Business in the Burbs » Julie Moran Alterio

Economy takes toll on holiday shopping

Julie Moran Alterio — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:31:29 +0000

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 gifts at all (6 percent).
As of Dec. 7, only 56 percent of those surveyed had started their holiday shopping. And 29 percent said they don’t expect to wrap it up until Dec. 23 or even later. One in 10 shoppers won’t be done until Christmas Eve, according to Consumer Reports.
Tod Marks, senior project editor at Consumer Reports, said the upside is that consumers will be more likely to find a deal. One in four consumers who have started their shopping think the deals are better this year, compared to 13 percent who say they are worse.
One bright spot for retailers in the survey is that the average number of gifts consumers expect to purchase is the same as last year: 14.

IBM inks deal with bank

Julie Moran Alterio — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:36:14 +0000

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 in the Netherlands with a focus on high net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs. Financial terms of the deal, signed this month, were not disclosed.

IBM expands in Egypt

Julie Moran Alterio — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 19:39:01 +0000

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 the United States.

IBM’s Samuel J. Palmisano has been meeting recently with top officials from Egypt to discuss his company’s role in helping create new initiatives focused on scientific research and the country’s economy. Palmisano, IBM’s president and chief executive officer, met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as well as Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Nazif.

The Armonk-based computer giant has also signed a deal with the government to create a nanotechnology research center in Cairo, where Egyptian scientists and engineers will work side-by-side with IBM scientists and engineers. The work there will be coordinated with IBM Research labs in Yorktown Heights as well as in California and Switzerland.

“Egypt faces a major opportunity; the seat of one of the worldâ€™s oldest civilizations is now an emerging player onto the world stage of a new, globalized economy. I am impressed and optimistic about its future because of the way it is nurturing its talent, its human resources and its technical potential,â€ Palmisano said in a written statement.

Hypres delivers systems to defense department

Julie Moran Alterio — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:57:34 +0000

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 warfare and software-defined radio. Hypres has been working with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command on contracts related to the continued development of digital radio-frequency technology. Work on the two test bed systems was supported through an Office of Naval Research small business innovative research contract valued at $650,000. Deborah Van Vechten, the technical representative at the Office of Naval Research, said Hypres’ Digital-RF technology is relevant to the Defense Department’s goal of seamless military communications.

Pentegra acquires rival retirement provider’s units

Julie Moran Alterio — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:56:28 +0000

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 buy RSGroup Trust Co. and Retirement System Distributors Inc. Financial terms were not disclosed. Retirement System Group operations and employees will continue to work at the company’s Shelton, Conn., and New York offices as well as Pentegra’s White Plains headquarters. Both Pentegra and Retirement System Group were established in the 1940s to offer retirement services for the banking industry.

Inc. magazine ranks 16 local companies among fastest growers

Julie Moran Alterio — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:08:41 +0000

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 privately held companies on how fast their revenue grew between 2004 and 2007. Overall, the 5,000 companies on the list had median three-year growth of 147 percent with aggregate revenue of $185 billion.

To qualify for the list, the companies must have had at least $200,000 in revenue in 2004 and $2 million in 2007.

The New York City metropolitan area was best represented on the list with 355 companies.

The fastest-growing local company was Intensus Engineering of Cold Spring, which came in at No. 135 with revenue growth of 1,607.7 percent between 2004 and 2007.

The 10-employee company, which was founded in 1996, had 2007 revenue of $12.7 million. Intensus provides value-priced heavy construction equipment to private companies that can’t afford name-brand equipment. Its Web site is www.intensus.com.

Other local companies on the list include:

-QueBIT of Scarsdale (No. 1,288) with growth of 295.9 percent and revenue of $3.5 million. The 26-employee company provides management consulting services in the software field. (www.quebit.com)

-R&L Construction of Yonkers (No. 1,365) with growth of 278.2 percent and revenue of $43.4 million. The 96-employee company does demolition and construction projects in the New York City area, notably converting the former Nabisco Biscuit Co. in Chelsea into an upscale gourmet food market. (www.rlcon.com)

-Corporate Rain International of New Rochelle (No. 1,919) with growth of 194.4 percent and revenue of $2.1 million. The 12-employee company arranges business meetings for executives. (www.corporaterain.com)

