Business in the Burbs » Business ownership

Yonkers Business Week starts Monday

Jerry Gleeson — Fri, 01 May 2009 21:17:23 +0000

Helping small business is this year’s theme for the annual Yonkers Business Week, starting Monday.
Among the programs scheduled are a seminar on raising credit, starting a business and writing a business plan, buying a franchise, managing and transferring risk, and using social media Web sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
Featured speakers include Stew Leonard Jr., president and chief executive of the well-known family food market, who will address the kickoff breakfast on Monday at the Polish Center. Jonah Lehrer, author of “How We Decide” and “Proust Was a Neuroscientist,” will discuss the science of decision-making at a breakfast on Thursday morning at the Yonkers Riverfront Library. Former JPMorganChase economist Marc Goloven will speak at the annual dinner Thursday at X2O Xaviars on the Hudson.
Yonkers Planning Commissioner Louis C. Kirven will host a luncheon and tour of commercial real estate investment properties in the city on Thursday.
Yonkers Business Week also will feature familiar favorites, including its annual Business Expo at the Royal Regency Hotel on Tuesday, and awards programs recognizing local businesses and student entrepreneurs.
For more details, go online at www.yonkersbusinessweek.com.

Job skills workshop set in White Plains Thursday

Jerry Gleeson — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:39:33 +0000

Westchester County will host a free workshop, “Developing Job Skills in Hard Times: Alternative Ways to Career Success,” Thursday, April 30 at 4:30 p.m. at the YWCA of White Plains and Northern Westchester, 515 North St., White Plains.
Employment experts will discuss such topics as volunteer work that can lead to a paying job, opting for a vocational trade, and opening your own business. The Westchester County One Stop Employment Center, BOCES, the Women’s Enterprise Development Center and JobStar at Westchester Community College will provide speakers.
For more information, call (914) 995-2476 or e-mail mal6@westchestergov.com. A light supper will be served.

Business expo in Tarrytown expects 1,000 on Thursday

Jerry Gleeson — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:57:58 +0000

The worst business environment in decades has failed to dent interest in this Thursday’s Mega Mixer Business Expo, the annual trade show sponsored by The Business Council of Westchester.
The program will run from 2-6 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel in Tarrytown. Two hundred exhibitors and 1,000 visitors are expected, about the same as last year. In the tougher economic climate, businesspeople are looking to expand their list of prospects, council spokeswoman Hillary Millman said.
“People are looking for opportunities anywhere they can find it,” she said.
A new feature this year is the Speakers Spot. Council members will give 15-minute talks on the following topics: how to transition from unemployed to being a business owner; new media; building brand awareness; housing solutions for relocating employees; infrared thermography; going paperless; and voice over the Internet (VoIP) telephone service.
A feature continued from last year will be the Green Aisle, featuring 30 ecology-friendly companies. Visiting businesses will be invited to take the “Green Business Challenge” by adopting environmentally sound practices.
Admission to the Mega Mixer is $10; attendees may register online at westchesterny.org or by calling (914) 948-2110. Walk-ins are welcome.

Business workshop to focus on credit and cash

Jerry Gleeson — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:11:24 +0000

The Yonkers Downtown Business Improvement District will sponsor a free program on obtaining access to credit and cash on Tuesday morning, Feb. 10 from 8-9 a.m. at the Yonkers Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin Center.
Scheduled to speak are Bruce Davison, vice president of commercial banking at Citibank, and Niall Henry, assistant vice president at Hudson Valley Bank. Peter G. Klein, vice president of Fidelco Group, will moderate.
The program is part of the Yonkers Downtown BID’s new Sunrise Seminar Series to provide local business owners with tips and guidance during the current recession. For more information, contact the BID at 914-969-6660 or Frank Pagani of Thompson & Bender at 914-762-1900, extension 24.

Regional mall owner seeks refinancing

Jerry Gleeson — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:33:14 +0000

The debt-strapped owner of more than 650 U.S. shopping malls, including the Cortlandt Towne Center and seven other plazas in the Lower Hudson Valley, appears ready to turn over control of most of the company to lenders under a tentative refinancing deal announced this week.
Centro Properties Group of Melbourne, Australia said it has obtained a one-month extension of its credit contracts that were due to expire yesterday while the refinancing deal is under review.
Centro is struggling with $3.35 billion in debt that it accumulated in the course of expanding its retail holdings around the world in recent years. Its stock sells for pennies a share.
It had planned to sell a portfolio of American malls earlier this year that might have included some regional property, but commercial real estate values have fallen. In September, Centro said the deal was canceled but talks were continuing.
This week Centro said the current refinancing deal calls for part of its debt to be changed to securities that in turn could be converted into the equivalent of 90 percent of Centro’s equity.
The company’s office in Manhattan declined to elaborate on the latest announcement.
Centro has more than 1.26 million square feet of gross leasable space in Westchester and Rockland counties. In addition to the Cortlandt Towne Center, its portfolio includes Rockland Plaza in Nanuet, Dalewood Shopping Center in Hartsdale, Highridge Plaza in Yonkers, North Ridge Plaza in New Rochelle, A & P Mamaroneck, Village Square in Mamaroneck, and a plaza on North Central Avenue in Hartsdale.

