Archive: Business & Technology

ThankTank Creative, an ethical-vegan-owned consulting, design, and marketing firm announced this week the launch of MiyokosKitchen.com, the online shopping site featuring artisanal, vegan cheeses from the kitchen of Miyoko Schinner, renowned vegan chef and author of numerous cookbooks including 'Artisan Vegan Cheese.'

"When we were contacted by Miyoko's Kitchen about possibly designing and programming their new website, we were ecstatic," said Eric C Lindstrom, President of ThankTank Creative. "In the vegan world there are varying levels of 'celebrity' and Miyoko Schinner is an easy nine. We were honored to be a part of history."

Aurora, New York—Wells College is pleased to welcome Alicin Welsh as the new director of the Office of Experiential Learning and Career Services. Welsh's responsibilities will include helping students find relevant internships or other hands-on learning experiences during their time at Wells, preparing them for their career after graduation, assisting with resume and interview preparation, connecting current students with alumni in their field, and more. She will also manage Wells' campus-wide student employment program.

"Experiential learning allows students to more narrowly define their career goals and discover things about themselves that they might not in class," said Welsh. "These opportunities allow students to select which areas they want to go into because they enjoy it and help them develop the right skill set. I hope to provide rich opportunities for students who want to engage in any kind of experiential learning and, after graduation, placement in terms of careers, grad school—wherever the student wants."

Alternatives Federal Credit Union has received a $944,000 Award from the U.S. Treasury’s CDFI (Community Development Financial Institutions) Fund. One hundred fifty-two organizations received a total of $160 million nationally. Alternatives is one of only twenty-one community development credit unions receiving the award, and the only credit union recipient in New York State.

According to Alternatives CEO Tristram Coffin, “The selection process is very competitive. This award is based on our organizational performance and innovation in providing capital to low-income communities. We will use it in conjunction with other resources to support growth in our membership, provide more convenient access, and expand our Impact Community Development programs.”

TCAT is seeking community feedback in a series of public sessions to create its first‑ever Title VI Service Standards and Policy Plan – a big‑picture document that will guide TCAT in its service planning decisions in the future.  TCAT will host sessions for the public to tell TCAT – and keeping in mind TCAT's budget constraints – how many hours a day and how frequently each type of transit service should run.

As required by the Federal Transportation Administration under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, TCAT is required to submit the plan to ensure that it is serving the entire community fairly across all neighborhoods, races, ethnicities, languages and income levels, despite the performance of any given bus route.

Dairy One Cooperative, Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony for their new Northeast Dairy and Food Testing Center in collaboration with Chestnut Labs, a company based in Missouri.

"We are excited to be opening a facility in the Northeast to serve the needs of our growing business. The connection with Dairy One and the proximity to Cornell makes Ithaca an ideal location for us," said Kristen Dixon, Vice President and General Manager of Chestnut Labs.

Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport launched a rewards program Tuesday to benefit customers who utilize the airport.  The new rewards program provides terminal patrons with parking discounts, food and beverage discounts at the café, and automatic entry in giveaways such as flight vouchers.

"The airport provides a relaxing and convenient start to traveling, and with this new rewards program it is our way of thanking travelers for flying with us," said Airport Manager Mike Hall.

Starting in July, Ithaca Beer will round out their product availability in the entire state of Pennsylvania by adding Ace Distributing to its roster. Ace will bring Ithaca Beer to bars, restaurants and stores in Adams, Lancaster and York County in PA.

"We are excited to partner with Ace Distributing as well as expanding our distribution footprint further into Pennyslvania. We put a lot of love into our beers, so we hope you enjoy them as much as we do," Chirsan Lichtenstein, Sales Manager at Ithaca Beer Co.

The big Internet story this month is about the Russian hackers who stole over 1.2 billion unique passwords from large and small Web sites.  Last December 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million addresses, and other personal information were stolen from Target by Eastern European hackers.  These are seriously bad people stealing information about you that they can use to do irreparable harm to your credit rating or bank account or your reputation. 

Experts say that you should always assume your data was among the stolen information and your first line of defense is to change your passwords.  Could you remember a password like 'Yol1biUdir1ie'?  I'll bet you can.

Local sales tax collections in New York state grew by $177 million, or 2.4 percent, for the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013, according to a report issued today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. In Tompkins County sales tax revenue rose by 4%, from $22,971,66 in the first half of 2013 to $32,896,811 this year.  Nineteen counties experienced an increase of more than 4 percent during this period.

“While sales tax revenues continue to increase across the state, the growth is the weakest since the end of the Great Recession,” said DiNapoli. “Sales tax collections in New York City are thriving but several regions are experiencing only modest gains or even declines. Clearly our state’s economy remains in a recovery mode and local government officials will need to be mindful of the volatility of sales tax revenue as they monitor their budgets during the second half of the year.”

Historic Ithaca has named Christine O’Malley as its new preservation services coordinator. O’Malley will lead Historic Ithaca’s efforts in education, advocacy and community engagement and consult with home and property owners, businesses, city and county government officials, and educators.

“Speaking on behalf of our entire board and staff, we are excited by the depth of knowledge and multifaceted skills that Christine will bring to Historic Ithaca,” says executive director Alphonse Pieper.

Bailey Place Insurance will soon be opening a new office in Tompkins County.
     Operating today from its main office in Cortland and another in Dryden, the agency will open its third location in September at the intersection of North Triphammer Road and Craft Road in Lansing.

The agency purchased the new building on North Triphammer in June and renovations are underway.

Standard & Poor's raised its ratings of New York's general obligation and appropriation-backed bonds Wednesday.  General obligations bonds ratings went from AA to AA+, and the appropriation-backed bond rating was upgraded from AA- to AA.  The rating upgrade follows in the wake of a similar upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings.

"The new AA+ rating for the state’s General Obligation bonds reflects our recent history of on-time budgets, a well-funded pension system and spending restraint," New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said Wednesday.  "Over the past few years, much has been done to put New York on a more solid financial footing, but some budgetary challenges remain. The state still needs to do more to curtail future budget gaps by aligning recurring revenues and expenditures."