Archive: Business & Technology

Tompkins Workforce New York alerts residents to a new state job bank, launched by the New York State Department of Labor, to make job seekers’ career search easier and help businesses find qualified candidates.

At the new Job Central web site job seekers can access more than 84,000 posted jobs, with the number of posted positions continuing to grow.

Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS) has been selected by the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund for a grant of $750,000. This grant will be used to make home purchase and home improvement loans to low-income residents of Tompkins County - specifically targeting homeowners and first-time homebuyers in the rural portions of the County.

Previously, most of INHS’ funds have been limited to use within the City of Ithaca or for specific program purposes, such as rehab loans. Paul Mazzarella, Executive Director of INHS. states, “We were thrilled to learn that INHS had been selected. These funds will enable INHS to grow its lending programs. Because his grant offers much greater flexibility, we will be able to extend our reach to more residents throughout Tompkins County.”

Better Housing For Tompkins County, Inc. has begun a major renovation of the Fountain Manor senior housing facility in Slaterville Springs, in the Town of Caroline.  Funding for the $2.4 million project was secured through a grant from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal's (DHCR) Housing Trust Fund Program. The revitalization is expected to continue through the spring of 2011, approximately nine months.

Washington, DC –Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri (NY-24) announced that the U.S. Department of Education has awarded Ithaca, NY based NovaSpeech LLC a $75,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant.

This grant will allow NovaSpeech to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel text-to-speech synthesis system that promises to provide speech-impared individuals with more natural-sounding, mimetic, and individualized voices, at a substantially lower cost than is currently possible.

The nation’s largest and most prestigious awards program for community development financial institutions (CDFIs) announced today that Alternatives Federal Credit Union is a finalist for an award of $5.5 million in the highly competitive 2010 Wachovia Wells Fargo NEXT Awards for Opportunity Finance. Awardees will be announced prior to an awards celebration on Wednesday, November 3, at Opportunity Finance Network’s (OFN’s) 26th Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA.

Ithaca is one of only five communities nationwide where private sector employment accounted for personal income growth in 2009.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced yesterday that personal income declined in most of the nation’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) by an average of 1.8 percent, after an increase of 2.7 percent in 2008.

When locally owned REMAX In Motion moved to its new digs on Meadow Street in Ithaca at the beginning of the year, it was cold and snowy.  This summer has been anything but cold.  So Broker/Owner Melissa Miller decided to hold a grand opening a week ago, and to have a little fun at the same time.

"We're having Christmas in July," explained Broker Associate Amanda Ryen-Yowhan.  "There are snow cones for everybody.  It is a brand new event."

ASI Renovations and its sister division ASI Energy announce the consolidation of their operations, with a move into the South Hill Business Campus on Danby Road in Ithaca . The move is a result of growth in the size of projects performed by ASI Renovations, and an increase in ASI Energy's workload as a commercial and residential property energy analysis and consulting firm.

ASI Renovations, is a commercial and residential remodeling company. It was founded in 2007, and was previously located in a home office in Ithaca. ASI Energy, www.asienergy.com, specializes in commercial and residential property energy analysis, consulting and retrofitting, to make them more energy efficient. It was established in 2008, and previously located in a home office　in Caroline. The two divisions employ seven people. ASI Renovations is currently hiring for two full time positions.　

J’s Beauty Supply, now open at The Shops at Ithaca Mall, brings carefully-researched beauty products to the Ithaca area.  This locally-owned company prides itself on the quality, price and variety of the products it offers for hair, skin and nails. 

Customers can find hair and grooming supplies to match their needs: wigs, hair-extensions and synthetic hair pieces along with shampoos and conditioners, relaxers, flat and curling irons, dryers, dyes, protein and styling gels, polishers and repair treatments.  J’s Beauty Supply offers many basic nail and makeup accessories and tools.  Licensed stylists may be able to receive discounts.

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Better Housing for Tompkins County announced Richard Cowan would be joining their team. In addition to nearly 3 decades experience managing the 235 apartments at West Village in Ithaca, Cowan has served on the Board of Fransisca Racker Center, and was VP on the Board of TC United Soccer Club, as well as parenting 3 children.

Cowan was instrumental in the recent West Village Apartments transition and rehabilitation.

Last weekend our friends joined us for some fun on the lake.  Mom and Dad took off on the paddle boat, to be joined en route by a couple of the kids.  In turn, the small boat was overloaded. 

As I saw them struggling to do more than paddle in circles, I thought their ability to steer was impeded by the boat being too full.  Not until they finally gave up, and brought the boat back to shore did we discover that its rudder was missing.  Probably broken off as the boat scraped against the stones at shore during one of the recent storms.

Ithaca, NY -- National Book Auctions hosted an active auction on July 18, 2010 at their Finger Lakes Region gallery. The 400+-lot auction featured numerous pieces of Asian artwork, posters and books, collectible first editions as well as a wide assortment of artwork and ephemera.

Of particular interest were eight panels of early hand-illumined vellum that displayed vividly with watercolor painting trimmed in gilt accent areas. The subject matters of the three larger panels were Christian, while the others featured decorative bordering and designs. These items showed beautifully and fetched a $2,800 hammer price (plus buyer’s premium).