Volume 1, Issue 2
Table of Contents

Cover Story:
Putting All The Pieces Together
County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef keeps Rockland in his sights as he looks ahead to the Governor's race.

Feature Story:
Everybody's Going Downtown
What four of the county's villages are doing to encourage economic development.

Feature Story:
The Expo's Coming!
Annual Business-to-Business event partners RBA with Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce.

DEPARTMENTS:

Economics Roundup
• What's Your Investment Behavior?
• Taxes and Long-Term Care Insurance

Business Roundup
• HVCFI Accepting Applicants
• The Fine Art of Advertising

Retail Round-Up
• It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
• New in Town

Ask the Expert
• Human Resources
• Legal Matters
• Workplace Hotline
• Information Technology

Invest in Your Community
• Make-A-Wish Foundation
• JCC-Y of Rockland's Capital Campaign
• Other News

Odds & Ends
• From The Publishers
• PR Patter
• Reaching Out to Small Business
• Rockland Joins the Empire
• Big News for Local Small Businesses

Dedicated Section:
Rockland Business Association:

The President’s Desk
Empire Zone designation, grant programs drive new opportunities for business.

The Investor Hotline
Avoid these three common mistakes

RBA Happenings
• Other News
• Committee and Council Info
• Calendar of Events
• New Members

The RBA and the MRCC will host the upcoming event, officially named the “Bridging Borders—2006 B-to-B Expo,” on October 19, at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center in Suffern. Brunch will begin at 10:30am and the ribbon cutting for the Expo booth exhibits will be at 12 noon. The exhibit hours will run until 5:30pm, after which there will be an “after-hours” cocktail party for exhibitors and attendees until 7:30pm.

The Expo offers a 10' X 7’ booth to companies, where they can sell their wares and exchange information with other businesses and consumers. Throughout the day, exhibitors will be offering giveaways and samples.

Thomas O’Brien of the MRCC Board of Directors said he was thrilled with the agreement. He noted that the MRCC is truly a regional chamber, with representation in 60 communities in North Jersey and more than 600 members.

The RBA’s fourth annual Business-to-Business Expo is going regional this year, thanks to an agreement reached with the Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“I want to note that the name of the Expo “Bridging Borders” is very much the idea behind this event. We look forward to doing more work with the RBA in the future,” O’Brien said. Between the MRCC and the RBA well over 1,500 member companies will be invited to the exhibition.

“The border between New York and New Jersey is not really a border when it comes to doing business,” O’Brien said. The inclusion of the MRCC will make the event significantly larger this year, with 72 booths available. In a new offering for the Expo, two companies can share a booth if desired.

RBA CEO and President Al Samuels said inviting the MRCC into the mix for the Expo made a lot of sense given the RBA’s commitment to making connections with surrounding counties in the region. In fact about 25% of companies in the RBA are from outside of Rockland County.

“The Expo is one-stop shopping and networking for suppliers, services and new products for your business. Anyone visiting the expo will have a first-hand look at some of the newest products available locally,” Samuels stated.

The RBA’s Vice President, Development, Roger Scheiber introduced some innovative ideas that will make this year’s event the best yet. There will be a ‘food-tasting’ at the cocktail party that follows the Expo, featuring food from several fine restaurants in the area. A lucky raffle winner will win free dinners to all the participating restaurants.

Other changes include a brunch instead of a lunch and an extra 90 minutes of time for booth display. In the past the display ran from 1pm to 5pm because lunch started at 11:30am. With a 10:30am brunch it is now possible to give exhibit time from 12pm – 5:30pm.

RBA member Adam Riss of White Plains based SpectraWorx, Inc. rented a booth at the Expo last year and said it boosted his exposure in the Rockland County marketplace.

“It was a great event and I not only saw great friends and clients but was able to pick up a lot of new business leads, some of which converted into new clients,” Riss said.

RBA member Linda Tallman, owner of Linda’s Chocolates, Inc. in West Nyack, also praised last year’s event, which happened to be the first time she had a chance to make a real impression on fellow members.

“It was a great event and a great way to get yourself out there. It was a truly amazing opportunity for me and I got a lot of business from it. I will definitely be doing it again and this time I will sell chocolate by the pound instead of only in baskets, as I got a lot of requests for that last year,” said Tallman, who is a member of the Expo Planning Committee and a member of the MRCC. Mahwah’s inclusion in the project makes it even more exciting, she said.

Dave Heinrich of Smart Money Mortgage Center, Inc. in West Nyack, has been a regular at the Expo.

”Every year that I go there I generally pick up one or two new suppliers. I think that it is a fabulous idea involving Mahwah and I think we should do more and more with them,” Heinrich said.

Good Samaritan Hospital, Provident Bank and the U.S. Postal Service are presenting sponsors for this year’s event. With over a month to go before the event, other Expo sponsors include Ameriprise Financial Services, DataNet Communications, Verizon Wireless, Wal*Mart, Hudson Valley Business Journal, The Journal News and Rockland Business Digest.

Brunch costs $35 for an RBA or MRCC member and $45 for non-members. Included in that cost is free admission to the event. Admission to the Expo is otherwise $5. Booth rental costs $400 for members and $500 for non-members. For smaller businesses, two companies can share a booth. If a non-member joins the RBA within 60 days of renting an Expo booth they will receive a $100 credit on their membership.

For more information on the B-to-B Expo and registration details, please contact Doreen Briglia at (845) 735-2100. RBD