Archive: Business & Technology

Spring is here. If you're a gardener, you know it will soon be time for you to put in your flowers or vegetables. But even if you don't have a green thumb, you can still take advantage of the season by "planting the seeds" for the growth of another valuable piece of property - your investment portfolio.

Actually, you can find a few similarities between successful gardening and effective investing. For starters, both gardeners and investors need to consider their individual circumstances. If, for example, your garden is in a shady part of your yard, you might be able to grow some nice geraniums, but you'll have tougher time with roses, which crave the sun. As an investor, you'll also find that some investments are more appropriate for your situation than others. So, before you purchase a stock, bond, certificate of deposit or government security, you'll need to determine if it's suitable for your risk tolerance, time horizon and long-term goals.

The Downtown Ithaca Alliance Board of Directors voted yesterday to issue a statement of support for the proposed Rimland Hotel Project as a vehicle for economic betterment in downtown. The statement from the board also urges the Common Council to approve the current purchase and sale agreement of surplus property to facilitate the project.

The D.I.A. board believes this is a key project for downtown revitalization, which represents a fair market disposition of a parcel of land which would otherwise contribute no economic value to the city of Ithaca, will not seek any local subsidies or support and will deliver significant tax revenues to the city, Tompkins County and Ithaca City School District starting on day one, and is a ground-breaking, pioneering step in providing housekeeping hotel workers with higher wages.

Ithaca-based Cayuga Radio Group will be donating $50,000 in air time over the next year, in support of the Chamber of Commerce's initiative tied to challenges with race and class in Tompkins County.

"This donation of air time, creative services and related production will be used to help promote and enhance a sustained community dialogue across the diverse demographics who listen to our stations," said Cayuga Radio Group general manager Susan Johnston.  Cayuga Radio Group consists of five broadcast properties: WXYL (97.3 FM), WQNY (103.7 FM), WIII (99.9 FM) WHCU (870 AM), and WNYY (1470 AM).

Arcuri (right) at Lakewatch Inn

Arcuri Addresses Chamber of Commerce

Lansing's Lakewatch Inn was filled with local business people Monday who came to share a Saint Patrick's day corned beef and cabbage luncheon and hear U.S. Congressman Michael (D-NY 24th) talk about what the federal government is doing to help local business.  The 24th district looks like an enormous smile superimposed on a map of New York, staring in Herkimer, sweeping down through Broome County, and back up through Tompkins County, but excluding Ithaca, and west to Geneva.  "The 24th congressional district is bigger than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island." Arcuri noted.  "We are a very diverse district in terms of what drives the economy."

Quoting from Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations,' Arcuri said that community business can do well if government can keep the peace, go easy on taxes, and have a powerful administration of justice.  He briefly addressed each of the three before taking questions, covering the impact of the war on the national and local economy, the importance of becoming a leader in development of alternative energy sources, the impact of free trade on Central New York, and maintaining the vitality of our colleges and universities.

All of us face challenges in our efforts to achieve our long-term financial goals, such as a comfortable retirement. But if you're a woman, the unfortunate truth is that you may have more hurdles to overcome than a man. However, knowledge is power, and as long as you are aware of what you are up against, you can take steps to boost your chances for success.

What are the special issues facing women? Here are a few to ponder:

• Longer life expectancies than men - No matter when you were born, your life expectancy is going to be longer than that of your male age-group peers. Obviously, these "extra" years of life mean more expenses.

In the financial world, stocks tend to get most of the attention. But if you're going to make progress toward all your long-term goals, you need to be aware of all types of investments - and bonds can be an important part of your portfolio.

Many people, however, don't fully understand how bonds work. So, before you invest in them, familiarize yourself with the "bond basics." Here are a few of them:

Thanks to increased numbers of local participants, day trippers and overnight visitors, attendance at Ithaca's Winter Recess teachers festival almost doubled in 2008. A total of 2,527 teachers and family members registered for the '08 event, shattering the mark of 1,304 participants who attended the inaugural event last year.

Overall attendance rose 94 percent from 2007, with overnight bookings growing by 68 percent. Visitors came from as far as California to attend the weeklong event, which remains the nation's only community-wide festival celebrating classroom teachers.

Winter Recess honors preK-12 educators and district employees with special events throughout town and discount deals at dozens of area businesses. The 2008 calendar included 83 events, with activities and deals at 140 Ithaca-area locations.

Dr. DigitDr. Digit 'Splains It All

How many times have you printed a Web page only to have two sheets print?  The first one has everything you need on it.  The second one has two lines you really don't need printed.  So you throw away the second sheet.  The average user prints 1,400 pages per year that they don't want, amounting to $90.  It's frustrating and wasteful, and it's not doing the planet any good.

GreenPrint Software set out to do something abut that, creating a printer driver that lets you control exactly what is printed, and keeps track of what you are saving while you're doing it.  It is simple to use, and it works in any Windows program that prints from your Web browser to Word to Excel to some fancy program that also prints.  And it;'s free for personal use, downloadable from the printgreener.com Web site.

GreenPrint has analyzed a Web page and decided that I might not want to print the first page.  If I do want it I can double click to have it print. I could also choose not to print the graphics, but I decide I do want to.  So I do nothing further.	I decide I don't want the first page or the second page, because page three has everything I really want to print out.  So I double click the second page, then use the drop-down list at the top right to choose my HP printer.  If I wanted to use my Epson I could skip that step, since I set it as the default printer.

For most of your working years, your investment strategies, by and large, will probably revolve around achieving sufficient growth to help you meet your long-term goals, such as college for your kids and a comfortable retirement. But once you are retired, you can't just sit back and put your investment portfolio on "autopilot."

What types of portfolio moves should you make as a retiree? Here are a few possibilities:

Identity theft is big business. In fact, each year, billions of dollars - that's billions, with a "b" - is lost to identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This cumulative figure may not mean that much to you, but if you are victimized for a few hundred dollars, it will be an upsetting and expensive experience. That's why you'll want to defend yourself against identity theft - and the best time to take action is before you are victimized.

What can you do to protect yourself? Here are a few suggestions:

Ithaca CommonsThe Ithaca Downtown Partnership announced today that it is changing its name to the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. The change takes effect immediately.

Downtown Ithaca Alliance Executive Director Gary Ferguson says, ‘After ten years of operations as the Ithaca Downtown Partnership we were informed by New York State that it wanted us to seek a different name, because the word partnership has legal as well as colloquial meanings.'

The Downtown Ithaca B.I.D. announced today it is beginning work on a new, 10-year strategic plan for downtown, a full year prior to the final year of a 10 year plan adopted in 2000. The new strategic plan will be completed in the latter part of 2008 and its development will include extensive outreach into the community for public comment and input.

‘We’re starting on a new 10 year plan now because of the changes we’ve seen not only in downtown, but across the entire city of Ithaca and in the surrounding communities,’ says Downtown Ithaca B.I.D. Executive Director Gary Ferguson. ‘Recent residential, commercial and economic development changes in each of these locales have been significant... the kind we see once every generation. Downtown Ithaca must have a vision and strategy that will allow it to adapt and grow with those changes. That’s why we’re starting work on our new 10 year plan a year early.’