Five businesses will be inducted into The Business Council of Westchester’s Hall of Fame when the organization holds its annual awards dinner Wednesday night at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle.
The inductees are:
• New York Life Insurance Co., for Corporate Citizenship. The company employs about 1,000 at its Sleepy Hollow campus, where it provides child care, adoption assistance, a fitness center, tuition reimbursement, and a volunteer program that does food collections and youth events in the county.
• Hospitality Resource Group Inc., for Entrepreneurial Success. Founded 12 years ago, the company employs 19 at White Plains and at satellite offices in Manhattan and Connecticut.
• Dorf Law Firm, for Small Business Success. Founded by Jon A. Dorf as a solo practice in 1992 in Mamaroneck, the practice has diversified and grown to 12 people.
• Therese Ferretti, Collins Brothers Moving Corp., for Women in Business. Ferretti, who started at the business as a receptionist in 1985, is now president of the company and oversees operations in Larchmont and elsewhere around the country.
• Berkeley College, Family Business Success. The White Plains college is run by brothers Kevin, Randy, Tim and Brian Luing.

Fortune magazine’s list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” includes nine employers with a presence in the Lower Hudson Valley.

Those companies, and their rankings, are Edward Jones (No. 2), Whole Foods (No. 22), Starbucks (No. 24), Container Store (No. 32), Stew Leonard’s (No. 53), Men’s Wearhouse (No. 71), Nordstrom (No. 72), Marriott (No. 78) and FedEx (No. 90).

In choosing the top companies, Fortune worked with the Great Place to Work Institute to survey corporate America. More than 81,000 employees from 353 companies responded to a 57-question survey. The list is included in Fortune’s latest issue.

Jarden Corp., a Rye-based consumer products company, said that new skis from its Volkl and K2 brands received recognition in SKI Magazine’s 2009 “Gear of the Year” competition. The skis were named winners for “Overall Excellence,” in the December issue of the magazine.

Eleven companies in The Journal News/Bloomberg index of local stocks have been named to a list of the “400 Best Big Companies in America” by Forbes.com.

Those companies are Bunge, Consolidated Edison, Dress Barn, IBM, ITT, Jarden, JPMorgan Chase, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo, Verizon and Watson Pharmaceutical.

Forbes.com chose the companies based on criteria that include sales and earnings growth, debt to total capital, earnings outlook and stock market returns.

Jarden Corp. recently was named to BusinessWeek magazine’s list of the World’s Most Influential Companies. The Rye-based company’s inclusion on the annual list was featured in the magazine’s December 22nd print edition, and on a slide show on the BusinessWeek website.

Jarden, a consumer products company whose products include canning jars, coffee makers and playing cards, was the only company based in the Lower Hudson Valley on the list. The rankings were compiled with the assistance of an advisory board of 14 academics, consultants, and industry leaders.

“This honor is truly meaningful to us all as it represents the dedication and hard work of our more than 25,000 employees around the world who have each helped make Jarden a continued success in the consumer products industry,” Chief Executive Officer Martin E. Franklin said in a written statement.

Marsha Gordon, president and chief executive officer of The Business Council of Westchester, recently was named the most influential business person in the county by Westchester Magazine.

Gordon, a 53-year-old resident of White Plains, has led the business group since 2001. She and her team have increased the organization’s membership from 500 to nearly 1,300.

The magazine said that Gordon “has artfully managed to give Westchester businesses a coherent, coordinated, and audible voice—-helping to make them more competitive and viable amid an increasingly inhospitable economic climate.”

ITT Corp. of White Plains was selected by G.I. Jobs magazine as one of the nation’s top 50 military-friendly employers.

The company’s strong military recruiting efforts, high percentage of new military hires and policies that support National Guard and Reservists helped ITT rank fifth out of nearly 2,500 eligible companies and first in the defense and aerospace industry, the company said.

ITT’s defense products include air traffic control systems, advanced communications systems, radar and night-vision goggles.

“Veterans make up as much as 70 to 80 percent of our workforce in some locations around the world because military experience provides identifiable and transferable skills that are proven in real world situations,” said A. John Procopio, vice president and director of human resources at ITT Defense Electronics and Services.

The Seniors Out Speaking on Medicare program in Westchester County recently was one of three recipients nationally of the Award of Excellence in Older Volunteer Program Management. The award, presented by the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging and the MetLife Foundation, recognize organizations for effective recruitment and engagement of volunteers age 50 and older.

Jarden Corp., the Rye-based consumer products company, said that its its First Alert Tundra Fire Extinguishing Spray will be honored later this month at the Chicago Innovation Awards. The awards recognize businesses and nonprofit organizations that develop the year’s most innovative new products and services.

