Rachele Rose Day Spa has opened at 110 S. Central Ave., Hartsdale. The business is run by sisters Rachele Nicoletti and Rosa Calabrese.

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.

Yonkers city officials today welcomed two new businesses in the city’s downtown.
Alberto and SiraLuz Peralta have opened Continental Restaurant II at 104 New Main St. Also open is A&T Nail Salon at 35 Main St., managed by Daniel Lopez.

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.

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.

A Valhalla-based startup that produces highly efficient oil filters is hoping that a deal with New York state will lift its profile.
SOMS Technologies Inc. said the state’s Office of General Services has added its filters to the state’s preferred buying list. This means that purchasing agents for state agencies and local governments can get discounted prices for the filters by buying them through the OGS.
SOMS may be in the right place at the right time. Last year Gov. Paterson issued an executive order that directed state agencies to adopt “sustainability initiatives,” or steps that the agencies could take to curb the risks of toxic materials, maximize recycling, manage renewable resources, and other methods.
Miles Flamenbaum, SOMS’ chief executive, said that using the company’s oil filters would help agencies achieve some of those mandated goals. The oil filters can extend the length of time between oil changes.
There are about 17,000 vehicles in the state fleet, he said. Flamenbaum couldn’t say what impact the listing with OGS would have on his sales; SOMS just started selling the filters last fall.
The listing could give the company some credibility with other governments or operators of private fleets, such as taxis and truck companies, he said.
SOMS bid to get onto the OGS list through the New York State Industries for the Disabled, a not-for-profit group of businesses that promotes employment of people with disabilities. One of its member companies, Pine Ridge Industries, an affiliate of the Schenectady ARC, has contracts with SOMS.

For the time-strapped entrepreneur who’s starting a new enterprise in Westchester County, there’s good news. Counselors are making house calls.
The Westchester chapter of SCORE, the free business counseling service, will send advisers to small companies if the owners are too busy to make it to one of SCORE’s workshops in White Plains. Home offices don’t qualify for the service, just companies with separate plants, warehouses, offices or other physical locations.
Counselors can discuss areas such as sales and marketing, financing and financial control, personnel management, strategic planning, information technology, and record keeping. To arrange for a visit, contact SCORE at 914-948-3907 or visit www.scorewestchester.com.

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.

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, there’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.

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, there’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.

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 “couples” 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.

Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, D-Ossining, will host a forum aimed at helping Lower Hudson Valley residents to start their own businesses.

Galef will be joined by a panel of more than half-a-dozen experts to discuss small-business start up and growth opportunities in Westchester and Putnam counties.

In addition, participants will explain how local and state organizations can assist with writing a business plan, getting help with financing, setting up a corporation and much more. The event will be held at 7:30 a.m. May 8 at Cortlandt Town Hall.

For more information, call the assemblywoman’s office at 914-941-1111.