Archive: Business & Technology

You hear a lot in Tompkins County these days about the need for affordable housing.  You also hear a lot about green building.  But it never seems like anybody is doing much of anything about it, in large part because of how expensive building is -- especially building green.  One Lansing development is innovatively merging an unlikely combination of elements from home building in Ecuador and market-rate house building in Lansing to volunteer builders and reforestation and a free starter solar panel.  That will bring down the price considerably for four houses in Farm Pond Circle, a mixed-income community.

"We've discovered that one of the barriers to green building is cost," says Lansing Developer Jack Jensen.  "There is pressure to spend your money on square footage, gross size rather than quality.  If it appraises for more it's worth more and you get more.  There hasn't been an ethos that says it's better to have a 1,400 square foot house that costs no energy than a 5,000 square foot house that costs $10,000 a year to heat.  God knows how many BTUs of junk that puts in the atmosphere."

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Friday issued a complaint against the Minneapolis-based Regis Corporation, which operates some 10,000 hair salons nationally under 34 different brand-names, to cease and desist in its illegal actions.

In the complaint, the NLRB investigated and then determined that the Regis Corporation had illegally solicited employees to promise in writing (often called a ‘yellow dog contract’ and rarely practiced since the 1930’s) that they would not sign union authorization cards in the future.  The investigation commenced as a result of an Unfair Labor Practice complaint filed by the Tompkins County Workers’ Center (TCWC) on behalf of two workers in Ithaca, NY, as well as workers in Minneapolis and Indianapolis, with the NLRB.

The other night I saw a spy show on TV in which one of the spies was holding an undisguised iPad that was projecting a holographic image of secret plans into thin air from the touch screen.  It cracked me up, but it illustrated a point: pad computers are really handy for toting documents around.  For example, I put the current documents from the school Web site on my iPad before going to school board meetings.  That way I can see them quickly and in context as they are being discussed, and I don't waste hundreds of pages of paper doing so.

In fact, I've found the iPad very useful for handling documents of many kinds.  One of the first things I did was to put my car manual on it.  I found the manual in PDF format on the Internet, and copied it onto the iPad.  That really came in handy after my car was totaled last May and I didn't know how to make the new one work.  Try finding the hood opening button in a 407 page manual!  It was actually very fast by using the search feature in my document app.

Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBooks... the electronic book reader wars are on and you can see them in a book store near you.  The latest to step into the fray is Borders, which is displaying three -- count 'em! - different book reader brands now and promising another one soon.  I've developed a strong preference to read on an iPad for a number of reasons (I tried e-readers on an iPhone Touch -- an iPhone without the phone -- and liked that, too, but the larger iPad really makes e-reading great.  One of the advantages of the iPad over proprietary e-readers is that you can try out the various reader apps on one device.  I've tried four reader apps, and I was surprised at which one I ended up loving.

Non-profit organizations that want to learn more about making energy-efficient renovations to their existing facilities, or construct new energy-efficient buildings, are invited to the first annual CNY Green Building Symposium on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the South Hill Business Campus, 950 Danby Road in Ithaca.

The first annual CNY Green Building Symposium is sponsored by ASI Energy, and is free and open to the public, but the information being presented will be targeted toward the not-for-profit community.  Seating is limited and pre-registration is required.

Horseheads, NY -- Hunt Engineers, Architects & Land Surveyors, P.C. (HUNT), is pleased to announce that Landscape Designer Timothy Insinger has earned his certification in Wetland Delineation.

All developers whose projects include wetlands are required to know the precise boundaries of wetlands as specified in state and federal rules. A wetland professional is generally required to make the boundary determination and their findings are subject to review by regulatory agencies.

A student meeting convened by Ithaca College President Thomas R. Rochon to discuss the Ithaca College “IC 20/20”, the vision of student learning for the next decade, opened the forum to begin talks on changing current labor policies and practices at the College. The student group, the Labor Initiative in Promoting Solidarity (LIPS), designed questions for the President concerning the contract with subcontracting company Sodexo, a living wage, and the right to organize for campus workers.

Tompkins County Area Development recently approved a loan to Comet Action Sports. Loan proceeds will assist the company to expand its skateboard manufacturing operations. Comet plans to relocate its corporate offices and open a retail outlet on The Commons in downtown Ithaca.

TCAD has a long history of helping small manufacturers grow and create jobs. According to Heather Filiberto, TCAD’s Director of Economic Development Services, “Comet is a great addition to our loan portfolio. It’s a small company with a big vision and a mission that supports the green economy. We look forward to watching them grow in Ithaca.”

The Cayuga Medical Center Foundation announced last week that this year's annual gala  “An Evening to Care”, raised $50,000 net. Cayuga Medical Center Foundation's Gala 2010 co-chairs, Loren Colbert and Susan McCutcheon are proud to announce that this year's annual gala proceeds will be used for the major renovation of the surgical services department at Cayuga Medical Center.

This renovation will include new construction to the surgical services suite on the main campus. There will be an overall reconfiguration of the surgical suite space to enhance technological capabilities, meet the community's needs, and improve and enhance operational efficiencies.

Singlebrook Technology announced Monday that Forum for the Future, a London-based charity with offices in New York City, and the publisher of Green Futures Magazine, will receive the first iPhone application in Singlebrook’s Sustainable iPhone App Program.

Singlebrook is donating up to 50 hours of development time to create the iPhone application, which is titled "Green Futures Inspire". The app will be designed to give Forum for the Future clients and friends, and Green Futures Magazine readers, timely articles about sustainability from the magazine. App users can then rate the stories based on how inspired they are by the article.

Dr. Michael Bend of ABeCeDarian Company in Ithaca, NY and Author/Illustrator Dr. Andrea Hazard of Danby, NY, announced the launch today of an illustrated series of 10 companion storybooks for the ABeCeDarian Company Reading Program.

The announcement caps a collaboration that began in 2009, and follows a preview of the storybooks at the 2010 Ithaca Festival. ABeCeDarian Company sponsored the Ithaca Festival’s Family Fun Area this year.

GORGES, a regional web and mobile development firm, has moved into a new space in the Bank Tower on The Commons in Downtown Ithaca. They were previously located one block away on Aurora Street and are now located at 105 N. Tioga St. – on the corner of Seneca & Tioga Streets – with their entrance on the Seneca Street side.

GORGES is in it's seventh year of providing technology solutions and Internet marketing support to businesses, non-profit organizations, and government agencies located throughout the region. GORGES specializes in helping their clients grow their existing business and attract new customers; improve communications; and, reduce waste.