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
Faso Guest Speaker at General Membership
Luncheon
John Faso, New York's gubernatorial candidate from the Republican
and Conservative parties and the man who picked Rockland's own C.
Scott Vanderhoef as his running mate, was the guest speaker at Rockland
Business Association's General Membership Luncheon. Faso, who is
former minority leader of the New York Assembly, has run his campaign
on a pro-business, tax-cutting platform.
“Next January I want to announce that New York is open for
business,” Faso said. “To do that, we need to change
the regulatory structure, reduce the cost of health insurance
and give employers a much deserved tax break.”
Faso addressed workers compensation reform, healthcare reform,
the notorious Scaffold and Wicks Laws, and plans to cut property
and business taxes. The lunch was sponsored by Saretsky Katz
Dranoff Glass, L.L.P.
Distinguished Speaker Series
Focuses on New Media
The first in a series of RBA sponsored distinguished speaker presentations
at SUNY Rockland Community College took place featuring three experts
in the field of New Media.
The panel consisted of Allan Ross, President of A.J. Ross Creative, Tom Christmann, Vice President, New Media, The Journal News, and Charles Theiss, Sr. Vice President and Director, Emerging Media Technologies & Business Development, Active International spoke at the event and MBA CEO and President Al Samuels moderated. The event was sponsored by M&T Bank.
Speakers (clockwise) a) Charles Theiss, Sr. VP/Director, Emerging Media Technologies & Business Development, Active International b) Tom Christmann, VP, New Media, The Journal News c) Allan Ross, President, A.J. Ross Creative d) Eric Tommasi, VP, representing the event sponsor, M&T Bank, greeting a participant
Internet marketing strategies were the focus of the presentation as were potential applications of new technologies such as Ipods. Attendees learned that search engines such as Google sell the rights to keywords to certain companies on an hourly basis in order to improve their chances of appearing when someone does a search.
"We learned that even companies in traditional industries
need to use some new media and can't just rely on what's worked
for them in the past,” said attendee Howard Reis of Hudson
Valley DataNet LLC. “People need to use combinations in developing
effective marketing strategies.”
Samuels Joins Board of Local Charity Organization
By Dylan Skriloff
RBA CEO and President Al Samuels has joined the
board of the West-Nyack based People to People. Since 1989, People
To People has been providing aid to those in Rockland County who
find they need short-term assistance with food, clothing, or guidance.
Through the Food Share program, nutritious food which would ordinarily
go to waste is turned into well balanced, delicious meals, and
then distributed to organizations countywide by People To People.
This program has been providing more than 200,000 pounds of food annually since 1992. The County Food Cupboard currently serves over 300 families each month and the Santa Project has assisted over 4,000 families with the Christmas needs since the program's inception.
RBA Vice-Chairman, Hector May, past-President and current Treasurer
of People to People, believes Samuels’ and the RBA’s
help can be invaluable to the mission of the organization.
“No question, Al is a magnificent individual and we need people like him. Al’s compassion and his knowing people can help us feed families in the County,” May said.
“Unfortunately, even in 2006, there are people going to bed hungry in Rockland County,” Samuels said.
“I believe that generosity is part of the American spirit
and People to People is one of the fine organizations in this area
making sure that help is available to everyone that needs it,” he
added.
To learn more about People To People and how you can help, call
914-358-4606. RBD
