Biz Buzz
New York Knicks D-League Team Lands in White Plains
NBA basketball is coming to White Plains, in the form of a new NBA Development League team for the New York Knicks. The Madison Square Garden Company (MSG) recently acquired the right to own and operate an NBA D-League team that will play its home games at the Westchester County Center. The new team will be the NBA D-League’s record 18th team and the purchase makes the Knicks the seventh NBA team to fully own and operate their own NBA D-League affiliate.
Allan Houston, former Knicks star and the Knicks’ Assistant General Manager, will serve as the new team’s General Manager. Bill Boyce, who spent four years as president of the NBA D-League’s Frisco-based Texas Legends has been appointed the vice president of sales and business operations for the club in Westchester.
“We are very excited to bring a New York Knicks NBA Development League franchise to Westchester, a great basketball community that has embraced orange and blue and served as our training home for 25 plus years,” said Houston. “The NBA D-League is thriving, and this opportunity allows us to develop players closer to our training facility, and to provide high level, affordable basketball entertainment to the community.”
The squad will play 24 regular-season home games between November and April, and The County Center will potentially play host to an additional six NBA D-League playoff games in April.
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Creativity Crucial for Leadership in Times of Change
Creative business thinking is always an asset—but particularly so in unpredictable times, according to Bruce Nussbaum, business thought leader and author of Creative Intelligence, who spoke at Manhattanville College’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies’ 20th Anniversary “Insights into Leadership” speaker series on Thursday, March 6.
Nussbaum stressed the importance of being creative in an age of “VUCA,” or volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. “Creativity is a way to deal with the challenges that are associated with a period of change, when you know you have to try something different,” said Nussbaum, former assistant managing editor for Business Week, and current professor of Innovation and Design at Parsons The New School of Design.
He also identified the five key competencies associated with creativity:
1. “Knowledge mining”—knowing what is meaningful to people
2. “Framing and reframing,” based on personal stories and beliefs
3. “Playing”—a process to generate something new
4. “Making”—generating new ideas and tools
5. “Scaling”—taking creativity and harnessing its power to create something
Nussbaum was joined at the event by panelists Larry Gottlieb, CEO, Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation; Dani Glaser, founder and CEO of Green Team Spirit; Chris Maher, CEO, House Party; and Jim Giangrande, managing director and partner, Altium Wealth Management. The panel discussion following Nussbaum’s keynote highlighted the importance of fostering a sense of creativity among every level in the workplace. “No one can afford to not be creative anymore,” Glaser said. “A high value should be placed on creativity, regardless of the person or the position they hold in a company,” Gottlieb added.
The “Insights into Leadership” series, which takes places in celebration of The School of Graduate and Professional Studies’ 20th anniversary year, offers speakers with a broad range of business expertise, presenting their views on local, national and global trends. The third presentation in the series, titled “The Power of Building Content and Community,” is scheduled for April 7 and will feature a panel of key Westchester-based businesses and marketing masters, including Heineken USA, House Party and Tommie Copper.
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Flexible Office Space Trend Continues in White Plains
The White Plains development renaissance continues with the addition of Westchester Business Suites, located at 75 South Broadway in downtown White Plains. Seeking to capitalize on the growing demand for flexible office space, and the increased desire of Westchesterites to work closer to home, the KABR Group is opening the 23,000-square-foot space, which includes more than 90 offices that can be rented on flexible terms from one day to multi-year. Clients get full concierge service including a receptionist, administrative and mailing services, and conference, meeting and break rooms. Virtual offices are also available.
“It is the perfect storm,” says Trent Taylor, asset manager for the KABR Group. “White Plains is experiencing a growth renaissance with dozens of new restaurants, new health clubs and other big-city amenities. The transportation issues and congestion of the city coupled with climate changes makes working in White Plains, the county seat, more attractive than ever.”
A grand opening/ribbon cutting for Westchester Business Suites will take place March 12, 2014 at 10 AM in the Westchester Business Center lobby located on the 4th floor. The Ribbon cutting, which Mayor Tom Roach will attend, will be followed by an open house, which is open to the public. Registration is required by calling (914) 304-4000.
Two Grants Provide Boost for CAREERS for People with Disabilities
Since 1987, Valhalla- and Carmel- based CAREERS for People with Disabilities, Inc.—a non-profit whose mission is to insure that all disabled individuals find sustained, meaningful employment in Westchester and Putnam Counties—has been successful in helping people with learning, developmental, psychiatric, and/or physical disabilities find and keep jobs.
Two recent grants are helping the organization, which has helped more than 2,000 disabled individuals find jobs and provided services to thousands of other people, ontinue its good work. The H.O.P.E. For Youth Foundation presented a $3,000 check to CAREERS’ High School Transition Coordinator Marie O’Connor in support of its School-to-Work Transition program at the Rotary Club of Peekskill luncheon on Thursday, February 20th. The transition program matches and trains high school juniors and seniors with jobs in their community based on their abilities.
Entergy also lent is support, with a $5,000 grant to endorse CAREERS’ Workforce Readiness, Placement and Training program. The grant will help CAREERS continue to provide its services free of charge to disabled individuals.
