Archive: Business & Technology

The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce has been awarded a grant from the Community Service Society of New York (CSS) through its outreach program, called Community Health Advocates (CHA), to help serve the small business community through a new Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP).

The Tompkins Chamber is one of thirteen organizations that will form a statewide network to provide outreach and assistance to small businesses in their communities regarding access to health care and health insurance. Community Health Advocates (CHA) operates a similar program throughout New York State that helps individual consumers find and use health coverage and care.

Williamsville, NY – Tops Friendly Markets, a leading full-service grocery retailer in upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania, today announced that through customer support, $19,469 has been donated to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier as a result of the annual “Check Out Hunger” fundraising campaign.  Annually, Tops runs a two-week campaign where customers are asked to donate $2, $3, or $5 at check out, with proceeds benefitting the Food Bank. Shoppers simply have the cashier scan the coupon in the amount they choose and the donation appears on their shopping receipt.

National Book Auctions, located in Ithaca, NY, hosted a Sunday, March 18th auction featuring broad range of rare antique books, as well as pleasing ephemera, coins and currency, and artwork.  Of particular note were rare first editions of early and modern titles, many of which were signed. This 357-lot auction also featured two impressive personal collections, one containing nautical history titles and the other anthropological and archaeological works.

Giovanni Boccaccio’s “Le Decameron de Jean Boccace” brought a hammer price of $1291.50 (including buyer’s premium). This complete five-volume set was published in the years 1757-1761. It is illustrated with five engraved title pages, portrait, and 126 engraved plates, some of which were illustrated by Hubert-François Bourguignon, commonly known as Gravelot.

Thomas P. DiNapoliNew York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity passed a major regulatory hurdle on Tuesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected ExxonMobil’s request to block the shareholder resolution, clearing the way for a vote on the proposal at the company’s annual shareholder meeting May 30.

“ExxonMobil is putting investors at risk by failing to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” DiNapoli said. “ExxonMobil claims it does not have discriminatory policies but it continues to deny health benefits to same-sex couples who are married in New York State that are automatically given to married couples. I urge shareholders to support my proposal to ask ExxonMobil to end these practices and bring this company into the modern age.”

The Tompkins County cost of living composite index for the 2011 was 102.8% compared to a national average of 100%. To compare our region with nearby cities, Albany-Schenectady-Troy came in at 111.3%, Rochester at 98.6%; Manhattan is at 218.8%. The component that is pushing our index up is utilities which account for 11% of the total.

The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce participates in data collection for the CZER ACCRA Cost of Living Index (COLI). This survey provides a useful and reasonably accurate measure to compare cost of living differences among urban areas, covering more than 300 cities. Items on which the Index are based are carefully chosen to reflect the different categories of consumer expenditures. The ACCRA Cost of Living Index is the most reliable source of city-to-city comparisons of key consumer costs available anywhere. ACCRA COLI data is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the President's Council of Economic Advisors.

Jennifer Forte, LMT, CLT, owner of White Owl Healing Arts in Ithaca, NY recently received her certification in Complete Decongestive Therapy and Manual Lymph Drainage from Klose Training, www.klosetraining.com. Klose Training is an internationally recognized Lymphedema therapy training and certification program.

Forte received her certification after completing 90 hours of classroom lecture, practical applications and testing at Klose Training's Integrative Lymphedema Therapy Certification Program in Baltimore, MD, from Feb. 17-25, 2012. Forte was also required to complete 45 hours of home study lecture as a pre-requisite to attending the certification program.

Alternatives Federal Credit Union has recently received national recognition and several awards for its innovative community development work.  Alternatives was awarded a capital grant of $20,000 from Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) as part of the Create Jobs for USA initiative, a prize of $25,000 from the NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance for Advocacy, expanded rural outreach for its community programs, and was recognized by NerdWallet as one of their top 10 community-focused credit unions for business support.

Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) partnered with Starbucks on the Create Jobs for USA Fund, a new initiative that creates and sustains jobs across the U.S. by providing grants to community development financial institutions (CDFIs) that lend to Community Businesses. Alternatives will use the funds to assist in job creation and retention by lending to local businesses. Alternatives won one of four national $25,000 NEXT Awards for outstanding performance in the CDFI field.  The award, from OFN in partnership with Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation & the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Foundation, was given for overall excellence in Advocacy, focusing on Alternatives' work to promote a local Living Wage.

Mike NozzolioContinuing his commitment to cut bureaucratic State regulations that impede job growth, State Senator Mike Nozzolio announced Wednesday that the Senate has adopted legislation (S.6063-A) he co-sponsored to remove an onerous wage reporting mandate that has cost private sector job creators millions and made our State less competitive.

The so-called “Wage Theft Prevention Act” requires that private sector employers have every employee read and sign documents once a year explaining the pay they receive, even though the same information is available on pay stubs and in the businesses’ own records.

Williamsville, N.Y. – Tops Friendly Markets today announced that the company is encouraging its customers to celebrate National Nutrition Month with the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System, a unique food ranking system found at Tops stores that helps consumers find the best nutrition on supermarket shelves. Launched as National Nutrition Week in 1973 and 'promoted' to National Nutrition Month in 1980, the March event was created by the American Dietetic Association (ADA) to encourage better eating habits.

Mansfield, PA - Woodhouse, the Timber Frame Company, has named Eric C. Lindstrom Vice President of Marketing and Communications.

Lindstrom, who most recently worked for National Public Radio, will be in charge of new lead generation, development of sales strategies, public relations, online and traditional marketing and advertising, and corporate branding for the timber frame company. Woodhouse currently serves clients internationally and Lindstrom will expand this market-reach into new targeted growth regions.

Aurora, NY -- Increased functionality and more e-commerce options are the biggest changes to the redesigned website for King Ferry Winery Maker of Treleaven Wines™. The updates and upgrades were designed and concepted by Julia Reich Design, an award-winning brand strategy and graphic design firm.

Julia Reich Design’s development team updated the King Ferry Winery website with several e-commerce and social media options. They include a shopping cart and online store for wine purchases, gift shop, a frequent buyers club, shipping club for customers at a distance, events calendar, links to visitor resources, and the ability to sign up for email and text updates.

National Book Auctions, located in Ithaca, NY, hosted a Sunday, February 19th auction featuring a broad range of rare antique books, as well as an intriguing assortment of ephemera and artwork. Of particular note were rare first editions of early and modern titles, many of which were signed. This 474-lot auction also featured two important bronze sculptures and Major League Baseball collectibles.

A limited edition sculpture by Erté brought a hammer price of $5400.00 (including buyer’s premium). This sculpture depicts The Three Graces of beauty, charm and elegance. It is one of a collection of 18 pieces entitled "Erté: Image in Bronze." This edition was produced and distributed by Fine Art Acquisitions Ltd. of New York, and is number 311 of 375.