquiring five subsidiaries of the holding company Retirement System Group Inc. Pentegra has purchased Retirement System Consultants Inc., Retirement System Investors Inc. and RSG Insurance Agency. It has agreed to [...]

More than a dozen companies in the Lower Hudson Valley are ranked in Inc. magazine’s second annual list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies. They are engaged in a wide array of industries, from construction to management consulting to environmental services to Web hosting to payroll services to manufacture of infrared optics. Inc. ranked U.S.-based [...]

Debt Resolve Inc. of White Plains said its revenue in the second quarter climbed to $46,819, up from $12,507 in the second quarter of 2007. The company lost $4.2 million, or 48 cents a share, in the quarter. A year ago, the company lost $5.3 million, or 69 cents a share.

LICT Corp., a Rye-based telecommunications and media company, said its revenue in the second quarter fell 1.9 percent to $24.7 million, compared with $25.2 million a year ago. The company earned $126.72 a share in the quarter, which included $48 a share in recognized income from the New York state portion of the dissolution of [...]

Haights Cross Communications Inc. of White Plains, a publisher of educational and library books, audio products, periodicals software and online services, said revenue in the second quarter was $51.9 million, an increase of $1.3 million, or 2.7 percent, over revenue of $50.6 million a year ago. Net income was $16.3 million. A year ago, the [...]

IBM Corp. plans to announce today that it will invest $300 million to expand its business continuity and resiliency unit amid growing worldwide demand for a service that helps companies operate in case of a natural disaster, power outage or terrorist strike. The Armonk-based computer giant plans to build 13 new “business resilience centers” in [...]

Mountain Dew Voltage, a product of Purchase-based Pepsi-Cola North America, has been picked by consumers as the newest flavor extension for the brand. Flavored with raspberry citrus and ginseng, the soft drink will come to store shelves in January. The public was invited to participate in an “election” to decide between three potential new Mountain [...]

Chestnut Ridge-based LeCroy Corp., a maker of devices that measure the strength of signals in computer chips, is introducing a system for testing USB 3.0 devices, systems and software. The Voyager system is designed to help developers bring USB 3.0 devices to market faster while ensuring compatibility with the enormous installed base of USB 2.0 [...]

Purchase-based PepsiCo Inc., Seattle-based Starbucks Coffee Co. and Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Unilver have formed a new licensing agreement for the manufacture, marketing and distribution of Tazo Tea ready-to-drink iced teas, juiced teas and herbal infusions. Tazo’s line will become part of the Pepsi-Lipton tea partnership and expands the joint venture between PepsiCo and Uniliver. Starbucks’ [...]

Heineken USA, the White Plains-based beer importer that has helped support the U.S. Open tennis tournament for 17 years, said yesterday that it has formed a new relationship with tennis star and Yonkers-native James Blake, who just finished fourth at the Olympics. Blake will host a charity event and appear on U.S. Open ads and [...]

IBM Corp. and its development partners at a microchip research laboratory in Albany have built the world’s first memory chip using 22-nanometer technology. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about 80,000 times thinner than a human hair. T.C. Chen, vice president of science and technology at IBM Research in Yorktown Heights, said the [...]

A pair of retail buildings in Hartdale that are home to several restaurants and small businesses have sold for $7.75 million. John Barrett, director of sales at Massey Knakal Realty Services in New York City, which brokered the transaction, said the deal amounts to more than $375 per square foot. “It’s an excellent number. It [...]

A snack food company based in Tuckahoe is hoping for a major boost as the presidential election gets closer. LesserEvil, founded by Bronxville resident Michael A. Sands with the idea of a healthy snack food that’s a “lesser evil” than chips and such, is starting a new “Vote the LesserEvil ‘08” campaign. The company will [...]

Fujifilm USA Inc., based in Valhalla, will introduce three new digital cameras next month. The FinePix S2000HD, with 10 megapixels, is Fuji’s first digital camera with HD compatibility. The camera takes still pictures in the widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio. It also features a 2.7-inch LCD. It is priced at $299.95. The FinePix F60fd is a [...]

IBM Corp.’s Project Big Green is getting some kudos from the Progressive Investor newsletter, which included the Armonk-based computer giant in a ranking of 20 public companies that are making environmentally friendly moves. IBM was cited for work to “green” its own and its customers’ data centers, which use 100 times as much energy as [...]

Assemblyman Kenneth P. Zebrowski, D-New City, is warning consumers of predatory practices by fraudulent vehicle warranty companies. They are selling their warranties by mail and telephone. The solicitors pretend that consumers already have an existing warranty that needs renewal before it expires, Zebrowski said. He plans to introduce legislation to take on this kind of [...]