Pepsi-Cola North America, the beverage unit of Purchase-based PepsiCo Inc., has named Buffalo Rock of Columbus, Ga., as its Donald M. Kendall Bottler of the Year for 2007. The award, named for PepsiCo’s former chairman, is based on criteria that include customer service, community support, volume and sales growth.

USG Corp. said that its building products plant in Stony Point will receive the VPP Star award for outstanding safety performance and processes. The award is presented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration. The 500,000 square-foot sheetrock plant has been operating in Stony Point since 1955 and currently employs about 145 people.

The Navigators Group Inc. was named to Fortune’s annual list of “America’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies” in the magazine’s Sept. 29 issue. Navigators, a New York-based insurance holding company, has offices in Rye Brook.

Clarfeld Financial Advisors Inc., a Tarrytown-based wealth management firm, recently received the “Best-In-Tech Award” at Schwab Institutional’s third annual IMPACT Awards in Atlanta. Clarfeld was recognized for the development of an information technology system that improves service to clients.

Two companies based in Westchester County are included on Working Mother magazine’s list of the 100 best companies for 2008.

IBM Corp. of Armonk and MasterCard Inc. of Purchase were among the 27 New York-based companies on the list. Companies were selected based on an application with more than 500 questions focused on workforce, compensation, child care, flexibility programs and leave policies.

“By helping employees manage their work/life demands, the winning companies are creating a highly motivated workforce,” Suzanne Riss, editor in chief of Working Mother magazine, said in a written statement.

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)

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc. said that its subsidiary, Atlas Air Inc., has achieved an industry safety standard after completing the International Air Transport Association’s Operational Safety Audit. The audit covered key areas of Atlas Air’s operations, including corporate organization, airline security, flight operations, flight dispatch and aircraft engineering and maintenance.

The African American Chamber of Commerce of Westchester and Rockland Counties Inc. begins its ninth annual Juneteenth Celebration for Westchester County this week with a kickoff event tomorrow evening in Peekskill to honor the 10 most influential black men and women in the Lower Hudson Valley.

A business-to-business reception for the awardees will be held at 6 p.m. at the Crystal Bay Restaurant.

Those to be honored are: Dawna Michelle Fields, national program manager, Colgate-Palmolive Co.; Garrison Jackson, president and chief executive, Circulation Experti Ltd.; Carole Jessup Morris, founder and chief executive, Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center; the Rev. Joel E. Mukhwana-Nafuma, pastor, Trinity Episcopal Church, Mount Vernon; W.L. (Tony) Sawyer, superintendent, Mount Vernon City School District; Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers; community activist Edith Washington Charles of Mount Vernon; Debra J. White, manager of supplier diversity, New York Power Authority; Winston Ross, executive director, Westchester Community Opportunity Program Inc.; and Sandra L. Richards, director — diversity specialist, Morgan Stanley.

The chamber’s three-day Juneteenth celebration commemorates the date in 1865, June 19, that enslaved blacks in Galveston, Texas, learned that President Abraham Lincoln had abolished slavery on Jan. 1, 1863, in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation.

Today, Juneteenth represents freedom and a call for education and achievement to many within the African American community.

Tarrytown-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been named among the top 30 “Best Places to Work” in industry by The Scientist Magazine. Regeneron was ranked 18th, and was cited for its management, research environment and integrity. Ross Grossman, vice president of human resources at Regeneron, said the honor comes as the company is the midst of a major recruiting campaign.

Four Westchester-based businesses and organizations are among finalists for this year’s American Business Awards, known as the Stevie Awards, which recognize business achievement in more than 40 categories.

The PSP Group, an employment-services company in Mamaroneck, and President Dominick Crea are finalists in Best Customer Service Organization and Best Executive categories, respectively, according to Stevie Awards Inc., based in Fairfax, Va.

Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry is a finalist in the Best Annual Report category for its “Mercy College 2007 Annual Report.”

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is a finalist in the Internal/Employee Communications category for its “Le Méridien brand re-launch film.”

And Stinson Partners Inc., an Irvington-based advertising agency, is a finalist in the Corporate Image category for its “streamGE Live Broadcast.”

Winners will be announced June 12 at a ceremony in Times Square at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, Stevie Awards said.

PepsiCo Inc., the soda and snack food company in Purchase, has been honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its efforts to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The company received the 2008 Energy Star Partner of the Year Award and the Sustained Excellence award. The Sustained Excellence award is for businesses that have shown a commitment to energy efficiency for a number of years.

PepsiCo said its buildings use energy-efficient equipment and motors. The buildings have energy-efficient windows and skylights. The company also uses systems to capture waste heat.