Archive: Business & Technology

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced Thursday that Mattel Inc., one of the world's largest toy manufacturers, has agreed to the New York State Common Retirement Fund's (Fund) request that they publicly report on and adopt board oversight of all direct and indirect corporate political spending.  As a result of the agreement, the Fund withdrew the shareholder proposal it had filed for consideration at the company's annual stockholders' meeting.

"I commend Mattel for agreeing to voluntarily disclose its political spending," said DiNapoli. "This new level of transparency helps shareholders determine if companies are using their investments in ways that benefit long-term value or if they are putting the company's bottom line at risk."

As states legalize medical or recreational marijuana, employers, employees and unions are asking how to keep people safe in the workplace. Some of them, including the Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine in Western New York, are turning to Nellie Brown of Cornell University's ILR School.

"When I started looking at this, several things really jumped out at me," said Brown, a certified industrial hygienist and lead programs manager at The Worker Institute at Cornell University.

The State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center paid a consultant $34 million for a plan to help the hospital out of financial trouble, but a report released Wednesday by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli questions whether $74 million in savings even happened.

A prior DiNapoli auditreleased in August 2016 found questionable travel and excessive lodging expenses for the contractor, Pitts Management Associates (PMA), which it charged to SUNY Downstate while working on this project.

Now that the Elmira Road McDonald's has been replaced with a new building, it's time for the Village of Lansing McDonald's to get a McMakeover.  Bohler Engineering Project Manager Steve Wilson presented a plan to the Village Planning board last week that would replace the traditional Donald's bright red mansard roof with a more muted design.

"Gone is the double-sided mansard roof that was iconic of McDonald's in the '70s and '80s," Wilson said.  "The building height remains the same.  The footprint remains the same.  We will remove the mansard roof and straighten out the roof line to make the building a little more sophisticated in appearance.  We'll tone down the colors to make them a little more muted, using more earth tones."

Amy Wood Gonzalez, NYS Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker of Warren Real Estate has earned the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation, placing her among 3,500 elite real estate professionals in over 45 countries. The designation was awarded to her by the National Association of REALTORS® for completing rigorous coursework devoted to learning international real estate practices and demonstrating proficiency in international business.

The CIPS designation is synonymous with advanced expertise, a global perspective, and distinct understanding of a global buyer. As a designee, Wood Gonzalez has the knowledge and resources to efficiently work with international buyers, including U.S. residents looking to invest overseas, foreign buyers purchasing in the United States, as well as recent immigrants who might be unfamiliar with real estate transaction practices in the United States.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk at the United Nations announced a $2 billion increase to the New York State Common Retirement Fund's (Fund) low emissions equities index, doubling its investment. The Fund was the first public pension fund in the U.S. to create an index that excludes or reduces holdings in the worst carbon emitters and shifts investments to lower emitting corporations. The increased allocation, from the Fund's regular index holdings, raises the current value of the Fund's sustainable investments to more than $7 billion.

"We've successfully shifted significant holdings to lower carbon companies without losing value," DiNapolisaid. "Our state pension fund is at the forefront of the worldwide effort to build a lower carbon economy. Our investment decisions and our shareholder engagements are a caution to corporations: if they're not helping build a decarbonized future, they may get left behind. Our strategy for sustainable, lower carbon investing is working and will continue to expand."

Lindsay Hart, associate real estate broker with RE/MAX In Motion, has been named 2017 REALTOR of the year by the Ithaca Board of REALTORS.

The purpose of the award is to honor a member of the Ithaca Board of REALTORS who has displayed the highest commitment to professionalism and has exemplified what it means to be a Realtor.

This morning I answered the phone after confirming on caller ID that it was a local call. A natural sounding voice said, "Hello, my name is Emma and I see you inquired about a job on one of our Web sites. Can you hear me alright?"

What was he right answer?

a) Yes
b) Who is this again?
c) Say nothing. Hang up

Z95.5 in Ithaca announced Mike Kerr "McCabe" as the new Brand Manager.

"Mike is a great fit to replace Gabe Carrillo, who was promoted to our radio station Energy 106.9 in Milwaukee," said Operations Manager Chris Allinger. "He has the passion and energy we are looking for on Z95.5."

Kerr is a recent graduate of Elmira College, but has been doing radio for over seven years with on-air and programming roles in Elmira, Rochester, and Buffalo.

Last November Elon Musk repeated his warning that the rise of robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) could mean the end of humankind, saying that it could be "fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization."  Pretty scary coming from the mind behind PayPal, Tesla electric cars, and SpaceX.  Nevertheless, faced with a busy schedule and mounting dust bunnies I decided to risk annihilation by trying out a robot vacuum cleaner.

After researching the various brands and models, which can set you back more than a thousand dollars if you really want to go end, I decided to try the Shark Ion Robot (model 755), partly because our regular vacuum is a Shark that has performed well over the years, and partly because of good reviews when compared to a similar (and more expensive) industry leader (iRobot Roomba) unit.  The best price (this week) was at BJ's Wholesale Club, with a special price of $299.99 for a $30 savings if you purchased it online.   We don't have an online account, but as it happened they were offering that price in the store as well.  That's a little less than you would pay for the Roomba 690.

McDonald's on Elmira Road in Ithaca held its Grand Opening on Thursday, January 4th, 2018. New renovations were unveiled that modernize and improve the customer experience, and 30 new jobs have been added to the existing crew of 50. Despite a complete rebuild of the location, all interested original crew members were able to be employed at other area restaurants during construction, in addition to undergoing educational trainings to further their skills and job growth opportunities.

At the Grand Opening event, local owner Courtney Feehan was joined by area families, The American Legion Post 221, The Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Ithaca City Councilman George McGonigal, veterans and community members for a ceremonial event, in addition to the announcement of the winners of McDonald's Community Partner Grants.

TCAT General Manager Scot Vanderpool recently announced that Michael Smith will take over as TCAT's new operations manager.

Smith, a former transit supervisor, is filling a position vacated by Vanderpool when he became general manager in August, 2017. Previously, the position was filled by Nancy Oltz, who retired after nearly four decade of service in public transit at TCAT and what was once Ithaca Transit, a predecessor agency to TCAT.