-Cyntex of Valhalla (No. 2,007) with growth of 185 percent and revenue of $3.3 million. The four-employee company offers recycling services. (www.cyntexco.com)

-WHI Solutions of Rye Brook (No. 2,109) with growth of 175.4 percent and revenue of $22.8 million. The 160-employee company produces business management software. (www.whisolutions.com)

-Easy CGI of Pearl River (No. 2,300) with growth of 159.5 percent and revenue of $2.8 million. The 16-employee company provides Web hosting. (www.easycgi.com)

-Crestwood Technology Group of Yonkers (No. 2,403) with growth of 153.6 percent and revenue of $16.5 million. The 35-employee company supplies electromechanical parts to the U.S. military. (www.CTG123.com)

-Nadler Modular Structures of Spring Valley (No. 3,081) with growth of 113.7 percent and revenue of $5.2 million. The four-employee company builds, sells and leases commercial modular buildings, classrooms, sales trailers and mobile offices. (www.nadlermodular.com)

– Everett Studios of Armonk (No. 3,672) with growth of 86.1 percent and revenue of $6.3 million. The 25-employee company provides marketing communications and graphics services. (www.everettstudios.com)

-W & W Glass of Nanuet (No. 3,738) with growth of 83.3 percent and revenue of $121.2 million. The 200-employee company designs high-end glass facades and structures, notably the Rose Center for Earth and Space in Manhattan. (www.wwglass.com)

-The PSP Group of Mamaroneck (No. 3,771) with growth of 81.9 percent and revenue of $37.4 million. The 11-employee company provides payroll administration services. (www.thepspgroup.com)

-ISP Optics of Irvington (No. 3,772) with growth of 81.9 percent and revenue of $8.4 million. The 98-employee company makes infrared optics for the aerospace and telescope design industries. (www.ispoptics.com)

-PNT Marketing Services of Valhalla (No. 4,249) with growth of 64.2 percent and revenue of $4.2 million. The 20-employee company provides marketing services. (www.pntmarketingservices.com)

-Premium Productions of Pleasantville (No. 4,389) with growth of 59.6 percent and revenue of $10.2 million. The 17-employee company provides direct mail advertising.

– Consolidated Technologies of Port Chester (No. 4,397) with growth of 59.4 percent and revenue of $20.2 million. The 85-employee company builds and hosts communications networks. (www.consoltech.com)

Debt Resolve loses $4.2M in second quarter

Julie Moran Alterio — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:07:49 +0000

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.’s revenue, earnings per share rise

Julie Moran Alterio — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:07:15 +0000

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 the Rural Telephone Bank. Without the income, earnings would have been $79 a share. A year ago, the company earned $94.04 a share. Net income was $3.2 million, up from $2.4 million a year ago.

Haights Cross reverses loss in second quarter

Julie Moran Alterio — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:06:22 +0000

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 company lost $14.4 million in the second quarter.

IBM to invest $300 million to build 13 ‘business resilience centers’

Julie Moran Alterio — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:23:26 +0000

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 10 countries around the world by year’s end to give its clients speedy access to their data when their own offices or operations are disrupted.

Companies will have immediate access to their data, which will be stored in electronic “vaults” at IBM’s worldwide centers. Earlier this year, IBM completed a deal to buy Arsenal Digital Solutions, which supplied technology used in the vaults.

Philippe Jarre, general manager of business continuity and resiliency services, said IBM’s increasingly global customer base is asking for new centers where IBM did not need them before. Customers are becoming less tolerant of any outage in their computer networks or disruptions in their business, Jarre said.

IBM’s business continuity and resiliency unit has seen increased demand in the years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which put the need for this service in the minds of top executives.

“After 9/11, a lot of customers were not able to recover – not the IBM ones – but the customers are now more and more demanding to be sure they will be able to recover,” he said.

Among the new sites are Warsaw, Poland; Izmir, Turkey; Beijing and Shanghai, China; Cologne, Germany; Milan, Italy; Tokyo; Hong Kong; Paris and London. A new New York City-oriented center will open in New Jersey, 25 miles from Manhattan.

Today, a facility in Sterling Forest is IBM’s primary disaster recovery site for clients in New York City and New England.

The fortress-like data center 40 miles outside New York City has helped IBM clients recover from a wide array of disasters, including hurricanes, floods, insect infestations, fires and terrorist attacks.

IBM has more than 150 business resilience centers around the world.