Insl-X’s new owner to close Stony Point plant

Jerry Gleeson — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:35:44 +0000

The Insl-X Products Corp. paint plant in Stony Point will close by Dec. 30, eliminating 60-65 jobs in Rockland County, a spokeswoman for the companyâ€™s new owner said.
Benjamin Moore & Co. announced in March that it had acquired Insl-X from owner James A. Weil of Scarsdale. Moore spokeswoman Eileen McComb said about two dozen office jobs in Stony Point, the Insl-X headquarters, would be moved to Mooreâ€™s headquarters in Montvale, N.J.
Terms of Mooreâ€™s acquisition of Insl-X were not disclosed. Moore is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Co.
Insl-X has been in Stony Point for 18 years. It was founded in 1948 by Weilâ€™s father.Â Insl-x makes and sells its own brand of finishes; a number of acquisitions allowed it to expand from specialty and industrial products to architectural coatings.
In February the company paid off a $5.5 million bond that had been issued through the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency for the acquisition of 15 acres and the plant.
McComb said Moore bought the company because it would complement Mooreâ€™s holdings.
â€œI think we understood that some of the production was redundant,â€ she said. Moore has six paint plants, including one near Albany and another in New Jersey.
McComb said Moore will continue to operate Insl-X plants in Edgewater, Fla., San Antonio and Fort Worth, Texas, and Elk Grove, Ill.
Ronald Hicks, chief executive officer of Rockland Economic Development Corp., said the business group has offered to help Moore market the 150,000-square-foot property for sale or lease.

Minority business summit is Thursday

Jerry Gleeson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:21:04 +0000

The Westchester/Greater Connecticut chapter of the National Black MBA Association Inc. will hold its second annual Entrepreneur Summit and Business Showcase on Thursday, June 12, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in White Plains.
The program allows minority businesspeople, supplier diversity executives and financial professionals to network. A number of forums will be held on topics that include business financing, becoming a preferred supplier, brand promotion, and entrepreneur and franchising opportunities.
For more information, email entrepreneur@nbmbaa-wgc.com.

RBA promotes online help for entrepreneurs

Jerry Gleeson — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:25:16 +0000

The Rockland Business Association has formed a partnership with IBM Corp. of Armonk and IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, to promote a free online toolkit (http://us.smetoolkit.org) aimed to help minority entrepreneurs.
The SME Toolkit focuses on assistance for small and medium business owners in emerging markets as well as women, black, Hispanic, native American, and Asian entrepreneurs. The site includes highly developed business information, tools, and training services. Specialized pages are dedicated to Green business, technology, and business planning.
Among other things, thereâ€™s an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing; free software to build a Web site; free forms for worker performance evaluations; community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, group calendars, survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions; and a multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally.
The RBA will provide a link to the site on its Web site (www.rocklandbusiness.org) where it will be available to both members and nonmembers. The organization said it will promote the toolkit to its members and will hold user-training sessions in the future.

RBA promotes online help for entrepreneurs

Jerry Gleeson — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:25:16 +0000

Upscale day spa to open in Dobbs Ferry

David Schepp — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:00:12 +0000

Oasis Day Spa, which has locations in Manhattan and Kennedy Airport in Queens, plans to open a 7,000-square-foot spa in Dobbs Ferry at 50 Livingstone Ave. this fall.

The spa is part of a redevelopment of the former Akzo Nobel chemical plant site, just off Exit 16 of the Saw Mill River Parkway.

Oasis Day Spa will occupy the same building in which Town Sports International plans to open a 35,000-square-foot New York Sports Club gym July 1.

The new spa will have 16 treatment rooms and include such offerings as a â€œcouplesâ€ room, where couples can receive treatments like massages, side by side, according to owner Bruce Schoenberg.

The spa will also have a retail area, selling gifts, clothing, and skin-care and spa-related products, said Schoenberg, who lives in Hastings-on-Hudson.